Scranton Memorial Library Receives Grant For Renovation Project

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

MADISON, CT – The Scranton Memorial Library received its first installment Wednesday, or $200,000, of a $1 million grant from the Robert F. Schumann Foundation. This award, to be paid out in five yearly installments of $200,000, will be used for the library expansion and renovation project.

Upon completion, the new Children’s Services wing of the library will be named for the Schumann Family and portraits provided by the Schumann’s will be hung prominently in this space.

The grant was initially awarded in the summer of 2016 with payments set to begin in 2017 after the successful passing of the Library Bond Referendum in February, 2017.

The total estimated cost of the expansion project is $15 million paid in part by a $9 million bond approved by the voters of the Town of Madison.

The Library Board of Trustees is committed to raising the remaining $6 million. Currently the Library has raised $5 million of this goal.

The Schumann family has a long history of philanthropy on a national scale and in support of Madison’s local institutions.

The current children’s wing of the library was added onto the original building in the mid-1960’s with a donation by Robert Schumann’s father, John Schumann, whose portrait can be found at the stairs leading up the children’s department.

The Robert F. Schumann Foundation was created by Robert F. Schumann, a Madison resident who died in 2011. His sons, Ford Schumann and David Schumann, are the Foundation advisors. Wells Fargo Bank and Attorney Tim Crowley are co-Trustees of the Foundation.

The Foundation supports educational, social and environmental causes.

Photo/Jack Kramer