Marlborough Woman Makes $250K Gift To Library Honoring Parents

MARLBOROUGH, MA — A Marlborough resident has donated $250,000 to the Marlborough Public Library Foundation in honor of her parents, the largest single donation the foundation has ever received.

The donation will go to the foundation's capital campaign for the reconstruction of Marlborough's main library. As a thank you to donor Alison Grice, a 200-seat community room in the new library will be named for her parents, Marion and David Grice.

Grice said she made the gift because she and her parents were big readers, and big library patrons. Marion Grice worked as a children's librarian in Marlborough, and Alison and her sister, Carol, worked there as assistants in high school.

David Grice, a wildlife biologist by trade and former Marlborough Conservation Commission member, would often visit the library to do presentations about animals for young patrons.

"We moved to Marlborough when I was five years old, and the first place we visited was the library,” she said in a news release. "The library was what connected us to the community, and where we got to know other people in the town."

Grice's gift follows two other sizeable donations made to the construction project in recent months: $25,000 from the Rotary Club of Marlborough donated in December, and $16,000 from the Friends of the Marlborough Public Library in memory of Ray Johnson, a past president of the group. Grice, a recent retiree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also a member of the Friends of the Marlborough Public Library

“Marion and David Grice had a tremendous impact on many people through their active participation in the city, and with this donation, Alison will be doing the same. She is truly honoring her parents, who taught their children to care about their community,” library foundation President William Keyles said in a news release.

The Marlborough library reconstruction project broke ground in September. The project will add a 16,000 square-foot addition and restore the 117-year-old Carnegie Library section of the building. The renovation should be complete by spring 2023, with the Walker Building serving as a temporary library during construction.

If you'd like to donate to the Marlborough Public Library Foundation, email marlpublibfoundation@gmail.com