Peabody Institute Library Bestowed $100K Donation

PEABODY, MA — The Peabody Institute Library's collection of nonfiction works, as well as books that feature African Americans, women and Indigenous People, will benefit from a $100,000 donation to its endowment from the family trust of M. Theodore and Beatrice Karger.

The donation, which was made on behalf of avid reader and library supporter the late Charles Karger in his parents' memory, will also fund a speaker series featuring popular, well-known authors beginning in 2024, according to Library Acting Director Alysa Hayden.

"We are incredibly fortunate and grateful that the Karger family has chosen the Peabody Library to celebrate the lives and commemorate the memories of Beatrice, M. Theodore, and now Charles Karger," Hayden said. "We are honored that they have entrusted us with their family's legacy of generosity, education and community."

Charles Karger's brother, Louis Karger, was entrusted to carry on the Karger family's generational legacy with a generous endowment to the Peabody Institute Library that adds to his parents' Trust.

Charles Karger grew up in Peabody and was a member of the Peabody Veterans Memorial Class of 1970. He moved to Arizona in the 1970s where he became successful in the restaurant business.

He began the Trust's relationship with the Peabody Institute Library as a way to give back to the library that he said enriched much of his and his parents' free time.

Charles Karger died in April 2023.

The Karger family said in a statement from the library that they hope their example will inspire others to create a generational legacy that honors the family by supporting a local organization or library that has been very important in their family's lives.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)