Alec Baldwin Donates $1 Million to East Hampton Library Children's Wing
Alec Baldwin announced Monday morning that he and his family have given a $1 million donation toward the new children’s addition at the East Hampton Library.
“I am making this gift to help complete the project and to encourage other residents to help support this vital institution in the town,” Baldwin said. “Libraries are the cornerstone of a great community.”
The 6,800-square-foot addition will include space for 10,000 more children’s books and The Baldwin Family Lecture Room, a venue for children’s programs, film screenings, poetry readings, historical lectures, author and book events, according to the library. Baldwin, of Amagansett, previously made donations toward the children’s wing of $250,000, in the fall of 2011, and $25,000, in the spring of 2010, before this week’s sizable gift.
“This significant donation will also make possible our plan to install a simulcast system bringing lectures from the New York Public Library and all over the world for our residents to enjoy,” library director Dennis Fabiszak said.
Sheila Rogers, the chair of the capital campaign and executive vice president of the library, added, “I am thrilled that Alec is so supportive of our wonderful library and is helping us to make it even better for everyone in our community.”
Baldwin serves as an honorary co-chair of the library children’s addition committee and is the founding honorary co-chair of the library’s annual Authors Night fundraising event.
“Over the last several years, Alec has been a tremendous supporter of the library,” East Hampton Library Chair Tom Twomey said. “His incredibly generous gift brings us closer to our final fundraising goal—helping to make the East Hampton Library one of the finest small libraries in America.” The library is seeking to raise about $6 million to complete the addition, which was designed by Robert A.M. Stern.
“This significant gift from the Baldwin Family is a dream come true,” library President Don Hunting said. “It is the generosity of our friends and neighbors like Mr. Baldwin that makes East Hampton such a great place to live.”
Baldwin has steered much of the money he has earned from Capital One commercials toward his philanthropic efforts, including $1 million for the New York Philharmonic and $250,000 for East Hampton’s Guild Hall, and $250,000 for the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Baldwin and wife Hilaria Thomas Baldwin welcomed a daughter, Carmen Gabriela Baldwin, into the world earlier this year. His eldest daughter, Ireland Baldwin, is 18.