Saint Vincent College officials announced today that Dale and Darlene Latimer of New Alexandria have made a $1 million gift to the Library and that the historic building would be named in their honor.

"I am very pleased to announce today that Dale P. and Darlene M. Latimer have made a very generous gift of $1 million to be used for renovation, enhancement and endowment of the Saint Vincent Library," commented James F. Will, Vice Chancellor and President of Saint Vincent College. "I am also privileged to announce that our historic library building will be known as the Latimer Family Library in their honor."

"This gift will recognize the treasured role that the Library has in our Benedictine educational tradition and it will provide substantial enhancements and resources to ensure that the Library continues to meet the needs of current and future students at Saint Vincent," Mr. Will added. "It will provide immediate support for physical enhancements as well as provide endowment funding to meet long-term, critical needs and to maintain and expand the Library's electronic resources."

Mr. Latimer spoke in response to Mr. Will's announcement on behalf of the Latimer Family. "It is our honor to present this gift," he said at a reception for friends and benefactors held in the Main Reading Room of the Library. "I have been blessed with success in my business endeavors. I have been very pleased with the comprehensive education that my two sons received at Saint Vincent. And, I have been impressed with so many of the people associated with the College and all that they have done for their students and the community."

"Enhancement of the youthful mind is our motivation," Mr. Latimer continued, "because the knowledge that can be gathered worldwide is available at Saint Vincent. Darlene and I want to ensure that Saint Vincent can have a state-of-the-art Library that will serve students for the next 100 years."

Library projects outlined by Mr. Will include the following:

-- Construction of a new front entrance to the Library

-- Renovated facilities for storage of Saint Vincent's rare book collection

-- Interior renovations and enhancements to those sections of the main and lower levels of the Library which house the main collection

-- Establishment of an endowment to support the acquisition, maintenance and expansion of electronic media and full-text databases

-- Technology upgrades

-- Listing of the holdings of Saint Vincent's rare book collection in the worldwide Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) database.

Br. David Kelly, O.S.B., Director of the Saint Vincent Library, expressed the gratitude of the College for the Latimers' generosity. "Dale and Darlene, your gift will significantly improve the facilities and resources of Saint Vincent Library and it will help the College to reaffirm the important role of the Library in a Benedictine education," he remarked. "We are honored to partner with you and your family on these critical projects that will help to enhance the educational experience of Saint Vincent students for generations to come."

The original Saint Vincent Library collection began with 100 books which founder Boniface Wimmer brought with him from Germany in 1846. Through the early leadership of the late Fr. Valentine Koehler, O.S.B., and Fr. Fintan R. Shoniker, O.S.B., the Library has grown into an internationally-known collection that includes 271,000 books and periodicals, 99,000 microforms such as microfilm, microfiche and cards, and 3000 musical scores. The collection also has more than 100 rare books that are at least 1500 years old including a copy of The Canterbury Tales produced in 1478 by the first printer in England, William Caxton.

The current Library building was built in 1958 and was renovated in 1998 in conjunction with the construction of the adjacent Prep Hall Instructional Technology Resource Center.

Saint Vincent now offers a new major program of study leading to a Master of Science Degree in Library Media Management.

Br. David is also serving as the Rogers Center Archivist and is directing an extensive project to assemble and interpret the volumes of shows, scripts, production notes, visual aids, musical scores, photographs, speeches, lectures and letters of the late Fred Rogers who produced Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for PBS in conjunction with the Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media at Saint Vincent.

Mr. Latimer, 75, was born in Uniontown and moved to New Alexandria when he was seven years old with his mother to live with his grandparents after his father's untimely death in 1937. He attended local grade schools and graduated from Derry Township High School in 1948. He and his brother, James, later started a construction business that specialized in heavy earth moving. Subsequently, he started other companies including R&L Development, Derry International and a mobile home park and land development company in Florida.

He has served as a member of the Boards of Directors of First Commonwealth Bank, First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, New Mexico Banquest Corporation and Commercial National Bank.

Active in civic and cultural affairs, Mr. Latimer is a charter member of the New Alexandria Lions Club, served as a director of the Eastern Westmoreland Development Corporation, the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, the Saint Vincent College Board of Directors Student Affairs Subcommittee and the Saint Vincent Theatre Gala Committee.

The Latimers have been philanthropic supporters of many area organizations including the Kiski School, Latrobe Area Hospital, Saint Vincent College, New Alexandria Library, New Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department, and the Diocese of Greensburg.

Mr. and Mrs. Latimer are members of St. James R.C. Church in New Alexandria. Residents of Derry Township, they have three grown children, a daughter, Susan of Chadds Ford, and two sons, Matthew of Greensburg and Luke of New Alexandria, and one grandson, Alex.

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