Scheide '36 bequeaths 2,500 rare books to Firestone
Jasmine WangWilliam Scheide ’36, a musician and philanthropist who died in November at the age of 100, bequeathed his rare books collection to the University, making it the largest gift in the University’s history. The collection is valued at nearly $300 million and is particularly notable for its breadth and depth, Karin Trainer, the University librarian, said. Scheide had announced at a luncheon hosted by the University for his 90thbirthday thathe would bequeath the collection to the University upon his death, Trainer said. After his father,John Scheide,Class of 1896, died in 1942, William Scheidepermitted the transportation in 1959 of the collection from his father’s home in Titusville, Pa., to Firestone Library, where he continued to oversee its care and occasionally add valuable items to it. “I think he was very happy with the way he thought it was being used and the care he could see we were taking with it even though it belonged to him,” Trainer said of Scheide’s decision to trust the University with the collection after his death.




