COACH FRANK AND BARBARA BROYLES RENEW COMMITMENT TO UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES WITH $200,000 GIFT

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas Athletic Director Coach Frank Broyles and Barbara Broyles have made a $200,000 gift to the University Libraries.

Broyles is one of four co-chairs of the University’s Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, a fund-raising effort currently in the planning stage. Broyles will serve as presiding co-chair during the Campaign’s final year, from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2004.

Broyles’s involvement with the Libraries began when he was the chair of the successful Campaign for Books in the early 1980s in which funds were raised to increase library holdings. At that time, the UA athletic department made the initial gift to launch the fund-raising drive.

This recent pledge will be used as an endowment to supplement collections and purchase library equipment such as digital scanners and microfiche reader printers.

Broyles said. "In this age of rapidly changing technology, we hope our gift will help to ensure that the necessary resources continue to be available for future generations."

UA Chancellor John A. White said, "We are most pleased that Coach and Mrs. Broyles have chosen to continue their support of University Libraries during a time when it’s critical that we continue to be on the forefront of providing information to our campus community."

Vice Chancellor for University Advancement G. David Gearhart said, "In the mid-1980s, I was fortunate enough to work with Coach Broyles on the Campaign for Books. His desire to raise the University’s academic standing is as strong as his desire to win national championships on our playing fields. His leadership is truly inspirational, and I know many other alumni and friends will follow his generous example."

Dean of University Libraries Carolyn Henderson Allen said, "I think it’s terrific that Coach and Mrs. Broyles continue to support the libraries. We are grateful for their gift and feel that it’s significant to the future of the University Libraries and how well they will be equipped. A nationally competitive research university must have resources available to students and faculty that will give them an academic edge. The Broyles’s gift will help ensure that the UA libraries stay on the forefront of providing information - whether electronic or in print - not to just the campus community, but to other academic and public libraries, and the public at-large."

The University Libraries encompass the main library, which is housed within David W. Mullins Library, and three branch libraries: the Fine Arts Library, the Chemistry Library and the Physics Library. The combined holdings of the libraries total more than 1.6 million volumes of books and bound periodicals and more than 2 million items in microform. Other resources currently available are government documents, maps, sound recordings, electronic full-text and bibliographic databases and manuscripts.

Coach Broyles held coaching positions at the University of Florida, Georgia Tech and University of Missouri before coming to the University of Arkansas as head football coach in 1958 and winning the National Championship in 1964. He’s been the athletic director at the U of A since 1976.

Over the years, Mrs. Broyles has taught a Sunday school class at Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville and is a past chair of both the Arkansas Literacy Council, Inc. and Ozark Literacy Council. She has volunteered for the American Heart Association and was a chapter advisor of Phi Mu Fraternity. She received Fayetteville’s Community Service Award in 1988, and was honored by the Razorback Foundation with the Distinguished Service Award in 2000.

The Broyleses have been married for 56 years and have four sons, two daughters and 17 grandchildren.

In fiscal year 1999-2000, University Libraries received $1,793,411 in private gift support.