The UCI Libraries received a gift of $928,000 from the estate of the late Sylvia Holden Robb. The gift established the Sylvia Holden Robb Library Endowed Fund which provides permanent support to maintain and enhance the excellence of the Libraries’ collections, services, and facilities.
Mrs. Robb, who passed away at the age of 97, was a dedicated and generous supporter of the Libraries for over 20 years. Her many gifts to the Libraries include the naming of the Roger C. Holden Graduate and Faculty Reading Room in Langson Library, and the establishment of the Sylvia Holden Robb Library Collections Fund.
"We appreciate Sylvia’s gifts which have created a permanent legacy of her remarkable generosity," said University Librarian Gerry Munoff. "Sylvia valued learning and appreciated the essential role the Libraries play in research and education. Her gifts will ensure the continuing excellence of the Libraries."
Robb acquired her love of libraries as a child, when she would frequently visit her local public library. After finishing high school, she attended the Gary Business College and later moved to Chicago to work for the magazine of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks.
Robb married Roger Holden in 1936. The couple lived in Chicago, where she worked with the advertising firm J. Walter Thompson. They subsequently moved to Colorado Springs and then to California, settling in San Clemente first, then Three Arch Bay in Laguna Beach. Robb became active as a volunteer in a local hospital. Holden died in 1968, and in 1970 she married Dr. Robert Robb, a physician. After he died in 1992, she continued to pursue her love of reading and her support of a wide variety of charitable organizations.
