Librarian wills $4m fortune to school where he worked

Robert Morin

A librarian who quietly saved a $4 million fortune, passed away and left his entire estate to the university where he worked for nearly 50 years.

Robert Morin, who graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1963 and worked as a cataloguer in Dimond Library, was known to live simply and he loved books, according to the school’s website.

In fact, he was such a lover of the bounded written word that he read every book published in the U.S. between 1930 and 1940 in chronological order with some exceptions. The school estimates that by the time he died last year at the age of 77, he had read 1,938 books.

The university announced earlier this week that Morin left his entire fortune to the school, earmarking $100,000 to the library in which he worked.

The school’s website said the money will be used to “provide scholarships for work-study students, support staff members who continue their studies in library science and fund the renovation of one of the library’s multimedia rooms.”

Morin’s funds will also be used to renovate the video scoreboard in their new football stadium and help expand a career center, according to university President Mark Huddleston.

“Bob’s demonstrated commitment to UNH through his philanthropy is tremendously inspiring,” Huddleston said in a statement. “His generous gift allows us to address a number of university priorities.”

The statement continued, “We are committed to providing the resources needed to ensure every student achieves professional success and Bob’s gift will play a major role in that effort.”