Friends of the NIU Libraries receive largest one-time donation in library's history The Friends of the NIU Libraries recently received an anonymous, unrestricted gift of $50,000 for its endowment. This splendid gift represents the largest one-time donation in the library's history. The Friends were established 18 years ago and the endowment serves as the group's permanent fund to support library priorities. Founding members included DeKalb attorney Ron Klein and former Provost J. Carroll Moody. Funds generated by the endowment are used to purchase rare/expensive materials for all of the disciplines. Among the notable acquisitions made possible from this endowment over the past decade are The Black Women Oral History Project, Edward Stratemeyer Juvenile Collection, Encyclopedia of Biostatistics, Papers of the Society of American Indians, and Two Centuries of Regional Painting.