J. Lawrence and Ella H. Apple Library Endowment

Apple Endowment bookplate

Lawrence and Ella Apple's association with the libraries at North Carolina State University began when Apple was an undergraduate and they lived in Trailwood, a housing development for students on the current site of D. H. Hill Library.

Apple, who was born in rural Guilford County, served a tour of duty in the Army Infantry and fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He came back to North Carolina and enrolled at NC State on the GI Bill, finishing his bachelor's degree in just under 3 years. His wife Ella describes living in Trailwood as "a great experience, to start out with just the bare necessities." The Apples made many lifelong friends among the veterans on campus, who came together in a community based on their shared experiences.

The library at NC State during Apple's college years was housed in what is now Brooks Hall, and was, in Apple's words, "very humble." Just before Apple graduated, the library added its 100,000th volume, a far cry from today's collection of over 3 million volumes.

The Apples with Director of Libraries Susan Nutter

After he graduated in 1949, Apple worked on a research farm in Greenville for two years, and then returned to NC State to complete his Master’s degree in 1953 and his Ph.D. in 1955. He then joined the faculty of the Plant Pathology department, teaching and doing research until his retirement in 1991.

Apple got involved with supporting the NCSU Libraries through his work with the Association of Retired Faculty (ARF), of which he was president from 1993 to 1997. At that time, the faculty endowment for the Libraries was struggling, with only a small amount of principal. Apple worked with the ARF and the Libraries to take on the challenge of building the endowment up to $100,000 in the space of two years, a challenge which the ARF met. The concept of the Incubator Endowment was introduced during this fundraising campaign as a "doable opportunity" for donors.

Dr. Apple with Dr. Donald E. Moreland,
also a library supporter

The Apples established their endowment as an Incubator during the ARF campaign, and over the course of several years built it up to full endowment status. As Apple explains, fundraising for the Libraries is "critical to the educational, research, and outreach missions of the university."

More than that, though, the NCSU Libraries is the "center of the university," according to Apple. "The library houses the records of the intellectual accomplishments of humankind to date," he says, and we need to "make it available as widely as possible, with equal and rapid access." Thanks to the Apples' generous giving, and the support of friends and faculty, the NCSU Libraries is working to make that vision possible.