'Union-Tribune' Publisher David Copley Donates $2M for New San Diego Library

By: E&P Staff David C. Copley, publisher of The San Diego Union-Tribune, has pledged $2 million toward a $50 million fund-raising drive for a new San Diego library.

Copley's mother, the late Union-Tribune publisher Helen K. Copley, had advocated literacy and reading programs in San Diego, and was co-founder of The San-Diego Council on Literacy.

"Helen Copley read avidly and surrounded herself with books, as well as newspapers," David Copley said in a letter to the city's mayor, according to a statement. "If she were with us today, she would be hearing with dismay the suggestions from some that the city she loved cannot afford a world-class library system. Important as the local branches are, the keystone of the system is the central library. I am convinced that San Diego desperately needs one."

The new library is expected to cost almost $150 million, but the city hopes to gather a third of that money in private donations. Before Copley's donation, the campaign had received a single $1 million contribution in January.