One indicator of a healthy community, where a family would want to live and raise children, is the vibrancy of the local public library. The North Pole branch library is one of those places, according to Fairbanks North Star Borough Library Director Melissa Harter.
She was there with other dignitaries and library supporters to commemorate a specially made outdoor bench at the North Pole Library in honor of Helen Bentley for her generous charitable donation to borough libraries. Specifically, her $6,220,000 donation provided the 50% match needed for the state’s Library Construction Matching Grant program.
“Without that donation, this beautiful, extremely needed library would most likely not exist today,” Harter said.
Friends of the North Pole Library commissioned artist John Deruyter to create a bench to honor Helen Bentley. Harter said Rex Nutter, Library Commission Chair, was the steadfast advocate for Helen Bentley needing to be thanked for her generous contributions to the libraries of the borough.
The Bentley family lived in Fairbanks for many years and owned a dairy farm on 600 acres of land north of the city limits. That area is currently the Gavora Mall, Seekins Ford, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Lowes and other retails stores.
In 1969, the remaining three siblings of the Bentley family established a trust related to the family property holdings. They gave the last surviving relative the right to establish charitable beneficiaries to receive proceeds from the sale of their land holdings.
Helen Bentley was the last surviving Bentley relative. In 1977, she established the FNSB Public Libraries as a 15% beneficiary. Other beneficiaries included Fairbanks Memorial Hospital at 25% and University of Alaska Fairbanks at 12.5%.
As a 15% beneficiary of the sale from the Bentley land, FNSB received $10,213,000, which earned more than $1.5 million in interest over time.
In addition to making the North Pole Library possible, that charitable donation also provided the following funding: $994,000 toward the 1977 Noel Wien Library addition; $369,200 for the Story Garden at Noel Wien Library in 2003; $547,300 in 2006 to acquire land the North Pole Library now sits on; $65,000 for future-oriented conceptual master plans for north North Pole Library and Noel Wien Library (2006); $91,500 for a new motor for compact shelving at Noel Wien Library (2006); $2,493,000 for the Noel Wien roof replacement in 2011; and $32,500 for a space plan study for Noel Wien Library (2019). Fairbanks Library Foundation paid the other $32,500 for the study.
The remaining $3.5 million in this trust is earmarked to partially fund Noel Wien Library’s anticipated major renovation in 2023.
“We owe Helen Bentley a huge debt of gratitude for naming our libraries as beneficiaries,” said Renee VanNort, library administrative manager.
“We are so happy to be able to have this beautiful, artist-created bench to honor Helen Bentley and the Bentley family for their contribution to our community, our borough and our libraries.”
A library can’t survive without the support of local partners, Harter said. Luckily, North Pole Library has Friends of the North Pole Branch.
“This group of steadfast and loyal volunteers, under the leadership of Denise Taylor, raise awareness and provide support for this branch throughout the year, and we cannot thank them enough.”
The outside bench features a commemorative plaque with the following message: “The Friends of the North Pole Branch Library dedicate this bench to Helen E. Bentley whose generous charitable donation was instrumental in bringing this North Pole Branch Library to life.”
