Medford Library Surprised By Bloomberg Donation Call

A call for donations to Medford Public Library in the obituary of Charlotte Bloomberg came as a welcomed surprise to the library's director, he said Monday.

Director Brian Boutilier learned of the call for donations in a New York Post article Monday. The request has since appeared in an obituary that ran in the Boston Globe and New York Times.

"It's the first time I haven't been contacted beforehand," said Brian Boutilier, library director on Tuesday. "It's certainly welcomed. But we don't how they want us to use it, or what to put it toward."

Bloomberg, mother of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and , died Sunday at her Ronaele Road home. She was 102.

Roy Belson, Medford's Superintendent who knew Ms. Bloomberg for years, said the library was a regular stop for her.

"Charlotte was a practical woman," he said during a meeting with city councilors Tuesday.  "Though she could have afforded not to, she would go to the library to borrow books.”

The end of the obituary read: "Donations in her memory may be made to the Medford Public Library, 111 High Street, Medford, MA 02155, Temple Shalom, 475 Winthrop Street, Medford, MA 02155 or the Medford Chapter of Hadassah care of Temple Shalom."

Checks sent to the library should be made out to Friends of Medford Public Library, Boutilier said.