Lawrence Public Library, pictured Aug. 20, 2015.

Lawrence Public Library announced Monday it accepted a gift of nearly $230,000 — the single largest contribution it has received — from the estate of Ann L. Hyde, a Kansas University librarian who died in June 2014.

Hyde’s gift will go into the Lawrence Public Library Foundation’s unrestricted endowment, part of which will be distributed from the Douglas County Community Foundation to the library each year once the fund reaches $750,000. The yearly funds can be used for whatever the library needs, said Kathleen Morgan, director of the library’s foundation.

“It truly is one of those gifts that make an amazing difference, not only to the library but to the entire community,” Morgan said. “It makes a huge difference. Demands are high, and expectations are high, and we want to do a great job.”

The nearly $230,000 moved the endowment within about $50,000 of its target. The library expects to hit that target this spring.

Though the library has accepted more in pledges paid out in installments, Hyde’s gift is the largest one-time donation it has received, Morgan said.

Ann Hyde

Hyde, who died at 83, was the manuscripts librarian in the Department of Special Collections at KU’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library. She retired in 2000 after spending more than 40 years connected to KU.

Hyde was born in New York City in 1930. According to her obituary, Hyde spent many days of her childhood at her hometown library, Great Neck Public Library in Great Neck, New York.

“We are just humbled and so grateful that we were among the organizations she chose to support,” Morgan said.

The Lawrence Humane Society announced last week that Hyde’s estate gave the shelter nearly $500,000. The gift will go toward the humane society’s future $5 million project to either renovate its facility or build a new one.