News & Events
A Day To Inspire, A Lifetime To Complete
06/27/2012
Frank and Lee Ann Hoffmann
Frank Hoffmann calls it his epiphany. “It was that one
day—an absolutely gorgeous, crisp fall day—when it
really hit home for me,” says Frank, BA’71,
MLS’73.
Frank was just 10 years old. His mother suggested the family walk
across the IU Bloomington campus to meet Frank’s father,
who worked for the university’s audiovisual department. For
Frank, that walk is a treasured IU memory that’s inspired
him to donate a massive media collection and an unrestricted
financial gift to the IU Libraries.
The family began its walk near Dunn Woods. They strolled past the
IU Observatory and the future site of the statue of Herman B
Wells. “I actually met Dr. Wells on that very spot as a
young boy,” notes Frank. “My parents had already told
me about his historical importance to the university, so I was
very much flattered that he seemed to care about what I had to
say.”
They observed the Jordan River, Dunn Meadow, the lovely
buildings, and everything else that has made the campus a special
place for so many people over the years. “All I could think
of was, ‘I’ve got to figure out how to work in a
place like this,’” he says.
Frank ended up becoming a professor of library science at Sam
Houston State University in Texas, which is, in fact, a beautiful
campus. But his heart was always in his hometown, and now, thanks
to the wonders of telecommuting, he and his wife, Lee Ann, have
moved to Bloomington.
“I wanted to move someplace with four seasons,”
insists Lee Ann, who is joining Frank in making their special
gift. “Frank talked up Bloomington so much. When we
visited, I agreed this was the place.”
Throughout his life, Frank had another love: music. It was a
subject he would write about, publishing reference books and
histories on popular music.
But unlike today, when you can easily summon any song on the
Internet, Frank grew up in an era when you had to buy a physical
copy.
And so began a collection that grew and grew. Today, it
encompasses wax cylinders that play on special phonographs from
the turn of the century. There are vinyl records with the
bombastic art of the 1960s and 1970s. There are shelves and
shelves of compact discs, alphabetized and organized.
Frank tends not to speak of individual parts of the collection.
Instead, he says, “I really wanted to capture the complete
history of sound.” He often added items for their cultural
or historical value rather than for considerations of personal
appeal.
Frank also added films, comic books, collectors cards, and other
popular culture artifacts to his rapidly expanding collection.
“These are things that, when I grew up, weren’t held
at libraries,” he says.
But the heart of Frank’s generosity is not in the size of
his collection or the amount of his gift. It is his decision to
give it to IU without qualification.
“I don’t want it to be the ‘Frank Hoffmann
Collection,’” says Frank. “I want my
contribution to be added to IU’s and enhance what’s
already there.”
As for the funds he and Lee Ann are giving, Frank says, “My
own professional experiences have taught me that librarians are
well equipped to know what they need. I trust them to make
optimum use of the funds.”
