Although she lived nearly all her adult life in Upper Arlington, Barbara Gilchrist Boggs always referred to the Grandview Heights Public Library as "my library."

When she and her husband, John, returned from their winter stays in Florida, "she'd walk in with a big smile and say how nice it was to be back in 'my library,'" Grandview library staff member Klova Morris recalled.

"She definitely loved this library," John Boggs said. "It was a special place to her."

Barbara Boggs, who died last September at the age of 81, left a $5,000 bequest to the library.

About $3,000 will be used for the library to purchase a second Early Literacy Station, a computer workstation that features more than 45 educational software titles for children ages 2-10. The remaining money will go to the library's endowment fund.

"It's perfect" that his wife's financial gift will be used to help benefit youngsters, Boggs said.

Barbara Boggs was a regular visitor to the library as a Grandview student and she taught school in Upper Arlington for 27 years, he said.

Students were always at the forefront of her concern, Boggs said.

She continued to be a regular patron at the Grandview Library even when they moved from Grandview in 1955, he said.

Even through its expansions and technological advancements, the library remained the same kind of friendly, hometown centerpiece she knew as a girl, Boggs said.

"I think she loved the caring nature of the staff," he said.

Staff members knew the kind of books - romance novels, especially - that she enjoyed and would automatically place her name on the reserve list when they arrived, Boggs said.

"When I was working at the circulation desk and John and Barbara would come around the corner, I was always delighted to see them," Morris said. "She was a person who was always happy and always had a good word. She spread that happiness around."

"She always put people first," her husband said. "She was a people person."

Boggs supported the library in so many ways, whether it was assisting with levy campaigns or purchasing remembrance tree ornaments in honor of library staff members, library public relations associate Connie Frecker said.

The bequest gift "is a strong, silent, simple way" to demonstrate that support one more time, she said.

A plaque recognizing her contribution will be engraved on the second Early Literacy Station the library is purchasing, Frecker said.

"It's nice to know she's still doing something for the students," John Boggs said.