A library friend mapping out lifelong learning for all - Wes Brown
Wes Brown, a long-time friend of the Denver Public Library and Friends Foundation, had a long and successful business career. He was a partner for several leading regional investment banking firms based in Denver and continues to serve on corporate boards. Throughout his adult life, he maintained a passion for maps and the history of exploration. His interest began using maps as a mountaineer in High School. But by college, he began studying and collecting old maps and continues to this day. His active research has led to many publications, frequent public presentations, and serving on the boards of several national and international map organizations including as an advisor to the Map and Geography Division of the Library of Congress.
Wes has served on both the Library Commission and the Friends Foundation Board and has donated to the library since 1989. The relationship began through Wes’ use of the map collection for research. The Denver Public Library has a very strong, nationally recognized, research quality map collection specializing in maps of Colorado and the West. This overlaps nicely with Wes’ collection. He has given maps on occasion to the library for years, but at the end of his life plans to give the remainder of his map collection to the library, if not duplicates.
The DPL’s map collection is actively used by students of cartography (the study and practice of making and using maps) and researchers in history, exploration, and genealogy. In 2022, he finalized arrangements and began funding a special endowment through current giving to be topped off with an estate gift. Earnings from the endowment will provide permanent funding for staff, acquisition, and/or conservation of the map collection. This endowment will ensure that the DPL’s important map collection will only grow in significance in the future.