TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT

Joyner Library receives endowment gift

East Carolina University’s Joyner Library recognized a gift from the creator of “The Mini Page” during an event July 11. The gift of $100,000 to the Betty Debnam Hunt and Richard M. Hunt Endowment will be used in the library’s Teaching Resources Center. 

Betty Debnam Hunt
Photo by Linda Fox

Faculty, family, and other guests gathered to dedicate the Betty Debnam Hunt Instructional Technology Classroom. Betty Debnam Hunt, who created “The Mini Page” in 1969, was on hand for the dedication; her husband Richard M. Hunt is deceased.

Funds from the endowment will be used to provide technology support providing opportunities for current and future teachers to discover and use cutting-edge technology and resources. Additionally, the endowment will allow further development of the Debnam Resource Center for Family Literacy, established in March 2004.  

“It is evident that education remains a strong theme in Ms. Hunt’s life with the establishment of this endowment to the TRC,” said Linda Teel, head of service for the Teaching Resources Center.  

Hunt of Raleigh hailed from a family of journalists in eastern North Carolina and devoted her career to education as a schoolteacher, children’s author and creator of “The Mini-Page,” a syndicated newspaper supplement for children which appears in 500 newspapers weekly. 

The group viewed digitized versions of “The Mini Page Archives,” which contains volumes from 1969-2007, and lunched on recipes featured in her children’s book “Rookie Cookie Cookbook: Everyday Recipes for Kids.”

“It is an honor and a pleasure to celebrate the naming of the Betty Debnam Hunt Instruction Technology Classroom,” said Larry Boyer, dean of Academic Library and Learning Resources. “The endowment will enhance the academic success of future educators, and we thank Betty for her many years of service to education and her ongoing generosity to Joyner Library.”