'Quiet' barbershop owner leaves $1.4m to local library

'They never had kids, and they really must have loved the library' - said Mr Ralys's nephew, Thomas Ralys

Athol Public Library, Massachusetts (Google Maps)

A "quiet" barbershop owner has left $1.4 million (£990,000) to his local public library, accounting for 90 per cent of his estate.

Anthony J. Ralys ran a small barbershop for 38 years in Athol, Massachusetts and on his death left behind an estate of $1,632,000.

Mr Ralys has been described by those who knew him as a "quiet" and "reclusive" man.

This is the biggest donation the town library has received since 1914, when the Carnegie Foundation donated £20,000 for the its construction.

Mr Ralys' estate attorney, Pamela Oddy, explained this bequeathal was due to the fact his late wife was an avid reader.

Former Athol Library director, Debra Blanchard told the Telegram & Gazette about her first reaction to this donation: "Literally, I gasped and almost fell out of my chair.

"I asked her to repeat it so I was sure she had not made a mistake.

"That normal hard-working people like (Mr. and Mrs.) Ralys can save that much money and then bequest it to an institution that benefits the entire community is simply amazing."

Of the remaining money, $79,000 was left to nephew Thomas Ralys and a further $79,000 to the estate of niece Jacqueline M. Ralys.

Regarding the size of the library donation, Thomas Ralys said: "It never was my money to get, he did leave us some.

"They never had kids, and they really must have loved the library."

The current Library Director Jean Shaughnessy said:"It's wonderful, It is always appreciated when someone donates to the library, but this goes way beyond appreciation"