The Gladys Brooks Foundation Endowed Library Collection in Italian Art was established in 1999 by the Gladys Brooks Foundation, a charitable organization created in 1976 through the estate of philanthropist Gladys Brooks Thayer. Born in New York City in 1882, Gladys was an avid collector of antique furniture, china glass prints, and other artifacts. She realized the importance of placing her collections with museums and other organizations that would be able to preserve and share them. The foundation created in her name serves to promote the intellectual, moral, and physical welfare of the American people through its support of nonprofit libraries, educational institutions, hospitals, and clinics.

The Gladys Brooks Foundation Endowment supports scholarship and research in Italian art through collection development and services for the Hesburgh Libraries, broadening resources in the study of Italian art history, from the ancient culture of the Etruscans to the work of major 20th-century Italian artists. Funding from the Gladys Brooks Foundation has enabled the Libraries to assemble an exceptionally strong book collection in this area of fundamental importance to the history of art, benefiting students and faculty in Notre Dame’s art department, and across disciplines such as history, Italian studies, theology, and architecture.