“My grandparents originally planned a private foundation that would build the library and after 99 years have it become part of the public patrimony. It is a model similar to those in the U.S. But in Brazil, a regulatory change (aimed at preventing the creation of fictitious foundations in order to avoid taxes) demanded that all assets transferred to foundations were to be subject to taxation. This severely limited the incentive to set up foundations, especially in a country where citizens get very little return in terms of public services.
Because of this, the story of our library was unprecedented in Brazil. My grandparents made the donation directly to the University of São Paulo (USP, a public university), with the condition that the school construct and maintain a library within three and a half years.
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