[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 21, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S3231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                     TRIBUTE TO DR. CHARLES MONELL

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I ask my colleagues to join 
me in honoring Dr. Charles Monell as he retires from the Rancho Mirage 
Library Advisory Commission after two decades of service and dedication 
to the library and the community it serves.
  Throughout a long and distinguished career in medicine, including as 
the chief of surgery at the Beverly Glen Hospital in Los Angeles, Dr. 
Monell also gave generously of his time to a variety of charitable 
causes, especially those supporting music and education. Being 
particularly devoted to supporting public libraries, Dr. Monell served 
on the California State Library Commission for 14 years prior to 
retiring from medicine in 1992 and becoming a full-time resident of 
Rancho Mirage, which was working to establish its first public library.
  In 1993, Dr. Monell was appointed to the Rancho Mirage Public Library 
Planning Committee, and led the effort to convert a former bank 
building into the first library. On January 6, 1996, as chairman of the 
new Rancho Mirage Public Library Commission, he introduced President 
Gerald Ford for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and formal opening of the 
Rancho Mirage Public Library.
  The library was up and running, but Dr. Monell did not stop there. In 
2003, he secured a gift of $2 million from the Annenberg Foundation to 
purchase land for a new and larger Rancho Mirage Public Library, which 
opened on January 6, 2006--10 years to the day after the first library 
opening.
  Dr. Monell has shared his lifelong love of music with the library and 
the community. With his personal contributions and fundraising efforts, 
he helped the library purchase a Steinway concert grand piano and 
sponsored concert performances by the acclaimed musicians of the 
Idyllwild Arts Academy. He has also donated his personal Civil War 
library to the Rancho Mirage Library, and generously made possible a 
private study room in the library for the community to use.
  On May 12, the Library Advisory Commission honored Dr. Monell for his 
extraordinary devotion to the library and his 18 years of service on 
the commission. On June 5, Mayor Iris Smotrich will present Dr. Monell 
with a proclamation from the City of Rancho Mirage in appreciation of 
his distinguished service.
  I am pleased to join them in saluting Dr. Charles Monell for his 
dedicated and inspiring service to the community of Rancho 
Mirage.

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