TALLAHASSEE—As Alachua County’s library director, Sol M. Hirsch earned a reputation for improving library services and community involvement. After his 2011 retirement from the library system, Hirsch turned his attention to establishing a legacy at his alma mater in memory of his parents, who were both Nazi concentration camp survivors and lost their entire families in the Holocaust.

Hirsch, who completed a Master of Science in library studies at Florida State University in 1976, and his wife, Beverly J. Hirsch, recently established the Sol and Beverly Hirsch Endowment. The endowment will provide scholarships for master’s and doctoral students pursing degrees in library and information studies to encourage their research on the Holocaust (Shoah), its aftermath and its impact on Jewish life and culture.