Room. Governance During its Columbia University years, RBS had no independent existence; it was part of the University's School of Library Service. When the library school closed in 1992 and RBS moved to the University of Virginia, the school became a non-profit corporation in Virginia. RBS was granted tax-exempt (501(c)(3)) status by the Internal Revenue Service in 2002, and UVa's Alumni Fund, which had held RBS's assets in trust since 1992, turned them over to the RBS Board of Directors, and the school became fully independent. In 2007, RBS was granted Affiliated Foundation status by UVa's Board of Visitors. the chair of the RBS Board of Directors was John Crichton (San Francisco, CA); Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum (New York, NY) was vice-chair; Beppy Landrum Owen (Orlando, FL) was secretary; Joan M. Friedman (Urbana, IL) was treasurer. Michael F. Suarez, S.J., was the executive director of Rare Book School. Succession In 2007, RBS director Terry Belanger announced that he planned to step down as director of RBS in 2009. In the summer of 2008, UVa and RBS established a joint search committee chaired by Beverly P. Lynch to find a successor. On June 18, 2009, UVa President John T. Casteen III announced that Michael F. Suarez had accepted appointments as University Professor and Professor of English at UVa and as director of RBS, effective September 1, 2009. Friends of Rare Book School Rare Book School and the Book Arts Press are supported by a 650-member friends group, the Friends of Rare Book School. Since 1976, individual Friends have contributed more than $2 million, as well as many gifts in kind. In addition, more than two hundred North American and European libraries have donated unwanted, damaged, and defective books (or parts of books) both old and new to the RBS collections. There are five classes of Friends. The regular membership is $50/year. Good Friends of Rare Book School contribute $100 or more/year, Very Good Friends pay $250 or more/year, Close Friends pay $500 or more/year, and Best Friends donate $1,000 or more/year. As part of their membership, Friends of Rare Book School receive an occasional newsletter, and a copy of the Book Arts Press Address Book, published every other year. The Campaign for RBS At the beginning of 2006, RBS embarked on the public phase of a $2 million endowment campaign (the school's endowment then stood at about $150,000). The campaign was supported by