CHAWTON House Library is facing a new challenge as Dr Sandy Lerner steps down after more than 20 years as chairman of the board of trustees to take on the honorary position of founding patron.

While pledging to cover the costs of running the library until the end of 2017 and to set up an endowment to contribute toward the annual running costs thereafter, Dr Lerner has also challenged the trustees to raise matched funding to secure the future of the library – a challenge which they are confident can be met with the help of patrons, friends, and the public.

Her decision marks a new era in the history of the Elizabethan manor house.

A passionate reader and collector of women’s writing, in 1993 Sandy Lerner heard, through the Jane Austen Society of North America, that the house in Chawton, which had belonged to Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight, had fallen into a dilapidated state and she determined to rescue the situation.

The American entrepreneur, who co-founded the multi-billion dollar internet technology company Cisco Systems, set up a UK registered charity, Chawton House Library, to purchase a long lease from the Austen heir, Richard Knight, who is now a trustee of the charity.

Dr Lerner is said to have paid £1.25m to buy the house on a long lease from Edward’s descendent, Richard Knight. A further £10m was spent on its restoration, thereby saving it for Chawton, Hampshire and the nation – as well as for admirers of Jane Austen worldwide.

The restoration project took 10 years to complete and in addition to the funding, Dr Lerner donated her collection of more than 7,000 rare volumes and related manuscripts written by women in English from 1600 to 1830.

Chawton House Library has since developed into an internationally respected research and learning centre for the study of early women’s writing.

In paying tribute to the American benefactor, Mr Knight said: “Sandy Lerner has poured her time, money and ideas into Chawton House Library, and I salute her. I am grateful to her for putting the library into Chawton House, thereby rescuing the buildings, gardens, and landscape which had reached a sad point of decay when she took over.”

General manager Anthony Hughes-Onslow said: “We are all immensely grateful to Sandy for providing the original vision – and the core collection of rare books – for Chawton House Library. Her drive to establish this unique charity to promote early women’s writing in the village where Jane Austen spent the last years of her life has been inspirational.

“Sandy’s financial commitment, and her unswerving dedication in terms of her own time, has given Chawton House Library a tremendous amount of support for over two decades.”

He added: “Sandy has generously pledged to cover the costs of running the library until the end of 2017, and to set up an endowment to contribute toward the annual running costs thereafter. Her intention is that we should use her generous support as a ‘challenge’ gift to raise matched funding to secure the future of the library.”

With Sandy’s departure from the board, Chawton House faces challenges that will demand creativity and commitment from its dedicated supporters.

Interim chairman Dr Linda Bree, of Cambridge University Press, writes: “What Sandy Lerner has done in establishing Chawton House Library is a magnificent thing, and what she proposes – as she turns her attention, after all this time, to her other interests – is typically generous. We will now need to work towards a sustainable future for the Library which will pay tribute to her vision, and the years of time, energy and expertise she put into establishing it.

“Building on the foundations of the last 20 years, we will continue to develop our international academic research profile, and the range of what we offer visitors to the house and the gardens. We must protect and preserve this significant literary heritage for years to come. With the support of our patrons, friends and the wider public, we know we can secure our future.”