WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- New programs at the West Hartford Public Library are the result of a surprise gift left by a former employee.

Thomas Kilfoil worked at the library's reference desk for 25 years. Kilfoil died in 2005 at the age of 82, leaving the library a surprise gift of $2 million.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Irene O'Connor reported that in the decades Kilfoil worked at the library, no one knew how wealthy he was.

Employees of the library said that Kilfoil didn't even own a car, and that he walked two miles to work every day.

"Everywhere he went people recognized him and he had a knack for making people feel like he remembered them," said reference librarian Judy Eisenberg. "Because we see so many people every day, it's hard to keep up. He was a very gracious man."

Kilfoil's gift has allowed the library to build a new handicapped accessible reference desk, plan renovations, open a West Hartford history room and begin an internship for students who want to become librarians.

"He was always really growing in his own knowledge base and he gave that excitement to the people he worked with, and also to the people of the town who came in to use the library," Eisenberg said.