In 1932, at the peak of an economic depression, Carl Furnas went into business for himself. The company's first product was a reversing electrical drum controller. Leto Furnas performed secretarial and accounting duties for the new company, and also hand-assembled the drum controllers in the basement of their home. At the same time, she met with equal faith and enthusiasm the demands of a wife and mother. In 1962, upon the death of her husband, Leto Furnas became the chairman of the board of Furnas Electric.

The Furnas Foundation was originally established by Carl Furnas in 1960 to support educational, religious, scientific, and charitable causes. In 1964, the focs was refined to primarily maintaining scholarship programs and providing financial support to non-profit agencies.

On July 25, 1986, the Furnas Foundation met with members of the board of trustees of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy to discuss a grant that would enable the Academy to create a model information environment. The Furnas Foundation donated $300,000 ($100,000 per year for three years) toward the creation of a "library without walls." The library was formally dedicated to Leto M. Furnas in an official dedication ceremony on October 6, 1987, in what is now known as the Leto M. Furnas Information Resource Center.

Our resources are curriculum-oriented. We reinforce independent, interactive, interdisciplinary, individiualized and intuitive learning. Today, the IRC has 40,000 books, videos, DVDs, CDs and CD-ROMs, and about one hundred periodical subscriptions. Our online databases provide access to thousands of full text journal and news articles, government and statistical reports. IMSA is part of the statewide academic library consortium, ILLINET Online, offering online circulation and interlibrary loan access. Our materials are frequently requested by other libraries statewide. We provide nationwide access to over 18,000 libraries and 300 million items through OCLC. All students and staff have Internet access.