This Month - December

This Month in

Morrisson-Reeves Library History

December

1876

On December 5 a reporter for the Richmond Daily Independent visited the newly reopened Morrisson Library. The library had been closed since July so that staff could rearrange all the books according to a new system. This required that a completely new catalogue be printed. This new catalog was arranged "on the Dictionary plan. Each book is entered under the author, subject, and title, and the whole arranged in one alphabetical series." The original catalog printed in 1964 was arranged in broad subject areas, like Literature, Religion, Poetry, History, and Biography. The trustees tried to get patrons to acquire the new catalog by placing an item in the newspaper:

... The catalogue is very complete, being arranged after the best method of classification. It contains over 300 pages, and will be sold at the small price of 50 cents. Every family in the township should purchase a copy during the next week before any of its members propose to apply for books. All lists must be made from the new catalogue before coming to the library. The books have been arranged on the shelves, and the old catalogue will of no further use.

1900

Morrisson-Reeves Library reopened on December 28 after being closed for several weeks for renovations. Most notable was the new Children's Room on the lower level. Mrs. Wrigley had worked to open such a room for many years. The lower level, however, tended to be too damp and chilly, and the Boys' and Girls' Room was moved to the third floor in August 1902.

1912

Mary Taylor Reeves Foulke and family dedicated a small drinking fountain on December 30 on the north side of the library building in front of the bay window. The previous year the family's dog, named Bimbo, had died of rabies, and, since common knowledge of the time held that a lack of water causes rabies, the fountain was intended to be a rabies prevention measure. Water also flowed from the top for children.

1923

On December 11, the Evening Item reported that the success of the branch library at the Union Mission on the north side of town had prompted the decision to open another branch at the Hibberd School the following January. Because much of Richmond's immigrant community resided in the vicinity of the mission, that branch was cited as a part of Richmond's Americanization program. "School readers are being circulated among the children and those who have learned English at school are instructing their foreign born parents in the language of their adopted country." (Item 12 Aug 1923)

1932

At the Library Board's meeting on December 6, there was much discussion "in regard to the extra help provided by the government in the interest of unemployment. The Library was asked to add several women to the present staff and it was decided that eight represent the maximum number that can be used at present. They are to be employed under the C.W.A. until February 15." The Civil Works Administration was an early New Deal program and a subdivision of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration which provided work relief for a large number of people during the winter of 1933 and 1934.

1943

James F. Hibberd was named to the Library board on December 8 to replace Mr. William G. Bate, who had died in October. Mr. Hibberd was the great-great-grandson of Robert Morrisson.

1951

The library accepted the sheet music of Singin' Sam as a gift from his widow, Smiles Frankel. The collection includes more than 4,000 pieces of music. Singin' Sam, whose real name was Harry Frankel, had died in June 1948, and even though the New York Public Library had requested the collection, Smiles wanted to the music to remain in Harry's home town. The music was cataloged in 2001 and can still be accessed.

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