This Month in
Morrisson-Reeves Library History
January
| Soon after the Morrisson Library was opened in July 1864 a committee of citizens had commissioned John Wolfe to paint a portrait of the founder. On January 7 the life-sized portrait of Robert Morrisson was placed in the Reading Room of the Library. The Quaker City Telegram reported that "it is a strikingly truthful representation of the original. The peculiar bearing and air of the venerable and respected character it represents, appears to have been successfully transfered to the canvas..." That sounds nice, but apparently wasn't really the case, because those citizens soon commissioned Marcus Mote to repaint Morrisson's head to look more like Morrisson himself. The Telegram was correct when it said that, "it will long stand where it now is to convey to those yet unborn, a faithful impression of the features of their benefactor." The painting remained in the same spot until 1975 when it was moved to the new library building before demolition of the old one, and it can be seen near the entrance to this day. |  |
The Sun-Telegram carried a story on January 6 which listed each of the 84 magazines and newspapers found in the Reading Room. This list included some titles still in existence today, like Scientific American, Atlantic Monthly, House Beautiful, Ladies Home Journal. Magazines at this time were paid for by the Reeves Committee. The article also mentions the lighting upgrade of the previous year. "The improvement made in lighting the library has done much to increase the number of readers. The room was formerly lighted by gas, but now electric lights of the latest pattern, made especially for libraries, furnish the light. There are two lights over each table with shades around them that throw all the light upon the table. The light is excellent and although strong, does not effect the eyes."
The following appeared in the Evening Item on January 30:
| The public library is the most popular place in Richmond on Sundays. The library has been open of Sunday afternoons from 2 to 5 for some time, and the reading room at that time is always crowded. When the hour of closing comes people have to be almost driven from the place. As the majority of these patrons are people who cannot visit the reading room on any other day, and they have asked that the room be opened longer of a Sunday, and the management has decided to keep the reading room of the library open from 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon until 9 o'clock Sunday evening. It will no doubt prove a popular decision. |
 |
At the Mid-Winter meeting of the American Library Association in Washington DC, it was announced that Harriet Bard would be the first recipient of the Allie Beth Martin Award for Distinguished Librarianship. Named for a recent ALA president who died in office, the award is given to a "librarian , who, in a public library setting has demonstrated an extraordinary range and depth of knowledge about books or other library materials and who has shown a distinguished ability to share that knowledge." The award was to be given at the ALA annual meeting the following June in Dallas. |