It is exciting to have watched the preliminary groundwork and now to see the building process on the new library move to completion.
This very much parallels the need for reading, which is the foundation of maturity and success.
Thinking on the importance a library has for a community led me to join my voice with others in endorsing the naming of the library after Augusta's famous literary son, Berry Fleming.
Mr. Fleming was born in Augusta on March 19, 1899, and was educated in the public school system, eventually going to Middlesex for college prep and then on to Harvard, graduating in 1921.
He spent several years away from Augusta, but returned in the 1930s. He became involved with the library as vice president of the board of directors (1947-49) and board member (1949-51). He used the library and the information desk for research for his novels.
His 1943 Colonel Effingham's Raid was his most successful novel, a Book of the Month and a 1946 major motion picture. Effingham's Raid is a slightly veiled story of the political shenanigans of the Cracker Party in Augusta.
The follow-up novel, The Lightwood Tree , also dealt with the same theme.
I had the privilege of working with Mr. Fleming for the last 13 years of his life, and in going over his papers after he died in 1979, I found that of the many accolades that he received over the years -- the few that he kept -- one was the certificate of appreciation for his involvement with the library board.
I believe this says volumes on how he viewed his relationship with, and the value he placed on, the library.
William Harper
North Augusta, S.C.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Since the advent of the internet, I've been to the library less than 5 times and never for book reference. While it's nice to keep in touch with the past, tell me again the reason for the investment in the new library?
It's not a bad idea naming the library after a local author, but what about Frank Yerby, a black man who was born and raised here? How about the famous Erskine Caldwell who grew up in Wrens and had Augusta as the setting for some of his famous novels?
opiner, not everyone has the internet at their house, and not everyone has a laptop, and not everyone wants to take a laptop to the woods or the beach when they go on vacation. books are awesome, and a great way to expand your knowledge & frame of reference without logging on to facebook or twitter. Don't know anything about Colonel Effingham's Raid, but I'll be sure to pick it up next time I'm at the Appleby!
Please, please, please. Do not name the library after a person, living or dead. What is wrong with this name: Augusta Library . . .?
In an age when every self-published egomaniac considers himself an author, I salute Mr. Harper's proposal that our new library be named for Berry Fleming. I was privileged to know this cultured southern gentleman and will never forget how he (usually reclusive) surprised everyone at our school by turning up at rehearsals one afternoon when we were murdering one of his plays. Yes, he was a playwright and a poet as well; and a painter! He and his late daughter (Shirley Fleming, the internationally respected music critic) made certain that a sizable portion of their estate be mobilized to encourage other real writers after they were gone. Certainly this great man is worthy of our humble gratitude. I only wish we could honor Berry Fleming's memory more eloquently than by naming a big, expensive soviet style structure after him. On a symbolic level, however, a library is entirely appropriate. One of his greatest paintings, incidentally, is on grudging display in a cramped corner of another library in town.
"Colonel Effingham's Raid " also has a connection to the Chronicle. The man orchestrating the attack on the Crackers wrote a column for the local paper in the novel. But, again, if I were going to name the library for a local author it would be for Yerby or Caldwell. Both were internationally known authors. Mr. Fleming, not so much.
Riverman, I too am a fan of Caldwell and Yerby, but what did they ever contribute to Augusta? Once Caldwell left Wrens, he rarely returned here. Once Yerby discovered Spain he became a virtual ex-pat. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But Berry Fleming contributed directly to the library and to this community and his fortune still offers opportunity and hope to writers while his foundation sustains many other civic causes and endeavors.
The library should be named after Erskine Caldwell, indisputedly the most well-known literary figure to hail from the Augusta area. Frank Yerby would be another good choice.
I'm beginning to understand why it is so difficult for people to agree on a name for any public building--and why development people place such a premium on naming rights. Little Lamb is probably right: Augusta Library is the safest choice. Or we might compromise and call it That Big Old Ugly New Building With All Them Books In It.
dashiel, your deductive reasoning sometimes strikes gold. Your 7:00p post is such a time.
The city could "rent" the naming rights to whomever is the highest bidder. I would suggest that the name be allowed to stay for a three-year lease and then put up for bid for the next three years. If nobody bids any money to go into the library fund, then use "Augusta Library" until somebody coughs up some dough.