40-Plus Years of Donations to the Williamsburg Regional Library

During its fledgling year, 1977, the Williamsburg Bird Club began an ongoing relationship with the community at large by donating books to the Williamsburg Regional Library. The first two books donated were A Field Guide to North American Bird Clubs and a Field Guide to the Birds of California. Other early donations included a subscription to Bird Watcher’s Digest and a complete 21-volume set of Arthur Cleveland Bent series, Life Histories of North American Birds, given in memory of local conservationist Everett Raynes who died in 1980. In 1983, the Club donated The Bird Watchers Companion in memory of Marjory Sheehan, the wife of Capt. Bill Sheehan, who had acted as Club secretary. The Club’s first Lifetime Member, Anne Smith, was memorialized in 1990 by the donation of an inscribed copy of The Audubon Encyclopedia of North American Birds by John Terres.

In addition to specific books donated, annual donations to the library were given: $75 a year in the 1970s, then increasing over the decades to the current $200 a year. These cash donations first came from proceeds of the Club’s annual bird seed sales, which the Club held before the specialty store, Wild Birds Unlimited, opened in town. Once bird seed sales ceased, donations for library resources came from membership dues and other income.

In 1990, the position of Library Liason was established, and Alice Springe, a very early member of the Club, took on this task, working with the librarians to help decide what bird-related books to order. She held that position for ten years, until she passed away. Alice had also taken on other roles in the Club including Secretary/Treasurer in 1980, Secretary from 1983-1985, and coordinator of the Bird-Seed Savings Day for many years. Ever since her passing, books donated to the library have been made in Alice Springe’s memory with a plaque in each book to commemorate her.

Lee Schuster, another early member, and president of the Club in 1996-97, has been the Library Liasion ever since. According to library records, over the years the Williamsburg Bird Club has donated 228 books, 1 cassette of bird songs, 10 CDs, 7 VHS videos, 9 DVDs and the subscription to Bird Watchers Digest. While weeding has reduced the collection, many titles remain and the collection grows each year. Lists of these donations can be found in back issues of The Flyer. One recent donation was The Birds of Virginia’s Colonial Historic Triangle: An Annotated Checklist edited by Bill Williams.

Donations to Library