Helen Maulsby was living in Falls Church when she heard about the opening of the new Richard Byrd Library in Springfield in March 1965. She had no reason to go to the grand opening ceremony, but a life-long librarian, Maulsby was drawn partly out of curiosity, and partly out of admiration for Byrd, an Antarctic explorer and Winchester, Va., native.
"That was my first acquaintance with it," said Maulsby, who now lives in Fort Belvoir. "I thought this is really a nice branch. I'd like to work here sometime."
Maulsby got that wish nearly 15 years later, when she began a five-year stint as branch manager there, until she retired from full-time library work in 1983.
"It was a very busy branch, before they built a lot of these big satellite branches," said Maulsby, who will return to the venerable Byrd Library early next month for a bash to commemorate the 40th birthday of the building, located on Commerce Avenue in central Springfield.
Current branch manager Peggy Cope and the rest of the staff at Byrd are having a birthday breakfast for former staff and volunteers of the Library on April 8. The next day, a giant cake will be on hand to celebrate with the general public, as part of the Library's annual "Diversity Day" celebrations.
"We thought, well, if we’re going to do it, we’ll have to do it now, because the branch is scheduled to be renovated," said Cope.
BYRD IS one of several Fairfax County branches that will receive funds for upcoming renovations, as part of voters' approval of a $52.5 million library bond last November. It will serve to modernize the branch, which currently holds 77,000 volumes, over twice as many as the 35,000 volumes it was recommended to house when built.
The current branch was also built as part of a library bond referendum, which was approved in November 1959. For the three years prior to that, however, a Richard Byrd Library had already existed, in a storefront location on Backlick Road. That location was the result of the efforts of several Springfield citizens groups, which raised the $6,000 needed to rent the space and put up shelving and purchase books. One of the groups, the Crestwood Woman's Club — now the Woman's Club of Springfield — raised $2,000 on its own, through a variety of methods. According to Janet Crupper, the president of the Woman's Club at the time, the challenge was for each of the Club's nearly 60 members to raise $10 apiece.
"We couldn’t just donate it. We had to do something for it. We baby-sat, we ironed, we did all kinds of things," said Crupper, who recently moved to Burke from Springfield, where she had lived for over 40 years. In addition, members of the Club approached local merchants to work in their stores and donate their salary to the library fund. They also went from door to door, selling shares of the library for $2 apiece. In the end, the 1,400-square-foot storefront branch opened in 1958, in between an auto parts store and a billiard parlor. Sen. Harry Byrd, brother of the famous explorer, spoke at the event, and films were shown on the life of Richard Byrd at the Crestwood School earlier that week.
"We were very proud that we had had a part of it at all," said Crupper. As a result of the club's efforts, the Federation of Women's Clubs gave its Springfield chapter a $100 prize. That money went to buy chairs for the new library. When the current branch opened in 1965, it was under the direction of the Fairfax County Public Libraries.
ALTHOUGH SPRINGFIELD has undergone dramatic physical changes in the 40 years since the Byrd Library opened, the branch has remained relatively the same in that time. The Mixing Bowl project has made traffic more congested, and technology has increased, meaning the Library had to adapt.
"Springfield has changed, but the basic needs of the people have not," said Cope. "People in the community have always needed a community center, whether they are using us for meetings or now for the Internet, they still need to come to a public space."
Over the years, the Byrd Library has seen its share of interesting moments. In 1971, the parents of 5-year-old Alice Martin, a resident of Hanover Avenue, were dismayed to find their daughter missing from home. They combed the area and found Alice on Cumberland Avenue in front of the Library, at 10 a.m. While her parents and neighbors were looking for her, Alice had been in the Library, reading books and entertaining the librarians.
Maulsby recalled the staff itself getting into the entertainment business. One Halloween while she was branch manager, they all decided to come to work in costume. While working at the reference desk that day, Maulsby gave patrons a surprise when she borrowed a tutu from a friend and wore that to the Library.
"I remember the look of astonishment on the face of the patron, who came up to the reference desk," she said. "I said, 'May I help you sir?' His expression was priceless."
THE $7.3 MILLION renovations to the Byrd Library are tentatively scheduled to be complete in 2010. They will include increasing the Library's size to from 10,000 to 18,200 square feet, and will add more small meeting rooms, a larger conference room and much more seating. According to Cope, the Library currently includes just 62 seats. The upgrade will also include frosted glass on the Commerce Avenue side to increase visibility, since as Cope said, she still hears comments from people who don't know the Library is there.
For those who do come, Cope said the Library's renovations will help it provide the same services — such as literacy programs and a sizable Spanish-language collection — for its patrons.
"It’s a nice community library," she said. "I hope the presence in the green part of Springfield will still be a place holder for the library. It’s a quiet place. We have a butterfly garden in the summer. You see a lot of families eating out there in the summer. I hope with the change that will not change."