It was Kathleen Reilly who early this year, despite a painful knee, argued before the Trustees for the acceptance of my Melville Collection (books, offprints, research papers, &c) by the Berkshire Athenaeum. A director had said years before that there was no room for so large a mass of material but thanks in part to Kathy's testifying as to the value of the Collection, the new (and young) director, Alex Reczkowski, decided that there was indeed room, in a specially constructed facility. Now as we finalize plans for shipping the Collection to the BA we are working with Alex and with Ann-Marie Harris. The BA has been extraordinarily lucky to have great librarians there over the decades--from Mrs. Zak, who welcomed me when I hitchhiked there in 1962, onward through the magnificent Ruth Degenhardt and then Kathy, and now Ann-Marie. It continues to be a wonderful space to work in.
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