The University of Richmond has had a music collection almost since the beginning: books about music are among those that survive from the original library of Richmond College. The roots of a separate music library can be traced to 1934. In that year, the parents of Margaret James, a Westhampton College alumna who died tragically young, donated their daughter’s piano, music scores, and recordings to the University. These materials were housed in the “Margaret James Room” on the third floor of Keller Hall, where students gathered to perform recitals, hold club meetings, and listen to music. Playing jazz on Margaret’s piano, however, was strictly forbidden.
Miss Coker, an avid gardener, funded the garden at the Deanery.
In 1955 a formal music library opened on the fourth floor of Keller Hall, under the direction of Hannah Lide Coker. Miss Coker, a 1923 graduate of Westhampton College, had been a professor of music education since 1945, and she additionally assumed the duties of a librarian. With the assistance of student employees, she opened the library six afternoons a week. A Collegian article from September 1955 indicates that the music library owned almost 2,000 recordings, as well as a three-speed record player. In addition to the Margaret James collection, music scores had been donated by former music professors F. Flaxington Harker and Edith Harker. Miss Coker steadily expanded the collection beyond the Western classical canon, announcing new acquisitions in The Collegian. From the start, she promoted the music library as a resource for the entire campus community.
Listening in the music library (The Collegian, 1970)
In 1968, the music library moved to room 108 of the new Fine Arts Building, later known as Booker Hall. The library was now open seven days a week, and, according to The Collegian, boasted “a spacious lounge and office, two private listening booths, and several late-model phonographs with headphone connections.” In 1970, Miss Coker hired Bonny Hall as her part-time assistant. Hall was an avid amateur musician who had previously worked as a nurse.
Miss Coker retired from the University in 1971, and for a few years leadership of the music library was shared by other music faculty. Meanwhile, Bonny Hall enrolled in library school, and after earning her degree in 1975 she was appointed the University’s first credentialed music librarian. Shortly after that, oversight of the music library was transferred from the Music Department to Boatwright Library. With a team of student employees and two full-time staff, the music library was now open 80 hours a week
At the suggestion of Provost Zeddie Bowen, in spring 1985 Hall initiated a lunchtime concert series with local classical musicians performing at a variety of venues on campus. As the series gained traction, genres such as jazz, bluegrass, and folk were added, and funding was provided by both the University and external grants.
Parsons Music Library, circa 2016
In 1996 the music library relocated again, this time to Webb Tower in the newly constructed Modlin Center for the Arts. The new library was named for Mary Morton Parsons, a local philanthropist whose foundation helped fund the facility. With new shelving, three rooms of audio/video playback equipment, five study carrels, and a piano, Parsons Music Library was better positioned to serve both the Music Department and the campus at large.
Bonny Hall retired in 2001, and a year later she was succeeded by Linda Fairtile, a librarian and musicologist. The library’s dance books and videos were relocated from Boatwright to Parsons in 2012. By this time, the music library held nearly 13,000 CDs, 15,000 music scores, and some 600 DVDs.
Temporary quarters at the Refectory (formerly, Sarah Brunet Hall)
With space again becoming a concern, news of another renovation was a welcome development. During the 2017-18 academic year, the music library, together with the Department of Music, temporarily relocated to the Refectory (then, Sarah Brunet Hall). When they returned to the Modlin Center in 2018, the renovated Parsons Music Library had grown by about 50%, with compact shelving, a greatly enlarged study area, and even an outdoor patio.