Conveniently located just off Interstate 64 at the intersection of Hanley Road and Dale Avenue, The Richmond Heights Memorial Library is a full-service municipal library. Located in THE HEIGHTS, Richmond Heights Community Center and Memorial Library, the Library offers a bright, comfortable atmosphere. Our collections include over 75,000 items in popular formats. Our high-speed internet connection can be accessed on library computers or via our public wifi connection.
A separate children’s room ensures a comfortable, nurturing venue, and parents will find a variety of story hours, crafts, book clubs and computer activities.
We belong to the Municipal Library Consortium of St. Louis County; Your Hometown Library Network (http://www.mlc-stl.org), and participate in reciprocal lending agreements with St. Louis Public, St. Louis County, St. Charles City-County, Jefferson County, and Scenic Regional libraries in order to ensure that our services are available to users region-wide.
The Richmond Heights Public Library was established in 1933 with a $16 gift from the disbanding Lion’s Club. Various churches and civic organizations donated approximately 1,800 books, and room was provided at City Hall to house the new library. A clerk was furnished by the federal government under the Work Projects Administration (WPA), one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies founded to help the country out of the Great Depression.
In 1934, the Library’s Board of Trustees was established, and the trustees elected John P. Wentworth as the Board’s first president. One year later, Marquerite Norville was employed as the first librarian.
The Library continued to grow and was moved to a larger area on the main floor of City Hall in 1935. The following year the first assistant librarian, Edna L. Amend, was added to the staff. Throughout the World War II years the Library expanded and offered new services, acquiring more space as the need arose. In 1949 Ms. Norville resigned and Ms. Amend was appointed Head Librarian in 1950. In 1962 the existing library space was remodeled and a portion of the former city garage, located in the basement at City Hall, was converted into a nonfiction room.
In 1970 two homes located east of the new firehouse (located at 7449 Dale Avenue) were purchased to make way for a new library building. On October 10th, 1972, voters approved a $350,000 bond issue to finance construction and operation of the new Library. One year later, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the city of Richmond Heights, ground was broken. A September 16, 1974 resolution by the Board of Trustees renamed the facility the Richmond Heights Memorial Library. The building was thus dedicated on Memorial Day, May 26th, 1975.
The Library became affiliated with the Municipal Library Cooperative of St. Louis County in 1969. This organization became the Municipal Library Consortium of St. Louis County In 1996 and is comprised of nine independent municipal libraries sharing an automated circulation system and computerized public catalog.
After 33 years as Director, Edna Amend retired in 1983 and was replaced by Nicholas Niederlander. Under Mr. Niederlander’s directorship, the first Children’s Librarian was added to the staff and in 1997 Internet access and online reference sources were introduced. In that same year, planning began for a new facility which would become the Library’s third home. In September 1999 after holding the position for sixteen years, Mr. Niederlander moved on to a new position as Library Director in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
Jeanette Piquet accepted the position of Library Director in March of 2000, coming to Richmond Heights from St. Louis Public Library. Ms. Piquet oversaw the completion of the new Library facility and the Library moved into its new home at THE HEIGHTS: Richmond Heights Community Center and Memorial Library. The Library opened for business December 3rd with greatly expanded collections and services in a much larger 13,000 square foot facility. The Library’s first webpage was created in December 2001. Updated services included a separate Children’s Library with more programming, twelve public computers, access to a variety of electronic reference databases and learning software for all ages. In 2005 the Friends of the Richmond Heights Memorial Library was formed. After 20 years of dedicated service, Ms. Piquet retired in June 2020.
Erin Magner became the Library’s next Director through February 2022, crafting pandemic response plans to ensure the safety of the community and staff while providing quality service during a challenging time.
Current Director Kathleen Gallagher came on board in April 2022. Prior to that she spent 13 years at the University City Public Library, mostly as its Assistant Director. She is thrilled to be at the Richmond Heights Memorial Library and looks forward to growing the Library’s role in the community as an enriching source of materials and services for all.
The Library Board and staff are dedicated to providing the best possible library, keeping abreast of the fast pace of technologies while always remaining Richmond Heights’ own community lending library. We look forward to seeing you!
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