It’s not unusual to come across a rare bit of flora along the many miles of hiking trails and theme gardens that make up the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. Another, even lesser known find is the Arboretum’s large reference library. Housed on the second floor of the facility’s Education Center, it offers detailed clues about the 434-acre property off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
An unadvertised benefit of membership at the Arboretum (in addition to free parking and other perks), is the resource library of approximately 3,500 volumes spans horticulture, gardening, and landscape design and architecture, with special emphasis on the azalea and bonsai collections the Arboretum has become so well known for.
The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, documenting the famed landscape architect behind Biltmore Estate who inspired the founding of the Arboretum, and other literary botanical treasures, such as bound compendiums of Arnoldia magazine from Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum dating back to 1915, are housed in the library collection. Several volunteer librarians catalogue the library, which, as part of the UNC system, is searchable online within the Western North Carolina Library Network (wncln.wncln.org). (Books cannot be checked out, and the room is often used for board meetings and education classes.)
For George Briggs, the Arboretum’s executive director, the books represent connections back to the people who have made the Arboretum possible since its founding in the 1980s — visitors, volunteers, members, and staff. “We’re very fortunate, as you can tell,” Briggs says on a recent tour. “We have a library with a legacy.”
Briggs notes that the Arboretum’s staff uses the library frequently. “To have a great garden, you need a great library, as well,” he says. “The staff have it at their fingertips.”
The collection began with a large donation by Harry Logan, who retired to Henderson County with a truckload of plants and books from Connecticut, where he owned a professional nursery. Briggs recalls first meeting Logan in 1987 at his Grimesdale home. “His books and those plants were his life, they were like his family. So whenever you came in, you were invited into the family. That’s why I have such a great memory of him. He was such a generous individual.” In his estate planning, Logan gave the Arboretum about 3,000 books — some dating back to the 19th century — and a $25,000 endowment to maintain the library. He passed away in the early ’90s.
“Harry was selective in what he bought. He framed the subject matter, and we were able to add layers onto it,” Briggs says. Contemporary books were added, including titles by perennials expert Allan Armitage and Michael Dirr, author of The Manual of Woody Landscape Plants — both “folk heroes” in their fields, according to Briggs. Armitage and Dirr, who are professors at the University of Georgia, have given lectures at the Arboretum several times, and Armitage taught a three-day class on perennials at the Arboretum in October.
Whitney Rigsbee Smith, manager of public relations at the Arboretum, notes “the history behind the space … and the people who have helped bring it to life. We hope we can continue to uphold their dreams.”
For Briggs, who traveled in England in the ’90s with Dirr and Armitage, a visit to the library is about more than research — it’s a reminder of the many friends of the Arboretum.
“There is so much more meaning to this room than what’s in these pages.”
The reference library at the North Carolina Arboretum is open to members 9am-5pm daily, except during meetings and conferences. Call ahead at 828-665-2492, ext. 200. See www.ncarboretum.org for general information.