| As far back as the 1960s Rosa Keller had been making plans for the exterior
beautification of the Main Library building. In a ca. 1968 letter to Herbert Jahncke, chairman of the Parkway and Park
Commission, she mentions benches as part of the plan, noting that they "will have to come from other sources." During
her last full year on the Library Board Mrs. Keller made her benches a reality by giving the funds needed for their
fabrication and installation. Rosa Keller, the Mayor, and Wallace Young were the first New Orleanians to enjoy a seat on
the Library's new benches. Each bench was marked by a small plaque on which was engraved the name and service
dates of one of the fourteen individuals who served as chairman of the Public Library Board since its creation in 1896.
[New Orleans Municipal Government Photograph Collection--NOPL Series] |