Reynolds Library collection

Upon the closure of the Athenaeum Library in 1877, Rochester, New York lost its only lending library with substantial literary and non-fiction holdings. The Reynolds family had long supported the Athenaeum Library, which inspired Mortimer F. Reynolds, who was childless, to invest his fortune in the creation of a new subscription library as a memorial to his family. The Reynolds Library receieved its charter from New Yrok State in 1884 and opened its doors on January 6, 1886. The first librarian was Williamm A. Borden. The Reynolds Library initially operated in a space on the third floor of the Reynolds Arcade, moving to the former mansion of Mortimer Reynolds upon his death in 1892.

With the closure of the original Rochester Public Library in 1904, the Reynolds Library became the only circulating library in the city until the new Rochester Public Library opened in 1912. At the same time, the Raynolds Library began to face financial pressure due to an 1896 state law abolishing the previous tax exemption for library-held real estate. As the Raynolds Library was funded through income from the Reynolds Arcade buidling, the tax bills owed by the library slowly ate away at its finances. Despite this handicap, the Reynolds Library continued to grow and develop a diverse collection for decades. It was not until the 1920s that the Reynolds Library began to see serious competition from the rapidly growing Rochester Public Library. Faced with a deteriorating financial situation, the Reynolds Library to merge with another area library -first, that of the University of Rochester, then, following public outcry, with the Rochester Public Library. The latter union was consummated by City Council on December 26, 1933, and was contingent upon the construction of a new Central Library building. This would become the Rundel Memorial Building. A bill alloowing the merger passed the State Legislature and was signed by Governor Lehman in March of 1934. With the Rundel Memorial Building completed, the Reynolds Library shut its doors on September 1, 1936, and moved its collection into the new building.