Library Director, Historian To Call it Quits at Year's End

Larry Burgess delivered quite a surprise this weekend when he announced that he will retire at the end of the year.

The longtime A.K. Smiley Library Director and local historian made the announcement on Sunday to what RedlandsDailyFacts called a “stunned audience” just after his final lecture in a history series about the library's Heritage Room.  

Burgess was hired as an archivist back in 1972 and became director of the library in 1985. Read more about Burgess’ accomplished career in this article.

In his announcement, Burgess called the A.K. Smiley Library “one of the distinguished libraries in California.”

Burgess will be honored at the Redlands Coiuntry Club on Dec. 29, according to the Press-Enterprise. Tickets will be $150 and proceeds will go to the library.

Here’s an entry from the City of Redlands site in which Burgess describes the uniqueness of Redlands.

WHY IS REDLANDS UNIQUE? The answer is simply because the desire and determination to make it so were exhibited from its beginning. To the past we owe much. The opportunities for the present and future spirit of Redlands are illimitable. Author Edith Hinckley is right: people do make the difference.