THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609130222
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: CLOSE-UP
SOURCE: Janie Bryant
LENGTH: 120 lines
Blanche Taylor may not be a master gardener, but after 24 years of poring over endless books on the subject she can hold her own in any horticultural conversation.
Taylor is the librarian for the William Collins Hill Memorial Horticultural Library - a little gem tucked away in the back of the Ambassador Club building in West Park View.
She opened the small one-room library in 1972 and is still its librarian.
``One of my wishes is that we could have more people using the library, because we do have wonderful books there,'' Taylor said.
The library is funded through an endowment left by the Hill family - a prominent family that lived in Olde Towne from the early 1800s to 1961.
Open to the public, the library operates three days a week, although it closes for several weeks each summer.
Taylor has scaled back to working one day a week now, but she said her daughter-in-law, Linda Taylor, works the other two days and eventually will take over for her.
It's a quiet job, and sometimes it can get lonely. The library draws about eight to 10 patrons a week.
The city has put up signs showing the way to the library, located on Peninsula Avenue and London Boulevard, and that has helped.
Blanche Taylor has more than 500 patrons now.
``People who come down here are tickled to death with it,'' she said. ``They just can't believe it.''
Taylor has purchased more than 2,400 books for the library since it opened. But because of limited space she weeds out the older editions, keeping the collection at about 2,000.
She usually has some of the older selections on a sale table for 25 cents each.
``It's amazing through the years how much that adds up for my petty cash,'' she said.
She buys everything from gardening and landscaping books to crafts, cooking and even children's books.
The library stocks a number of books on wildflowers, which have been an interest for Taylor and her husband for years now. The Taylors have photographed more than 300 types of wildflowers.
But she is interested in most topics related to nature and gardening.
``My mother was a flower gardener, and many, many years back I can remember my dear daddy working up flower beds for her,'' she said. ``So I've been around flowers all my life.''
She doesn't claim to have read every book in the library.
``But I always give them a good going over so that I am aware of what we have,'' she said. ``And on slow days at the library I'll pick them up and read some more.''
Name: Blanche Eppes Taylor.
Nickname: Honey.
Neighborhood: Westwood.
Number of years in Portsmouth: 55.
Birthplace: Richmond.
Birthdate: Senior citizen.
Occupation: Librarian.
What job other than your own would you like? Happy as I am.
Marital status: Married 59 years to Benjamin F. Taylor.
Children/grandchildren: Three sons - Calvin, 56; Earl, 52; David, 42. One grandson, John, 24.
Fondest childhood memory: Growing up in a large family.
First concert: As a member of the Portsmouth Community Concert Association at Willett Hall many years ago. (She doesn't remember who the performer was).
What song or book title best describes your life? ``The Good Earth.''
If you won the lottery, what's the very first thing you would buy? Before buying anything, I would share with the family, our church and the needy.
If you could trade places for just one day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? Lady Byrd Johnson - and one day I could plant enough wildflower seeds to make the roadsides of Virginia as colorful as parts of Texas.
Biggest accomplishment: Being married to the same wonderful husband for 59 years and raising healthy boys.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? To stop trying to carry the worries of the world on my shoulders.
Perfect way to spend the day: Day out with my husband.
I can't resist: Chocolate fudge cake.
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: The Max.
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: Enjoying the birds and nature from our patio.
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: Attitude of some of its citizens.
If you had three wishes for Portsmouth, what would they be?
More places of business returning.
Success with Vision 2005 program.
Lower crime rate.
Other than its small-town atmosphere, what do you like about living in Portsmouth? It's home. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
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LIBRARY INFORMATION
The William Collins Hill Memorial Horticultural Library reopens
for the year on Monday.
All books checked out before the library closed in July for the
summer are due.
Hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and
Fridays.
The library is at 364 Peninsula Ave. in the Ambassador Club
building.
New books added to the library this summer include:
``The Living Wreath'' by Teddy Colbert
``A Ribbon Bouquet'' by Kathy Pace
``The Spirit of Christmas,'' the 10th book in the Leisure Arts
series
``Robert Stiffler's Gardening in Southeastern Virginia and
Northeastern North Carolina''
``Daffodils'' by Brent and Becky Heath
``Gardens and Graveyards of the Southeastern Seaboard'' by Henry
Clay Childs
``The New Perennial Garden'' by Noel Kingsbury
``Healthy Homestyle Cooking'' by Evelyn Tribole
``Peonies'' by Allan Rogers
``Seeds: The Definitive Guide to Growing, History and Lore of
Seeds'' by Peter Loewer
``Growing Fruit in Your Backyard'' by Lee Reich
``History of Norfolk County from 1861 through 1865 by John W.H.
Porter by CNB