Berry G. Richards: A Pioneer in Library Tech

Pioneers often feel a special responsibility to ease the way for those who come after them, and Berry G. Richards, the first woman director of libraries at Lehigh, met that challenge with foresight and verve, embracing the digital revolution and instituting innovative library technologies.

Yet Richards, who died July 15, 2021, at age 90, never lost her love of books or short-changed her relationships with staff, faculty and students as she helped shepherd library advancements.

“She was so brilliant,” said Sharon Wiles-Young, Lehigh’s director of library access services. “She saw strategically into the future ... what kind of technology could be used for libraries.

She could foresee how technology was going to move us forward.”

Greg Reihman, vice provost for library and technology services, says, “She was using words like ‘virtual library’ back in 1978. She not only had that vision, she was capable of pulling that off. It says something about not just her intellect but also her character, that she pulled that off with collegiality, warmth and generosity.”

“She was what we Bostonians would call ‘wicked smart,’ ” Richards’ sister Artemis Kirk, recalled in a eulogy at Richards’ funeral at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem in July. “Berry was an omnivorous reader from early childhood, and nearly all her life she requested books as gifts. Her literary tastes were wide-ranging from A to Z: Absalom, Absalom to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”

Richards was a devotee of the Bethlehem Area Public Library who frequently returned books late. When she retired from Lehigh in 1995, the Bethlehem library director joked that since Richards would have time to return books promptly, the city would need to raise taxes to compensate for the lack of revenue from overdue book fines.

Friends described Richards as caring and compassionate, wise and generous to friends, multiple charities and animals alike. Kirk, who followed in her sister’s vocational footsteps, becoming the university librarian at Georgetown University before retiring, said her sister cared for a collection of strays and “pre-owned cats outside on her patio.”

“Some people like Berry collect friends like stray cats,” Kirk said. “Berry also collected stray cats like friends.”

Daniel Traister, curator of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania, whom Richards hired years ago as a consultant to assess Lehigh’s collections, recalls how Richards’ mild-mannered demeanor belied her steely inner resolve to get things done.

“The cat lady appearance masked an inner lion,” Traister said.

In addition to Kirk, Richards is survived by a niece, nephew and other family members, including cousins in the U.S. and Greece. Burial will be in Massachusetts.

By Margie Peterson