BURNS MEMORIAL REFERENCE LIBRARY DEDICATION

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V18 2015 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 18, Number 38, September 20, 2015, Article 17

I noted this event in my 2015 ANA convention diary a few weeks ago. Here's an article from the September 2015 issue of the PAN eNews, published by the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists. -Editor

The John Burns Memorial Reference Library dedication ceremony at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of money was a very well received event. A crowd of 30-40 notable numismatists, friends, and media were on hand for the this emotional and memorable ceremony. John’s estate administrator, Pat McBride, organized the dedication. The emcee was Sam Deep one of John’s good friends. Sam and NBS E-Sylum editor Wayne Homren recalled stories of John’s life.

Kerry Wetterstrom of CNG Inc. suggested to McBride that John would not be very pleased with this whole traveling library idea with his namesake. Kerry remembered that John would frequently complain to him about the customers that would browse through his book inventory and would walk away without purchasing anything. He would mumble with the forceful resonance that was one of his noted trademarks, “This ain’t no library. This stuff is for sale!”

There were some very nice book donations made by Denis Loring, Allan Schein, Jeff Starck, Paul Cunningham, Carl Waltz, and many others that came by during the show. A donation box was set up for contributions to help keep the wheels on the traveling library. There were cash donations alon with pledges made by John Kraljevich, Ira Goldberg, and Bill Shamhart.

The outpouring of support was bolstered by quite a number of noted numismatists that came back to the Club Midway section to be a part of the occasion. ANA president Walter Ostromecki, Executive director Kim Kiick, and Convention Director Rhonda Scurek represented the American Numismatic Association.

Other notable attendees included Cliff Mishler, George Kolbe, David Fanning, Kathy McFadden, David Crenshaw, Ken Bressett, Charles Morgan, Dave Harper, David Lisot, Simcha Kuritzky, Dr Larry Korchnak, Ted Shiff, Tom Uram, Rich Jewell, Tom Corey, and Library Curator Ed Krivoniak. Some of the most heart warming attendees were the regular collectors that came by to recount a story about John or a chat that he may have had with them at a show. It turned out to be many more friends than expected. There were inquiries about bringing the library to the FUN Show in January and the Central States Show in April. We’ll see how the funding goes. Check the Library page on the PAN website: http://pancoins.org/john-burns-memorial-reference-library/