The Helen Glannon Meeting Room at the Bryant Library is a gathering place for a wide array of community events and concerns. When the occasion warrants, it is used for political meetings. Mostly, it serves as a forum for the arts, showcasing author visits, poetry readings, and musical performances. Impressive displays of artwork hang on the walls, including a large portrait of the library's founder, William Cullen Bryant.

Earlier this month, the longtime Roslyn resident for whom the room was named died at a nursing home in Massachusetts. The occasion of Helen Glannon's passing brought forth tributes from current library personnel.

"Helen was a true community spirit," said Library Director Elizabeth McCloat. "She never ceased developing ideas that would bring people to the library." Ms. McCloat noted that Ms. Glannon originated groups for New Americans, for Retired Executives and Professionals, for Widows and Widowers, the Great Books group, a Junior Great Books, and the Provocative Books of the Twentieth Century series.

"Her spirit is still very much alive today through the programs she created that are still going strong," Ms. McCloat added. Ms. Glannon was also described as a "woman who never understood obstacles" and "a librarian who brought the warmth of her home to the library."

As with many prominent Roslynites, Ms. Glannon moved to Roslyn after World War II. Born in St. Anthony, Idaho, Ms. Glannon was part of a large, old-fashioned family. She had seven brothers and two sisters. Her parents operated a business in West Yellowstone, Montana, the town Ms. Glannon grew up in.

After receiving a bachelor of science degree from Montana State University, Ms. Glannon moved east, eventually earning a library science degree from Columbia University. The move proved to be a permanent one. Following her marriage to Edward Glannon in 1938, she worked at the Newark Public Library. In 1946, the Glannons, along with their three children, moved to Roslyn. There, Ms. Glannon found work at the Bryant Library, where she stayed until her retirement in 1980.

During her 34-year tenure at the library, Ms. Glannon served as adult services librarian. In addition to initiating various book clubs, Ms. Glannon delivered books to those unable to make it to the library, and she contributed numerous articles to The Roslyn News. Ms. Glannon was also instrumental in building and organizing the library's Grist Mill Collection of local history materials. Making local residents aware of the Roslyn area's rich history was also paramount to Ms. Glannon's duties at the library.

In recognition of her contributions to the cultural life in Roslyn, the library, in 1981, named its community room the Helen Glannon Meeting Room. A little over ten years later, Ms. Glannon, following her husband's death, moved to Country Club Heights, a retirement community in Woburn, MA. She is survived by two sons, Thomas and his wife Claudia; Joseph and his wife Annie; and a daughter, Patricia Wiley and her husband Kenneth; four grandchildren; two sisters and three brothers. A private memorial service will be held in March.