Asheville’s library began in 1879 as the Asheville Library Association, founded by three committed women, including Mary Parker’s great-aunt Fanny Patton. Fanny and her brother James Patton donated land for the library’s first permanent building. Mary’s father, Haywood Parker, served on the Library Board. In the early 1950s Mary, a third generation library supporter, began her long association with the Friends of the Library with a generous check for $10. At that time membership in the Friends of the Library cost only $1.