Stacey Rathert, visiting assistant professor at Ole Miss, outfitted the letters with bolts and plates for anchoring onto a concrete pad. OGC members added new plantings to the raised bed holding the READ letters and a contiguous bed on the east side of the library, and continue to water them during hot days to ensure survival. The READ idea germinated from OGC member Dotsy Fitts, former director of the library, and the Friends of the Library who wanted the READ letters to front the library’s 1996 addition. Fitts, who retired in 2012 after 44 years of service, had seen similar letters at another state library. The Friends of the Library and the Oxford Garden Club teamed up to get the project going.