The History of the Rocky Mountain Unit

One of the original seven units, the Rocky Mountain Unit (formerly the Denver Unit) was established by Anne T. Macdonald in 1951. Start-up funds grew out of a luncheon meeting between Mrs. Macdonald and her friend, Mrs. Morrison Shafroth. Joining them for lunch, Mr. Shafroth became a believer in the establishment of a Denver recording studio. His subsequent discussion with the Van Hummel Howard Foundation resulted in a $4,500 check within two days. Additional funds were contributed by the Boettcher Foundation.

Mrs. John B. McPhee, a member of the Denver Public Library Commission, headed the group of founding volunteers who recorded textbooks on three SoundScriber machines. A search soon began for additional doctors, lawyers, scientists, and others with the technical knowledge and expertise to read college-level textbooks.

In 1951, Denver became the first studio to install the new audio tape recording machine that required a soundproof room for the reader-director recording team. (Today, these one-room booths are more sophisticated and are partitioned to separate reader and director.) As a result of the unit’s new recording equipment, RFB&D headquarters assigned in 1954 the unit recording of great works of literature such as Anna Karenina and Tom Jones to the Denver Unit at the request of the Library of Congress.

The Rocky Mountain Unit received its charter on October 23, 1957, the fifth RFB&D unit to be chartered. In June 1962, the unit moved from its original quarters in the basement of the Warren Branch Public Library to newly renovated space in the Ross Cherry Creek Branch of the Public Library. Mr. John Eastick, former head librarian of the Denver Public Library, was instrumental in obtaining this rent-free space.

In 1992, the unit moved from the Ross Cherry Creek Branch Library to an office building at 2695 South Colorado Boulevard. Just the beginning of things to come, this move was followed by a subsequent move to bigger quarters – our current location. This new space allowed us to expand the functions performed by the unit, add new employees and new recording technology, and enhanced the ability to greatly increase the production volume of recorded books produced.

The Denver Unit was renamed the Rocky Mountain Unit in 2004.