Sculptures at Lanier Library

Once on Melrose Ave, you’ll see Lanier Library and a 12-foot tall, 400-pound, wooden giraffe wearing reading glasses. That’s “Bob the Giraffe”, one of two outdoor sculptures at the library. Local woodworker Karl Schwartz handcrafted and installed this Bob in 2023. The first one was installed in 2015 but over the years the plywood giraffe deteriorated and had to be replaced. Like Morris, Bob began as a small toy crafted by Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers.

On the other side of the library from Bob the Giraffe you’ll find The Talisman, an abstract metal sculpture depicting a cat with drooping wire whiskers. It’s the work of Mayo “Mac” Boggs a renowned Spartanburg sculptor who passed away in 2014. It was originally purchased by Earl Bettinger and his wife Lillian Jackson Braun for their home. Braun was internationally known for her 29 “The Cat Who…” books. The sculpture honored the couple’s cats, Koko and Yum Yum, who were named for their fictional counterparts in Braun’s books. The Bettinger estate gave the sculpture to the Lanier Library in 2021.