History
The Luther Rice Library was founded in 1966 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was named after Bertha Smith on December 7, 1972. Bertha Smith (1888-1988) was a Southern Baptist missionary who spent 40 years of faithful and effective ministry in China. Her heart was for revival in the hearts of God’s people.
Dr. David Rhew directed and developed the Library during most of the years of Luther Rice College & Seminary’s existence and was responsible for implementing the first phase of the installation of library technology. After Dr. Rhew’s retirement in the summer of 2000, Rev. Hal Haller took over and he was director of the Luther Rice Library until June of 2013. Mr. Daryl Fletcher became the library director in July 2013. Mr. Prasada Sajja became the library director in July 2015. Ms. Alisha Blevins became a co-director with Mr. Hal Haller in 2019.