VALDOSTA — For many Valdostans who knew him, Bill Mobley was a man who spent half his time in the Washington, D.C., area and the other in his old stomping grounds of Valdosta.

Mobley could be found at Valdosta plays and at the openings of art exhibits. He enjoyed talking to people on subjects ranging from politics and the care of books to American history and Valdosta lore. He could wax philosophic or tell a good joke, often all within the same burst of conversation.

While in D.C., Mobley often sent packages to people he knew and liked in Valdosta. He mailed thick packages filled with magazine and newspaper articles which he thought might interest the recipient. He placed notes in these packages complimenting the recipient’s talents, praising a recent endeavor, congratulating an achievement.

On May 23, 2010, Mobley passed away in his Arlington County, Va., home of a heart attack. He was 76 years old.

With his passing, William H. Mobley IV’s travels ended, but his time in Valdosta has not been forgotten nor will it be for some time. Though he was interred in Virginia, Valdosta State University has memorialized him in South Georgia.

In VSU’s Odum Library is the William H. Mobley IV Reading Room. The library wanted a piece of art to decorate the room and properly dedicate it to Mobley, said Deborah Davis, archivist with VSU Archives and Special Collections.

Why would VSU name a reading room for Mobley and wish to create a piece of art for him?

Very simply, Bill Mobley was something akin to the Odum Library’s patron saint.  In the D.C. area, Mobley worked with the Library of Congress as an archivist. He joined the library in 1965, according to the Washington Post. During his career, he helped edit and catalog the papers of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

He also served as the Library of Congress’ principal evaluations officer. Mobley assessed gifts and donations to the library for tax purposes. Before his retirement in 2000, Mobley served as curator of the Library of Congress’ archives, according to the Washington Post.

But he also never forgot his roots.

Born in Fargo, Ga., he attended Valdosta State. He served in the Army, stationed in Europe, during the 1950s. After military service, he moved to Washington. He earned three master’s degrees: “in history and political science from Georgetown University in 1960; in diplomatic and international history from George Washington University in 1968; and in library science from Catholic University in 1973,” according to his obituary. During the 1960s, Mobley also studied international relations at the London School of Economics.

Prior to his work with the Library of Congress, Mobley was employed in the State Department, the Agriculture Department, and other federal agencies.

Yet, after retirement in 2000, Mobley reached out to his old Valdosta alma mater through the Library of Congress Surplus Books Program. Through this organization, he streamed numerous books and materials to Georgia libraries and historical societies, especially VSU’s Odum Library. This work began prior to his retirement.

“Over 20 years, Bill Mobley was responsible for bringing in almost $1 million worth of books to the Odum Library,” according to a VSU Archives marker dedicated to Mobley. New book purchases were often stalled during the era of state budget cuts, but Mobley kept new books coming into the Odum Library, Davis says. As the marker notes, Mobley was the library’s “generous ... benefactor.”

When he passed in 2010, “the library lost a dear friend.”

He left behind Roseanne Barnett Mobley, his wife of 46 years; two children, Helen Mobley Sauvage and William H. Mobley V; three grandchildren. The family took a collection so the library might do something in Bill Mobley’s honor.

Library staff considered the possibility of purchasing books in Mobley’s honor, but he had already brought thousands of books to the library. Given Mobley’s love for art, the library decided to commission a work of art in his honor. VSU’s Art Funding Pool matched the amount of the donation. So, the hunt for the artist began last year.

The Odum Library Art Committee felt artist Amalia Amaki fit the criteria. Though an Alabama resident, she has Georgia ties. The library preferred an African-American or female artist; Amaki is both. She also had begun work on an art concept called “Dances with Books” that seemed appropriate to Mobley’s commitment to the library.

From this concept and her additional research into Mobley, Amaki created the work, “For the Love of Books,” an original piece of art dedicated to Bill Mobley.

The piece features two dancing children moving along a solid foundation of books ranging from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” to a work by spymaster John Le Carre to works by local authors, including Deborah Davis’ book. The children reach for the well-titled book “The Sky’s the Limit.”

Opened across them is a book cover featuring Mobley as well as a thank-you note to Bill Mobley. Buttons create a mosaic around the children, because buttons “are poor people’s jewelry,” Davis says; they shine like the treasures discovered in books.

“Suddenly a universal piece about joy, support, aspirations, and promise is wedded to the specific: here, locally, through books donated by Mobley, through the library and the university, the sky becomes the limit of student aspirations,” according to the Odum Library marker.

The piece is also part of a library project to present pieces of its art collection. This collection includes works from the Lamar Dodd collection and pieces by artist Ross Rosenberg. The library plans to host an event celebrating Mobley and these newly displayed pieces early this fall.