“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” ―Anne Herbert
I owe a big debt to my local library for all the books I was able to carry home and read when I was a kid. I owe even more for all the help I found at the library when I started trying to not only write stories but find ways to see if I could get them out there for readers to read. My first books were written before internet, before books online, and if I wanted to know about historical events – what happened or how it happened or perhaps most important for me as a writer how people at the time felt about what happened – I had to go to the library and start searching. And now I owe so much to libraries that will put my books on their shelves for their patrons to perhaps check out. I know my life would have been different if my mother hadn’t taken me to the library or the bookmobiles hadn’t shown up at my school.
The way I feel about libraries made it fun to do the research for my new book, Along a Storied Trail and create a character who loves books the way I do. I liked riding along with Tansy on her book routes and watching her introduce her people to the joy of books.
The packhorse librarians did want to share books, but they had to ration them out since they didn’t have a big supply of books the way most of the libraries we are familiar with now have. The WPA program paid the librarians a monthly salary, but the rest was up to the community and the librarians. They had to come up with their own place for the library which might be a small building or a room in the courthouse or a church. But their biggest need was books because what’s a library without books. Once word got out about the Packhorse Libraries and how the people in Eastern Kentucky Appalachian regions were getting their first chance to have a library, donations came in.
Lena Nofcier who headed up library services for the Kentucky Parent and Teacher organizations deserves a lot of credit in getting the word out that the Packhorse Libraries needed books. She sent letters out to PTAs asking for donations of books and traveled around the state, asking those in more affluent regions to help out by donating whatever they could. She asked for all kinds of reading material – books, magazines, Sunday school materials, and textbooks. And it didn’t matter what shape the books and magazines were in. They wanted them all. If the books or magazines were in well-used condition, then the packhorse librarians would tape up the bindings or perhaps repurpose magazines too damaged to loan by cutting out pictures and making scrapbooks in binders or notebooks. The libraries eventually received donations from all across the country.
Courtesy of the University of Kentucky Archives
The book women met at the central location one day a week to work on their books to keep them in condition for circulation. That’s when they made their extra books too by adding poetry to some of the pictures they cut from magazines or cutting out the story too to paste in the new notebooks. They also gathered local recipes and quilt patterns to make books to share. Most of those homemade books have been lost to time, but a few are still around. Here’s a picture of one. Others had printing the librarians did as they wrote out poetry, stories or information about the pictures. I let Tansy do some of that storytelling in Along a Storied Trail.
I hope you will enjoy reading about these book women and end up admiring their love of books and their dedication to their jobs as packhorse librarians as much as I did.
Did you have a library card when you were a kid? What did you or do you like best about libraries?
Comments 20
I am in the middle of Along A Storied Trail and am enjoying it very much. I can’t remember how old I was when I got my first library card, but we always had books and a Mother who read to us and we saw her reading , so a love for books was part of our lives. I do remember checking out books from school libraries, and later public libraries in summer as an elementary-aged girl. When my husband was in the Marines, I always found the local library wherever we were stationed and got a card and checked out books,. I have lived places where we had book mobiles, and that was fun. I spent an enormous amount of time in the college library at one time. When my daughter was a preschooler we would go to the local library for Story Hour certain mornings of the week. Later, I was able to take her children to the library story hours, and later to check out books with them. Our church also has a marvelous library. Needless to say , we owe Andrew Carnegie a debt of gratitude.
Author
Yes, we can be glad that Andrew Carnegie wanted to give away some of the fortune he made by building libraries across the country. The library I went to as a child was a Carnegie library.
I used to take my kids to story hour too. They loved it and I liked the hour to explore the books in the library.
Sounds as though you’re a library and booklover like me, Lynda. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
I just finished “Along A Storied Trail”, Ann. I loved it!!! It’s one of those books that you quickly turn the page to see what happens, but don’t want it to end! Think there might be another Tansy and Caleb story in the future?
Thank you for writing stories that warm the heart, give insight into a different way of life, teach some history and share your faith—all between the covers of one book! One of the many reasons you’re one of my favorite authors!
Author
What kind comments, Judi. Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed my packhorse librarian book and want to know what happens next. I don’t know about another book about these characters, but if there were to be, I think Tansy and Caleb would know happiness.
I do enjoy letting my characters go down some story roads. I’m glad you like to read about those roads they take.
Have always loved libraries! Our local one was an old Mill that was used for the library with creaking floor boards and all. The musty smell stays with me to this day. I loved going with my Mom and she was an avid book lover too. Then in college it seemed I lived in the library, especially the “stacks”, where all the journal articles were kept. I copied so many articles over those years, just recently got rid of several notebooks full of old journal articles I had in the attic. Even found I had money left on a copy machine card that I used there.
Author
Sounds as though libraries were important in your college studies. Guess you couldn’t use that copy machine card any more. 🙂
I can hear those creaking floor boards and smell the old books, Amy. Wherever a library is, that’s a good place to be.
The bookmobile came by our house in the summer once per month during the time school was out. I checked out as many books as they allowed which wasn’t but maybe 6 or 7. I really enjoyed the service they provided.
Author
I think the bookmobile came out our country road in the summer when I was a kid, but we lived off the road and never knew exactly when it would come, Connie. Besides, Mom took us to the library so we always had books. I do remember the bookmobile had a limit on books you could get when it stopped at our school. Our little school didn’t have a library although the teachers had a few books in their room. I don’t remember every borrowing any of those books to read, however.
Our town no longer has a bookmobile but they do have outreach service for those who need books brought to them. I like knowing that they will take books to shut-ins.
I finished Along a Storied Trail this week and loved it! My first memories of libraries are school libraries – in 5th and 6th grades, we had a day a week the teacher took us to the school library so we could choose books. In 7th -9th grades, I’d go to the school library every day, check out a book, read it that night, and get another one the next day 🙂 When I got into high school, I had to walk right by the big city library on the way to the bus stop to go home. I didn’t check out a book a day (too much homework), but I patronized that library a lot.
Author
School libraries are so important to offer good reading material to students, Margaret. Fun that you could get a book a day to read when you were in Middle School. Homework can steal some reading time as students get older. My granddaughter who loves to read had to slack off on the pleasure reading during her first year in college. But that reading love doesn’t go away although I do meet people often who say they “used” to love to read but don’t have time to read any more. I always feel a little sorry for them because I still love to read.
I’m so glad you enjoyed my packhorse library book.
As a child, I spent nearly every summer with my grandmother in her school library. And when she took me to the EKU library while she attended a class, I was in book heaven! Libraries have always been my happy place. My wallet contains cards to several. Their programs were and are still favorites for my kids and grands. My middle son once had a crying jag because he found out he wasn’t yet old enough for a library card. So the librarian made him one, complete with his name, and a photo of the library, then laminated it. He’s 36 now, and still carries that treasure in his wallet.
The friends we make at a library are friends for life!
Author
I love that story, Lavon. And what a gift that librarian gave your son by showing she knew it was important to him to have a library card. Sometimes we don’t realize what difference a simple act of kindness can make.
I love libraries too. Without my library card, I doubt I could have ever written the books I have written. Plus, I have enjoyed so many stories others have written.
I had the good fortune to have the school library to go to while growing up and loved getting to read many books over the years. Before staying home with my children, I was a toddler teacher and we cut pictures out of different magazines to make specific picture books for the kids (as well as having shelves of regular books). With toddlers we used laminate over them to make them last longer. Love the picture of the book above and that it survived all these years. I am in the middle of Along a Storied Trail and loving it and will be leaving a review hopefully soon! 🙂
Author
That’s fun that you used to make specific books for the kids when you worked with them, Hope. I sort of had Tansy doing that in my story. The packhorse librarians made many books to loan out and increase the number of books they had. You can find a few pictures of those books online but most were lost after the libraries closed down when the war started.
Thank you so much for being willing to post a review. Reviews are so helpful to authors in this internet age with getting the word out to readers. In the past, pre-internet, you had reviews in newspapers and a few magazines and those were written by professional reviewers. Now anyone can be a reviewer and post reviews in multiple places. But the best advertisement a book can get is still one reader telling another reader about a book they liked. Word of mouth is still how most people discover new books.
I’m well into Along a Storied Trail and really enjoying Tansy as a character and all her adventures. Last night I finished the chapter where Tansy finds Aunt Perdie and her guest watching the cabin go up in smoke.
Mother took her three daughters to the city library usually once a week, but I don’t remember at what point I received my own library card. Mother raised us to love words, reading, and going to the library. To this day, reading is my favorite hobby.
Author
Thanks so much for giving my story a read, Suzanne. I appreciate you reading my books. I hope you like getting to know my characters. I had fun riding along with Tansy and really enjoyed letting Perdita have the floor in that story.
The gift of reading has to be one of the sweetest gifts for a mother to give her children. My sisters and I still love reading and talking about the books we read.
I had a library card during my growing up years. Before I was old enough to have my own our mother made sure that we made weekly trips to the library with her. I was reading before I went to kindergarten, thus being put in a first grade reading class. I didn’t read a whole lot when raising our children but that all changed, especially 16 years ago when my sister shared a book with me. This month, alone, I have read 8 full length books. Presently I am halfway through ALONG A STORIED TRAIL—another MUST READ! Thank you, Ann, for enlightening your readers as to the conditions that these lover of books had to endure to get reading material to those who cherished the books in the hills of Kentucky—hard to imagine for one who has always had plenty of reading material at her fingertips. God has certainly blessed you with an imaginative mind and the ability to transfer your gift to the written word! Thank you!!!
Author
I’m so glad my book is one of the ones you’ve read this month, Karen. Eight a month is a good number. Love it. What a gift your sister gave you when she reminded you of how much you enjoyed reading.
My mom took us to the library too but I just learned to read on the regular schedule when I went to school. But I’ve stayed after it since then with enjoying to read.
I’m glad you think my story is a must read! Love hearing that and I hope you’re sharing that thought with your reading friends. I love it when readers like you post reviews to help others discover my stories.
The sad thing about the packhorse libraries is that when the government program stopped when WW II started since everything had to be thrown toward the war effort, most of those counties weren’t able to keep their library services going. A few years passed before the area had libraries throughout again.
I did not have a library card when younger but now I can’t live without it. Love my libraries!
Author
I’m with you, Margaret. I think libraries are an essential service. Love going in a library and seeing all the shelves of books and the people carrying out armloads of books to read.