“The Book Woman is coming!”
One of the things I really liked when I was researching for my book, Along a Storied Trail, was how I kept coming across stories of how much the mountain people loved the packhorse librarians they called the book women. For many of them the packhorse libraries were their first experience with libraries since their communities didn’t have the money to establish free libraries. The Packhorse Libraries was a work project during the Great Depression to make jobs for women in the mountains and to give the people the opportunity to have books to read. In my research, the personal experiences shared by the people at that time were positive. I did note a couple of complaints. One child’s parents said they couldn’t get the boy to do his chores because he always had his nose in a book and another parent said they had to buy more lamp oil.
So, this week I had the great pleasure of getting a letter from a 96 year old reader who grew up in Eastern Kentucky. Vivien says in her letter, “The Packhorse Library was a special gift from God. I never had a book to read before the Packhorse came except for school books. In Wooten we had no library. We had no newspaper, magazines, radio or telephone. There was no electricity. Packhorse changed my life.”
What a great testimony to the importance of libraries and the availability of books to children and to adults too. What she said made me remember one of Tansy’s quotes I pulled out of Along a Storied Trail.
Miss Vivien had also read my book These Healing Hills about the Frontier Nursing Service midwives. She says the Frontier Nurses were close to where she lived and that Mrs. Breckinridge was much loved. I knew that from my research, and Mary Breckinridge loved the mountain people. That’s one reason I went back to the mountains to write another story about the Frontier Nurses in An Appalachian Summer. I wanted to share more about Breckinridge and what one determined woman can accomplish.
Here’s what Vivien said about that story. “My favorite of your books was Healing Hills. It was like going home again. You had a character named Woody Locke. During World War II, I often visited a patient in the Nichols Army Hospital in Louisville. His name was Woody Locke. I believe he was from Artemis, KY. I am surprised that I now remember this at age 96. I was then 18. I was very fond of the Woody I knew.”
So I guess I did well picking my Woody Locke’s name. I remember not being too sure about calling him Woody to begin with, but I’m glad I stuck with the name so that it could bring back some good memories for Vivien. He did turn out to be a fine character that I too was very fond of in my story.
Vivien said she was interviewed by KET (Kentucky Educational Television) about the Packhorse Libraries and that the show is supposed to air May 2nd. I’ve got it noted on my calendor but don’t know the time as yet. I do know I don’t want to miss seeing Vivien talk about what the Packhorse (as she says) meant to her.
Addition: A Facebook friend tells me the show will air at 9 p.m. on KET May 2nd.
Can you imagine not having books to read?
Comments 14
I can’t imagine not having a book to read. Thank you for sharing. Blessings
Author
I hope you enjoyed meeting Vivien, Lucy, and the same as you, I can’t imagine not having boks to read.
I’m very glad I have books to read, I would hate to do without that privilege.
Author
So would I, Connie. I have so many books I want to read. I need a couple of extra days a week just for reading. 🙂
Dear Ann,
I LOVE the history that you bring to life in your books as it brings greater familiarity to times gone by. Simpler times, harder times, stronger people. The folks of that era were a breed to be admired for their sheer determination and ingenuity when facing the hardships and obstacles unique to those times. I love how you select topics for your books that are captivating and educational. Can’t wait to read your newest!
Author
Thank you, Amy, for your kind words. I do hope you will like my new story, When the Meadow Blooms, when you get to read it. I’m not sure how educational this story will be, but I think you’ll like my characters. This story is more about the personal challenges of my characters in the early part of the 1900’s without as much background history. But I do like sharing the past through my stories.
I can’t imagine a world without books. Walking into a library is like walking into a magical place where there are millions of “doors” to explore and take you on your next adventure. I love seeing the picture of the hand-written letter that Vivian sent you. It is so rare to see handwritten things these days. I just had commented about that several months ago on my fb page. My grandmother passed last year and I have a Bible she gave me as a gift and had written an inscription in and I love looking at her writing that I recognize so well, and feel like it is another way to remember her. I think we are losing some of that in this digital world we are living in.
I hope that you are able to watch Vivian’s interview and possibly be able to share it with your readers, because I know that I for one, would love to see it!
🙂
Author
I’ll have to check into that potential of sharing that program link, Hope. I don’t know if that will be possible or not, but so much is out there and downloadable on the internet. But you are right about the digital age changing so much about our communication. When I published my first book in 1978, there was no digital. I did get written letters from readers. Now I usually get emails which I’m still very happy about. I love hearing from readers. But it was a special treat to get Vivien’s letter. Not long ago I also had corresponded with a woman who was one of the Frontier nurse midwives. She was 94 at the time and had a life that was hard to believe. You may remember that I did a post about Alice a few years ago. Sadly, she passed away last year of breast cancer. I have a friend who is trying to write her story. I hope she gets it done.
Vivien’s letter was so neatly done, but she apologized because to her it looked messy. She said she had some nerve damage in her hand. I hope I will still be able to write someone a letter when I get 96. I do still send handwritten letters. I’m glad you have the Bible from your grandmother. That is a blessing.
Growing a military kid we tended to move every 1-2 years, so keeping a home library was hard. But the first thing mom did as soon as we got to the next duty station and had an address she took us to the nearest library to get library cards. Which included the base library if there was one and the public library in the town closet to base. Even though we didn’t own a lot of books growing up I was still surrounded by books thanks to the public library. I can’t imagine not having books to reads. My love of libraries that started in childhood is what lead me to become a library assistant working only MLS.
Author
You had such a different childhood than me, Carissa. I’ve been in the same area all my life. I know you must have made so many different friends with all those new beginnings. Sounds as if your mother had a great way of making sure you would settle in by making sure you had access to books and the library. And while I haven’t done that moving around you have, I did have a mother who would take me to the library when I was a kid. We didn’t own very many books either. If you wanted to read, you got books from the library and we certainly did that. Without my library card, I don’t know that I would have ever been able to become a published writer the way I dreamed when I was a kid.
Growing up in the Bronx I always lived near a library. My mother always said if she asked me what I was doing, I would reply, laying down, reading!! I would get books for Christmas and they would be finished in a few days. Back to the library I would go. I am fortunate to live near two terrific libraries now. A county one and a city one. When I see people leaving with one book, I am always puzzled. How can you get just one book, I always wonder. 🙂
Author
You sound like my kind of reader, Marjorie. I don’t know that I ever left the library with only one book, although I did have to limit the kids to only so many when they were young. I think they would have brought the whole kids’s section home with them. I love libraries and I’m so glad we have such a nice one in our town. Books matter and having a place where you can borrow books to read or do research or study is a gift and a blessing as Vivien says.
When I was young, my parents purposely didn’t buy a television until I had almost finished high school because they wanted me to enjoy reading and do my studying rather than watch television. To this day, I would rather read than watch movies or tv programs except Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and the news. All three of us girls (no brothers) LOVE/LOVED to read! This world would be a dull place without books!
Author
We had a television but reading always was my first choice, Suzanne. And still is when I have down time. I rarely watch any television except the news and then not those all day news programs. Of course, I’m busy trying to write something for the rest of your to read for most of my day. When I get this one finished and off to the publishers, I’ll take a reading vacation for a week or two. My sisters read way more than I do now and my mom always had a book going. My kids like to read and some of my grandkids do too. I admire your parents for their no television stand. Nowadays, it might be a no electronics stand, but then you can read books on those phones too.