Kentucky Book Women:
Fact and Fiction By Judith Gibbons “I do not care one hoot for what that Book Woman has carried ‘round, and it would not bother me at all if she forgot the way back to our door. But here she comes right through the rain and fog and cold.” — Heather Henson, That Book Woman
D
uring the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Pack Horse Library program was instituted in eastern Kentucky as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to deliver books and other reading materials to isolated areas of the Appalachian Mountains. This program lasted from 1936 until 1943 and reached about 100,000 Kentuckians in approximately a 10,000 square mile region. “The area was inaccessible and crippled, disconnected from the outside world economically, culturally, socially, and educationally.” Up to one-third of adults in this mountainous area were illiterate and the unemployment rate hovered around 40 percent. Public libraries were nonexistent for 63 percent of the state’s population. Librarian Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer said the program was “One of the most innovative, yet primitive approaches to library
service, the pack horse delivery method made library service a feasible reality.” Libraries were housed in a variety of buildings including community centers, homes, stores, churches, and post offices. Most Pack Horse Libraries had one supervisor and four or five employees delivering materials along far-flung routes. Horse or mule and rider traveled about 100 miles per week and did a bi-weekly circuit. Salaries for the Book Women (and a few men) were $28 a month and from that each rider had to pay for feed and care for their horse or mule. There were almost 1,000 of these librarians at the height of the program. Most of the reading materials were donations from more affluent areas, primarily discards from individuals or library collections. Children’s literature, poetry, and the Bible were popular reads along with pamphlets, magazines, and practical Fall 2021
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