“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I have been busy reading the books I checked out of the library this week. I am often attracted to books with the word ‘library’ or ‘bookstore’ in their titles. So, one book that caught my attention was ‘The Book Woman’s Daughter’, by Kim Michele Richardson. It is a historical novel set in Appalachia and ‘the book woman’ is what the locals called the Pack Horse Librarian. She was a young woman who rode up into the hills and hollers bringing library books to the people there. The Pack Horse Library Project was started during the Depression through the WPA (Works Progress Administration). The women were paid $28/month and had to supply their own horses or mules. Some women would rent their horses from local farmers. There were many people who couldn’t read in Eastern Kentucky so the women would read the books to them as well.
To help combat illiteracy in that area there was another program called ‘Moonlight Schools’ started by Cora Wilson Stewart. Local schoolteachers volunteered to teach adults to read and write in the evening at the one room schoolhouses where they taught children during the day. The program was successful and copied in several other counties and states.
Another interesting part of the book is that the main character and her mother have a hereditary condition, called congenital methemoglobinemia, that causes their skin to be blue. It only affected the younger woman’s hands and feet, but it caused her to feel shame and she and her family suffered terrible discrimination because of it. There was a real group of people in Kentucky who had this hereditary trait.
I really admire the Pack Horse Librarians and the great teachers who provided these wonderful services to their communities. The Pack Horse Library Project ran from 1935-1943. After that there were more accessible roads for the introduction of bookmobiles.
You can read more about the Moonlight School program of Kentucky here.
Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is ‘key.’
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 
Thank you for your weekend coffee share. The Pack Horse Library Project and the Moonlight School program are impactful initiatives. Jojo Moyes wrote her book “The Giver of Stars” about a group of women known as the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky based on a true story. I’d recommend this novel. Happy reading!
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Thanks for the book recommendation.
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Sounds fascinating!
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It was pretty good.
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So interesting what initiatives people start for the betterment of their fellow humans. Thanks Deborah, very interesting.
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It was heartening to see how successful these programs were. Thank you, Susan.
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Great post and love the photos 💜
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I was happy to find the photos. Thank you, Willow.
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I’m a librarian and I didn’t know about the Pack Horse Librarians. Thanks for sharing this wonderful bit of history!
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My pleasure.
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What fascinating images! Thank you for sharing this Deborah 🙂
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Thank you, Damyanti. My pleasure.
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I read the book before this one, The Bookwoman of Troublsome Creek. The charcters were vivid and still think of them. I will have to read the sequel.
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I did note that there was the first book. I think I will read it too.
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Reading is so important, Deborah. This sounds like a fascinating story. I remember the bookmobile that used to come to the little town where I grew up. I can’t imagine hauling the books around on horseback and then reading to people. Thanks for including the pictures.
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It was a great service to the rural communities. Nurses also rode horseback to visit patients in Kentucky. Thank you, Dan.
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Fascinating history! The Pack Horse Library Project sounds like it was a good opportunity for adventurous women in need of income. I’ve always thought I would enjoy helping people learn to read.
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You had to be adventurous to ride along those mountain trails and creeks. There are still adult literacy programs today.
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Yes. We have an agency here. So many things I’d like to do….
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