The Pack Horse Library Project

Before the Bookmobile

Established in 1935, the Pack Horse Library Project provided reading materials to rural portions of Eastern Kentucky with no access to larger metropolitan centers with public library facilities. Librarians riding horses or mules traveled 50 to 80 miles a week up rocky creek beds, along muddy footpaths, and among cliffs to deliver reading materials to the most remote residences and schools in the Appalachian mountains. Some homes were so remote that the 'book women' often had to go part of the way on foot - or even in a row boat.

Materials used by the Pack Horse Libraries were stored in small rooms usually located in the county seat. Collections consisted mostly of damaged books and magazines that larger libraries no longer wished to circulate, as well as out-of-date textbooks once used by schools or churches. (The W.P.A. only funded salaries, not funds for collection development.)

When demand for materials exceeded the supply, scrapbooks of magazine clippings, anecdotes, local recipes, and newspaper clippings were made by the librarians as additional resources. These became very popular in the region, enough so that patrons began making scrapbooks of their own recipes, family history, sewing patterns and child-rearing advice for circulation throughout the community by the Pack Horse Librarians.

By 1936, handmade and donated materials could not sustain the circulation needs of the pack horse patrons. Surveys of readers found that pack horse patrons could not get enough of books about travel, adventure and religion, and detective and romance magazines. Children's picture books were also popular not only with young residents but also parents who were frequently illiterate. Approximately 800 books had to be shared among five to ten thousand patrons.

To help overcome the shortage, Lena Nofcier, Chairman of Library Service for the Kentucky PTA, began the Penny Fund Plan which called on every PTA member in the state to contribute one penny toward the purchase of new books. Ms Nofcier also petitioned the help of boy scout troops, Sunday-school classes, private organizations/clubs and children's school groups to locate or donate books for the Pack Horse Libraries. Through her efforts, existing pack horse collections not only grew but eight new Pack Horse Libraries were also established.

Despite the ongoing shortage of materials, the Pack Horse Library Project was considered very successful, and one of the most unusual library services ever offered in the country. During its height, the program boasted 30 libraries serving close to 100,000 Eastern Kentucky Appalachian residents. Interest in ideas outside the realm of Appalachia, an appreciation for education, and an introduction to global cultures were fostered by this program in an area where one-room schoolhouses and churches were the only means of learning.

Pack Horse Libraries came to an end in 1943 when the W.P.A. withdrew its funding from the project. Consequently, many of the areas served were left with no library service whatsoever. Some effort was made to retain the existing collections being made available in county courthouses. However, the delivery service needed for isolated communities was no longer available leaving some communities without access to books for decades until bookmobiles were introduced to the area in the late 1950s.

Many of these very rural, small communities have extremely limited library services - or none at all - to this day. It is for this reason that 'The Settlement Library Project' was first devised and 'Fotched-On' Librarian created as an original, unique and modern version of the Pack Horse Librarian to address library services, programs, and community informational and organizational deficits within this region.

Thanks to: Dave Tabler located at http://appalachianhistory.blogspot.com/2007/12/pack-horse-librarians.html
Image:http://newdeal.feri.org/library/ab93.htm

Settlement Libraries

Studying Rural Librarianship

Settlement Schools were initiated at the turn of the 20th century to address extreme isolation and poverty of school aged children and their families. Attention focused on Appalachia where communities were identified which would benefit from the establishment of an educational outreach program. A Settlement Institution was then defined as a non-profit, private, rural organization in Appalachia designed to promote and provide programs, services, and development for the immediate community and the nearby surrounding area. The purpose was not intended to proselytize, restrict, or remove traditional customs and manners, but rather to enhance and capitalize on the already rich culture propagated in this region.

One hundred years later, in the true tradition of the Settlement Institution ideal, so it is with the concept of the Settlement Library Project™. As an evolving educational outreach library system intiative - with a focus on native and traditional Appalachian culture, customs, and resources - a Settlement Library can be intiated in an already existing small rural library available to local residents. For those communities separated from larger metropolitan areas which offer traditional library services and the benefits thereof, a Settlement Library offers an opportunity to establish non-traditional - less than full-service - information centers designed to promote and provide programs, services, and educational development while striving toward the retention of the historical quality of the community. A Settlement Library is a local link for rural residents to greater and larger resources.

The objective of a Settlement Library is to empower local residents through educational pursuits, opportunities, linked services, and skills provided by private and public agencies and various organizations working cooperatively: addressing the present educational and informational needs of the community, and securing a link with local historical customs and culture.

Not every rural community requires a full-service library. For those communities separated by distance or economic difficulties supplementing library services for the obtainment of appropriate and adequate information access promotes a sense of community identity, individual intellectual freedom, and Constitutional democratic ideals leading to an informed and educated citizenry.

Libraries build communities; however, it is the history and culture of the community which give the library its soul and its character. Through capitalizing on opportunities for broader impact, the Settlement Library Project™ develops innovative ways to provide access to resources and services.

After all, a library's business is people.

More about Settlement Schools is available at this link:
http://www.ket.org/settlement/index.html

This image available at: http://www.eerc.ra.utk.edu/sightline/VegetationV2N1.html

Special Libraries

What is 'Fotched-On' ?
'Fotched-On' is a term used by mountain folk when referring to Settlement School teachers who left the comforts of home and hearth to navigate uncharted clan-type communities within the Appalachia region at the turn of the 20th century. The actual phrase is "fetched in;" however, regional dialect overtook the pronounciation and configured it into "fotched on." The phrase refers to these teachers having been "fetched" from the city - or outside the settlements - and placed in rural, isolated communities within the region to create educational outreach programs.

'Fotched-On' is used here as a phrase exemplifying a modern concept of maverick librarians who promote an eclectic form of librarianship. Through moving out of metropolitan areas - and the traditional concepts of librarianship - a 'fotched-on' librarian is one who is "called-out" as a type of circuit-out-rider into remote, rural regions which do not have close proximity to a library system. A 'fotched-on' librarian is one who either promotes, establishes, or builds up a non-traditional information center for communities which may or may not have existing library services available.

This blog is being designed to indicate and establish an ongoing interest in special libraries, the special needs of communities requiring customized library services, and the solo or one person information professional who asserts the marketing and advocacy necessary for the creation, implementation, and survival of these unique and specialized emerging units of the modern library system.

More about 'Fotched-On' is available at this link:
http://www.ket.org/settlement/setschools_01.html
This image is available at:
http://maqonline.org/