What was the WPA Pack Horse Library Project?

The WPA Pack Horse Library project was a program funded by the Works Progress Administration, as part of the New Deal, that lasted from 1935-1943. During its 8 years, this program focused specifically on expanding library services to remote communities of rural and mountainous Eastern Kentucky who would not have had access to library resources otherwise. The project employed local women (and occasionally a few men) who rode into the mountains on horses or mules and delivered printed materials to patrons on their routes. By its end, the project had established 30 libraries, with librarians traveling nearly 5,000 miles each month, and with many communities reporting significant improvements in health and hygiene, thanks to the materials the project provided. (Schmitzer 1997)

Though it lasted a short time and ended when the onset of World War II ended funding for the WPA, the Pack Horse Library Project helped to place books in the hands of individuals who had never before enjoyed the immense privilege of library services, all with negligible funding and arduous physical conditions, and cultivated an interest in the outside world in an often isolated region.

This website will explore not only the history and logistics of the project, but also the impact of the women involved in the project at all levels, as well as its legacy in library outreach services since the project ended.