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Establishment
Establishment
Traveling libraries were not a new concept in Eastern Kentucky. An early iteration of the WPA project was the Painstville Pack Horse Library that was privately organized by May F. Stafford in 1913. (Schmitzer 1997) This project was limited to Johnson County only and funding relied on the support of coal baron John C.C. Mayo. When Mayo died in 1914, the project ended due to lack of funds.
This short-lived project became instrumental in the establishment of the WPA project, however, as Elizabeth Fullerton, Kentucky’s state director of women’s and professional projects at the WPA Louisville office, built on Stafford’s idea and obtained WPA support and funding for a new iteration of the project. Benton Deaton, a Leslie County minister who was also in charge of the county’s community center, helped to establish the first WPA pack horse library in Leslie County in 1934 when he offered the community center’s library to the project. (Schmitzer 1997)
The idea quickly spread to surrounding counties and within two years, eight pack horse libraries had been established in Eastern Kentucky. By 1937, 30 pack horse libraries were operating, with an additional 26 libraries pending approval, and circulation figures reaching as high as 160,000 materials circulated. (Schmitzer 1997)
Logistics
Logistics
WPA Pack Horse libraries were community organizations that received WPA funding to pay only the salaries of the librarians. Librarians earned $28 per month, but needed to supply their own horse or mule. (All Things Considered 2002) The success of the libraries, therefore, depended on public support from the community, as a community sponsor provided the physical space, as well as heating and electricity. Each librarian would ride four routes per week, while the fifth day of their week would be devoted to repairing books, updating circulation records, and trading books with other librarians.
Supply and demand was such a constant issue for the pack horse libraries that circulation was limited to three items per family and a time limit of one week. As the WPA funding only paid for the salaries of the librarians, each library relied heavily on donations and fundraisers to acquire materials. Donations were the primary source of collections acquisitions, and these donated materials were often castoff books and magazines from libraries and schools in wealthier areas. New books were bought with funds raised from PTA fundraisers and “pie and box suppers” (Chapman 1938), but these funds were extremely limited.
Essential to the fundraising system was Lena Nofcier, who was in constant contact with wealthy private citizens, women’s clubs, churches, PTA groups, schools, YMCAs, and other groups who provided donated materials, in addition to launching numerous outreach efforts with newspapers and radio stations to request donations. (Schmitzer 1997) Nofcier also established the “Penny Fund Plan” which encouraged each PTA member in Kentucky to donate one penny towards materials purchasing for the libraries. This fund raised $101.70, allowing the purchase of 131 new books, an incredible accomplishment when considering the economic conditions of the time and the value of a penny. (Schmitzer 1997) PTA units were highly supportive of the project and, in 1936, donated 7,120 books, magazines, and other reading materials to the WPA libraries. (Schmitzer 1997)
Scrapbooks
Scrapbooks
Despite the enormous support for the project from surrounding communities and prominent individuals, the availability of materials for circulation remained a constant issue for the project. The librarians were forced to be creative and this creativity sparked the development of circulating scrapbooks to supplement their collections. These scrapbooks were made out of ragged materials, such as books, magazines, and newspapers and primarily came in two formats. In the first, in which the WPA librarians acted as authors, bits and pieces of books and newspapers would be put together to create stories and narratives written by the librarians themselves. (Vance 2012) In the second, the scrapbooks would be compiled of recipes, Bible lessons, quilt and knitting patterns, drawings, stories, and more, all collected from either patrons or from materials that were too worn out to circulate. These scrapbooks exemplify not only the frugality and resourcefulness that we have come to associate with the Depression, but also the commitment of the librarians to providing useful materials to their patrons, despite extremely limited resources. By April 1940, 2,582 scrapbooks had been loaned to families on the WPA librarians’ routes. (Vance 2009)
The scrapbooks offer a fascinating first-hand look about the culture of the WPA librarians’ patrons. Cookbooks were extremely popular with patrons, especially those with information about canning and preserving. (Vance 2009) The recipes curated from magazines and newspapers, while not entirely reflective of what was available in Eastern Kentucky in terms of fresh produce and game, demonstrate an interest in new cuisines. One of the few remaining scrapbooks, housed at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, indicates which recipes were most popular, based on signs of use such as food spatter. Some of these recipes include “oyster pie” and “tropical strawberry shortcake”, which were not typical fare of mountain families. Patron recipes, however, are more reflective of ingredients that were available to patrons. These recipes include favorites such as “spoon bread” and “bean soup dumplings” and also include regional vernacular, providing an insight into dietary habits of the families. (Vance 2009)
The Women
The Women
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady from 1933-1945, was a longtime advocate for education and social welfare, particularly for women and children. She was a strong supporter of the WPA library project and, in an address to the Washington, D.C. Library Association on April 1, 1936, she lamented at the many places in the country where there was no library and no way for people to obtain books. Not only did she believe that reading together was a joyous experience, but also that an educated society was essential for the survival of democracy.
In her speech, she stated, “I feel that the care of libraries and the use of books, and the knowledge of books, is a tremendously vital thing...we...have a great opportunity to bring about something in this country which is more vital here than anywhere else, because we have the chance to make a democracy that will be a real democracy…” (Roosevelt 1936) Democracy depends on citizens making educated decisions about their government, and Mrs. Roosevelt strongly believed that access to information was vital for citizens to make these informed decisions.
She noted that, while the WPA library project was not well-known, it was making an impact in the region it served, just as traveling nurses did at the time. Finally, Mrs. Roosevelt believed that societal change in terms of well-being begins with children, and that we must teach them how to “attain better standards.” (Roosevelt 1936) Library outreach services, such as the WPA project, would help to accomplish that.
Lena Nofcier
Lena Nofcier
Little has been written about one of the project’s most tireless supporters, Lena Nofcier. Her career trajectory, from her service as state chairman of the Parent Teacher Association’s Library Service Committee, to her position as secretary of the Library Extension Division of the Kentucky Library Commission, and her time as president of the Kentucky Library Association, however, demonstrates her fierce advocacy for library services in Kentucky.
Additionally, she documented a history of public libraries in Kentucky for the Kentucky Library Commissions’ Biennial Report for 1933-1935, in which she discusses the establishment of the Kentucky Library Commission in 1910, and the 1894 establishment of the Kentucky Federation of Women’s Clubs, the latter of which supported a significant portion of libraries in Kentucky in the 20th century. In 1920, for example, Nofcier noted that, out of 58 total public libraries in the commonwealth, 20 were supported by such women’s clubs. (Jeffrey 2005) Ms. Nofcier also briefly mentioned the first traveling library established by Katherine Pettit of Lexington, who brought books to Eastern Kentucky in response to “calls...from workers in the mountains for books.” (Jeffrey 2005)
Finally, Ms. Nofcier played an important role in raising funds for the WPA project and gathering donations. Not only did her previously mentioned “Penny Fund Plan” raise $101.70 and allow the purchase of 131 books, but her continuous outreach to PTA groups in the commonwealth helped send 7,120 items of reading material to WPA libraries. (Schmitzer 1997)
The Librarians
The Librarians
Finally, the librarians themselves were vital to the project’s success. Local women were employed as librarians, which was itself crucial. The individuals who lived in Eastern Kentucky have been identified as “very reserved, very conservative” with an “established way of life that they had had for a long, long time.” (All Things Considered 2002) An “outsider” would have been seen as an intrusion on their long-held way of life or as a government project aimed at changing their life, which would have made them less receptive to the services the WPA libraries provided. Therefore, local women were essential, as they were already a part of the mountain communities of Eastern Kentucky and understood local customs and attitudes. Additionally, the librarians ensured that nothing in their packs would offend their patrons. While we may consider this censorship from a modern perspective, it not only ensured individual support for the project, but also community support, as it was the communities themselves that supplied space, heating, and lights for the base libraries. The libraries’ continuation depended on community approval, and any offense may have jeopardized the project.
Because the librarians were exclusively bringing materials to their patrons, they needed to have a strong understanding of what their patrons would enjoy. This required immense attention to the needs of their patrons, all while working with limited materials and resources. Children’s books were heavily circulated, not only for the children on the librarians’ routes, but also for adults who were in early stages of reading skills, and religious books such as Sunday school papers and religious tracts were also immensely popular. Certain types of novels, such as those set in the countryside, were somewhat popular, along with magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal, Popular Mechanic, and Better Homes and Gardens, and nonfiction books as people were eager for factual information about history, current events, and religion. (Chapman 1938) (Schmitzer 1997) Librarians would also often read to their patrons, in addition to distributing books, further evidence of the librarians’ strong commitment to their patrons.
The librarians endured arduous physical conditions along their routes. Not only did they travel between 50-80 miles each week, but the librarians delivered books in all weather, and navigated extremely rugged and oftentimes dangerous terrain, with little in the way of trails or roads. One librarian spoke of her feet freezing to her stirrups after she crossed a creek on her route, and another librarian hiked nearly 18 miles of her route after her mule died. (All Things Considered 2002) (Schmitzer 1997) To say these librarians were dedicated would be an understatement.
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