Famous Words
Happy Presidents Day!
"We had left the alehouse, where we first met, and hired a room to hold our club in. I propos’d that we should all of us bring our books to that room, where they would not only be ready to consult in our conferences, but become a common benefit, each of us being at liberty to borrow such as he wish’d to read at home. This was accordingly done, and for some time contented us."
Benjamin Franklin, age 24 in 1730, on founding the first public library
"I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a circulating library in every county, to consist of a few well-chosen books, to be lent to the people of the country under regulations as would secure their safe return in due time."
Thomas Jefferson
"I have an unshaken conviction that democracy can never be undermined if we maintain our library resources and a national intelligence capable of utilizing them."
Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a letter to publisher Herbert Putnam
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Horse Librarians - Pack Horse Librarians ride through the morning mist to begin their hard day’s work, long before the sun comes up, in the hills and creeks of Eastern Kentucky. The riders will soon part ways and separately ride their mount into the winding and narrow paths that will eventually lead to a homestead. "The way it worked was simple: The WPA paid the salaries for the librarians to maintain a headquarters library, usually at the county seat, and to carry books on horseback throughout the county. The Kentucky pack horse librarians were tough. They had to be, in order to travel atop horses and mules over the rockiest terrain, through all kinds of weather, carrying books and magazines up and down creek beds named Hell-for -Sartin, Troublesome, and Cut Shin because of their treacherous natures. The book women were dedicated. Although their salary was only $28 a month, they were proud of the work they did. Taking books [and magazines] to people who had never had access to them before was not only hard work, it was important work.”
During Franklin D. Rosevelt's time.
"Cussy Mary Carter is the last of her kind, her skin the color of a blue damselfly in these dusty hills. But that doesn't mean she's got nothing to offer. As a member of the Pack Horse Library Project, Cussy delivers books to the hill folk of Troublesome, hoping to spread learning in these desperate times. But not everyone is so keen on Cussy's family or the Library Project, and the hardscrabble Kentuckians are quick to blame a Blue for any trouble in their small town. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's determination to bring a little bit of hope to the darkly hollers"
READ MORE ABOUT THE HORSE LIBRARIANS.
THE NOVEL AND AUDIO ARE AT YOUR LIBRARY!
"The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free and inquiring minds. To them, our citizens - of all ages and races, of all creeds and persuasions - must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth, unvarnished by fashion and uncompromised by expediency."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"One of the GREAT things about books is sometimes there are fantastic pictures!"
George W. Bush
"At the dawn of the 21st century, where knowledge is literally power, where it unlocks the gates of opportunity and success, we all have responsibilities as parents, as librarians, as educators, as politicians, and as citizens to instill in our children a love of reading so that we can give them a chance to fulfill their dreams."
Barack Obama