‘21st Century Packhorse Librarian’ Brings Books to Rural Communities

By Anya Petrone Slepyan

Within the Nineteen Thirties, ladies employed by the Works Progress Administration rode pack horses by the mountains of jap Kentucky, bringing books to rural residents in hard-to-reach locations. Practically a century later, Kirsten Crawford Turner is carrying on that custom, with the assistance of a truck and a U-haul reasonably than a horse and saddle luggage.

Turner grew up in Shelby, North Carolina within the Appalachian foothills, an space pummeled by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Although she now lives in Greenville, South Carolina, she noticed the extent of the injury the hurricane triggered throughout frequent journeys up the mountain to carry meals and provides to members of the family within the Asheville space.

“I saw all the devastation and I thought, ‘what can I do?’” Turner mentioned in an interview with the Each day Yonder. “I cannot operate heavy machinery. I cannot rebuild this whole area. What can I do that would be impactful and make a difference?”

As a navy spouse and mom of three, Turner has been by troublesome seasons herself, and mentioned that she all the time discovered solace in studying. She had additionally realized in regards to the historic packhorse librarians from plenty of books, together with Kim Michele Richardson’s The Guide Girl of Troublesome Creek. So she thought, why not take books to individuals like a modern-day packhorse librarian?

Kirsten 1 Kirsten Crawford Turner organizes books at an occasion on the Madison County Public Library. She was impressed by the packhorse librarians of the Nineteen Thirties, ladies who distributed books all through the mountains of jap Kentucky as a part of a Works Progress Administration program. (Picture courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

She started by asking mates and neighbors for gently used books that she might ship on her journeys up the mountain. The venture grew shortly within the months following the hurricane.

“It started with one box of books on my porch,” Turner mentioned. “Now I have thousands of books [to give away] in my house.”

Books for Burnsville

On November 2, 2024, Turner and her husband pulled into the car parking zone of the West Burnsville Baptist Church in rural Yancey County, North Carolina. Together with a handful of volunteers, together with Turner’s mother and father, they began passing out hundreds of books that had been donated from across the nation.

Greater than 500 individuals attended the occasion, together with Burnsville residents Jamie Black and her 10-year-old daughter Jenavieve, a voracious reader who had been anxiously awaiting the occasion for weeks. The household had been with out energy for a month, however Black had seen a submit in regards to the occasion on Fb and thought it might assist her daughter, who like different kids within the space, had missed a big quantity of college.

“Books take you away on an adventure,” Jenavieve mentioned in an interview with the Each day Yonder. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on around you if you’re reading a good book.”

That’s one of many concepts behind the twenty first Century Packhorse Librarian venture, in keeping with Turner.

Jen2 edited Jenavieve poses with hand-made bookmarks at a e book giveaway. Since assembly Turner in Burnsville, Black and Jenavieve have volunteered at each twenty first Century Packhorse Librarian occasion. (Picture courtesy of Jamie Black)

“I think [reading] gives people a respite from their own story, so they can really process and heal from their trauma more gently,” Turner mentioned.

Greater than 100 individuals in North Carolina had been killed by Hurricane Helene, and the September storm triggered a record-breaking $59.6 billion in damages, in keeping with the state funds workplace. Over 5,000 houses will should be rebuilt, with hundreds of companies broken or closed because of the storm. North Carolina Governor Josh Stein is urging state legislators to extend restoration spending, whilst President Trump, who visited North Carolina in late January, is enacting plans to dissolve the Federal Emergency Administration Company.

Since October, Turner has organized occasions in 9 communities in western North Carolina, and given away greater than 9,000 books without cost. The books are organized by age group, and there’s no restrict to what number of books individuals can take.

“I don’t put a limit on it. Because say someone is taking four tote bags full of books – that person could have lost their whole house and all their books,” Turner mentioned.

Donations have poured in from throughout the nation, Turner mentioned, with individuals driving from so far as Texas and Ohio to ship books. Individuals can even donate books by Turner’s Amazon wishlists, in addition to by mail.

Burnsville 3 Over 500 individuals attended the occasion in Burnsville. “That was the event when we realized people were really starving for this,” Turner mentioned. (Picture courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

Various kids’s authors related to Christian publishing and media organizations reminiscent of Story Warren and Rabbit Room have donated books. Turner, who’s Christian, has additionally made positive to maintain high-quality, large-print bibles in inventory.

Although she isn’t capable of learn all the things that comes by, she tries to curate her alternatives. She avoids books with sexually express content material and references to the occult, and prioritizes books that she considers to be therapeutic and uplifting, particularly basic literature. Lots of the books on her wishlists are the identical as these distributed by the unique packhorse librarians practically a century earlier.

“There’s a lot to say about the power of story in the classics,” Turner mentioned. “Bless those kids, they love Diary of a Wimpy Kid and I can’t stand that book. I bring it for them, but I also try to get a good book in their hands as well.”

Bearing Witness

In accordance with its Fb web page, the first mission of the twenty first Century Packhorse Librarian venture is to “distribute quality literature, free of charge, throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains, ensuring that individuals and families – especially in rural and remote areas – have access to great books.”

However Turner has discovered that her function goes past handing out books to those that need them. She spends most of her time at every occasion speaking to individuals, and listening to their tales. That is each rewarding and difficult, Turner mentioned.

“I get to carry a little bit of their burdens for them, and hear how much bringing books means to them. But it’s also a bit emotionally overwhelming at times, because we hear not only stories from the storm, but all sorts of things we wouldn’t imagine we’d hear,” she mentioned.

Turner additionally makes use of her platform on Fb to carry consciousness to the destruction in communities she visits, posting footage of locations like Marshall, North Carolina, that had been devastated by the storm. She says bearing witness to the communities’ misery is a part of her mission to maintain consideration on the continuing restoration efforts.

Marshall 1 Turner hopes that her venture will assist hold public consideration on restoration efforts in cities like Marshall, which was devastated by Helene. “For most Americans, missing one paycheck can spiral into financial crisis. Imagine four months without work, without income, while also trying to rebuild an entire town,” Turner wrote in a Fb submit. (Pictures courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

Marshall 2 Turner hopes that her venture will assist hold public consideration on restoration efforts in cities like Marshall, which was devastated by Helene. “For most Americans, missing one paycheck can spiral into financial crisis. Imagine four months without work, without income, while also trying to rebuild an entire town,” Turner wrote in a Fb submit. (Pictures courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

Marshall 3 Turner hopes that her venture will assist hold public consideration on restoration efforts in cities like Marshall, which was devastated by Helene. “For most Americans, missing one paycheck can spiral into financial crisis. Imagine four months without work, without income, while also trying to rebuild an entire town,” Turner wrote in a Fb submit. (Pictures courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

Marshall 4 Turner hopes that her venture will assist hold public consideration on restoration efforts in cities like Marshall, which was devastated by Helene. “For most Americans, missing one paycheck can spiral into financial crisis. Imagine four months without work, without income, while also trying to rebuild an entire town,” Turner wrote in a Fb submit. (Pictures courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

“The rest of the world has moved on with their lives, and people aren’t thinking about it anymore,” Turner mentioned. “I don’t want anyone to feel forgotten.”

Recovering from disasters like Helene takes years, however Turner is in it for the lengthy haul.

“People keep asking me how long I plan to do this. And the answer is always ‘as long as God wants me to,” Turner mentioned.

And although the venture was born as a response to the hurricane, Turner feels the books she brings assist handle a deeper want within the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“The more I hear, the more I realize that these books aren’t just disaster relief, they’re life relief.”

This text first appeared on The Each day Yonder and is republished right here below a Inventive Commons license. PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: operate() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://dailyyonder.com/21st-century-packhorse-librarian-brings-books-to-rural-communities/2025/02/14/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } }

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Picture: Residents of Madison County, North Carolina browse free books at an occasion placed on by the twenty first Century Packhorse Librarian Venture. The venture has given away greater than 9,000 books to communities affected by Hurricane Helene. (Picture courtesy of Kirsten Crawford Turner)

The submit ‘21st Century Packhorse Librarian’ Brings Books to Rural Communities appeared first on The Good Males Venture.

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