The stock market crash of 1929 caused a depression that undermined the quality of life in America for a decade.

In his inaugural speech, President Franklin D. Roosevelt promised the American people that he would ask Congress for powers to fight the depression equal to those given to Presidents in wartime. In the spring of 1933, Congress moved quickly to pass a series of administrative measures that are known as the New Deal. The objectives were relief, recovery, and reform—the three Rs.

To combat unemployment, the administration determined to provide work rather than handouts. One of the principal agencies involved was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). One of the WPA’s most innovative programs was the Pack Horse Library Project in Eastern Kentucky.

Librarians on horseback circulated much needed books and periodicals to people in isolated, rural areas. The young men and women who served as Pack Horse Librarians earned just $28 monthly, but they brought hope, as well as books, to the hills and hollows of Eastern Kentucky. The program began in 1935 in Leslie and Harlan counties. It ended in 1943 with the dismantling of the WPA. By that time more than 30 counties participated and more than 100,000 people were served by the Pack Horse Library Project.

One of our authors, Jack Ellis, the retired Director of Morehead State University’s Camden-Carroll Library told me that his mother was a Pack Horse Librarian in Rowan County, but she delivered books in an old Model-A Ford. Many of the Pack Horse Librarians used cars or trucks if their service area included "all weather roads," roads that had been graveled by the CCC, another New Deal agency.

In Ellis’ fine book, "Morehead Memories," he reports that the Pack Horse Library service in Rowan County ended abruptly on July 3, 1939 when a devastating fire destroyed a hotel where all the books were stored.

Many of the mountain women who benefited from the books wanted to give something in return. So they often gave the Pack Horse Librarians their best recipes or a treasured family quilt pattern as a token of gratitude.

Many of these went into scrapbooks, which became mementoes of this wonderful project. One of these scrapbooks resides in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York. It was probably a gift to the President or Mrs. Roosevelt, who was a moving force for greater library service in America.

Recently, the JSF acquired "Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky" by Kathi Appelt and Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer, a book for junior readers ages 8-12.

Thoroughly researched and illustrated with powerful period photographs, this attractive hardback book is a great resource for young people who want to know more about their heritage. It’s a must for school and public libraries.

The pack horse library service ended in 1943. More than a decade later, bookmobiles became common, because, in 1956, Kentucky congressman Carl D. Perkins sponsored the Library Services Act that made the first federal appropriations for library service. Soon America’s library system became the best in the world. Perhaps Congressman Perkins was inspired by the Pack Horse Librarians who had contributed so much to his Eastern Kentucky homeland.

"The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky" and many other books that focus on the history of education in Eastern Kentucky are available at the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore, 1645 Winchester Avenue in downtown Ashland.

For more information, call (606) 326-1667 or visit our website: JSFBOOKS.COM.