Why do kids in western North Carolina need books when they don’t have drinkable water?
It was hard not to wonder this after the historic flooding from Helene had dumped up to 31 inches of rain on us at the end of September 2024, washing away small towns, taking the homes and lives of neighbors, and changing the face of our beloved mountains forever. Thousands of us lost power and water for weeks. Families in our holler went 23 days without.
As I write this in mid-December 2024, we still have no internet (aside from Starlink), folks are struggling to get their homes and the bridges to main roads rebuilt, wells remain contaminated, debris is strewn across the landscape or piled in small foothills along damaged roadways, and people are still missing.
After the initial shock and response to the catastrophic weather that began on September 27 and finally ended its onslaught on Sept. 29, weeks of cleanup, repair, and distribution of drinking water, food, gasoline, and clothing ensued. Volunteers poured into towns that are normally inundated with tourists to see the fall colors. They fed thousands, shoveled feet of muck out of homes, and chain-sawed their way to those cut off from help. The National Guard worked tirelessly, as did local and out-of-state utility and road crews. Churches cared for everyone. And the work continues.
After mitigating the damage to our neighbors’ homes and our own, my husband and I prayed about how we might best help our communities…beyond the obvious and immediate.
For me, a children’s author, God answered that prayer in a personal way–I became a pack horse librarian.
During the Great Depression, women employed through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration loaded up their mules and horses with books, and then traversed rivers and mountains to deliver the books to schoolhouses and families throughout eastern Kentucky. I first learned about these “book women” several years ago when I bought (perhaps providentially) the novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richarson while visiting North Carolina. In 2021, I included a “fun fact” about these incredible women in my middle grade book Lions to the Rescue!
Now, I’m one of several people who have joined the work of Kirsten Crawford Turner, the founder of a grass roots book donation effort in western North Carolina called 21st Century Packhorse Librarian.
Kirsten told me that after she felt God leading her to collect and deliver free books and homeschool curriculum to families in WNC, she imagined handing out a few boxes of books from the back of her husband’s truck. The reality has been something only God would have envisioned for her: Since the flood, thousands of books have been given to thousands of children and their families at locally hosted events.
Unlike the original pack horse librarians, volunteers don’t use mules. We pack our SUVs and pickup trucks with hundreds of mostly used books, donated by book lovers and authors (including S.D. Smith and Jonathan Rogers) from across the country.
The first event I worked was held at a church in a nearby town, the western outskirts of which were turned into a wasteland when the Cane River became a sea. A young mother, thoughtfully making her selections, carried a bag full of books over one arm, a two-year-old twin in the other arm, and the other twin on her back. She told us how her house had been damaged and her brother’s house had been swept away.
It was just one of many stories volunteers would listen attentively to that November day as we stood on the other side of folding tables filled with stories.
The second event was especially meaningful for me. My publisher (Moody) had responded to my request for help and had shipped 500 of their new children’s books (including my Tree Street Kids series) to my doorstep. My husband and I packed up old Nelly, the Subaru Forester, for the drive to Black Mountain. I spent the day at the middle grade table, greeting visitors, signing books, and helping my fellow volunteer, Jenavieve. Whenever anyone had a special book request, an amazing fifth grader–the youngest volunteer–would search every display table and storage bin for just the right read.
Many of the pack horse librarians have suffered their own losses and talking with each other has been a comfort. We’ve been able to help each other too. Kirsten set up an Amazon book wishlist for one volunteer who homeschools and whose nature-based home library–along with nearly all her family’s possessions–was destroyed by floodwaters. After the rain ended, this young woman and her husband trekked three miles with their baby and young child, past rushing rainwater, across ruined roads, and over downed trees, until they could reach an area with enough cellphone reception to call for help.
After all the destruction, as well as the collective loss of safety, security, and everything we hold familiar and dear, how could I have doubted the need for books? We know good stories instill hope, and the people of WNC need that desperately.
Kirsten shared with me that some years ago, while living in the Nevada desert, she prayed for friends, especially friends who love books. Just months ago, I prayed for a way to help my communities. God’s answer brought the two of us, and many others, together–people who need books, people who need hope, and people who have been called to help deliver them.
If you would like to learn more and be notified about the ongoing efforts of the 21st Century Packhorse Librarian, visit Kirsten’s public 21st Century Packhorse Librarian Facebook group.
If you’d like to help, you can purchase a book via Kirsten’s Packhorse Librarian Gift List on Amazon. ALL the books are given for free to the kids and families in the hardest hit areas of our WNC towns and communities.
Recommended Books About the Pack Horse Librarians
Picture Books
Books by Horseback: A Librarian’s Brave Journey to Deliver Books to Children, Emma Carlson Berne
The Horseback Librarians, Jane Yolen
Junia, the Book Mule of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson
That Book Woman, Heather Henson
Middle Grade Books
Down Cut Shin Creek, the Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky, Kathi Appelt and Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer
For Adults
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson
The Book Woman’s Daughter, Kim Michele Richardson
The Secret Place of Thunder: A Christian Fiction Appalachian Pack Horse Librarian Novella (Librarians of Willow Hollow), Alicia G. Ruggieri
Wonderland Creek, Lynn Austin
Amanda and her husband, together, have eight grown children and a border collie named Annie who wakes Amanda up early every morning to write.
- Pack Horse Librarians Deliver Hope - January 20, 2025
- Hello my name is . . . (and why it matters) - June 10, 2019
This is such a great project! I’m excited to see it happening.
It has been incredible to watch God make it grow. In May, there will be a live reenactment with the mission that has worked to take supplies into the mountains with mule trains.
Hi! Besides the Amazon list, is there an address to which I can send books? I own some of the books mentioned and would love to send as many as possible (all in good condition of course). I saw your link posted on Schole sisters forum. God Bless!