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North Carolina Libraries
Fall 1996
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RECEIVED
NOV 2 2 1996
EAST CAROLINA
UNIVERSITY
Volume 74, Number
© ISSN 0029-2540
fs
Xe)
faeaes Sera] COMMUNITY OF THE BOOK
Fall 1996
Guest Editor, Rosemary H. Arneson
99 Community of the Book: Introduction, Rosemary H. Arneson
100 Books and the Human Need for Narrative: Reflections on the Writings of
Paul Ricoeur, David Lee Stegall
103 LetTs Talk About It Some More, Frannie Ashburn
107 The Community of the Book: An Academic Library Perspective,
Rhoda K. Channing
110 The Benedictine Collection at Belmont Abbey College, Susan E. Mayes
113 The Spread of Public Libraries: The Community of the Book in North Carolina,
1900-1960, Patrick M. Valentine
122 oShare a Book ... at Home� A Literacy Project Sponsored by the Elkin Public
Library, Joan Sanders
123 Library Media Center School Reading Programs at Morrisville Year-Round
Elementary School, Nancy B. McNitt
124 Encouraging the Students to Read, Read, Read, Kay L. Stockdale
127 The Community of the Book: A Bibliography, Rosemary H. Arneson
ERE 5D OS Se
Advertisers: Broadfoot's, 133;
Checkpoint, 121;
Current Editions, 109;
Ebsco, 102;
Journal of the Tar Heel Tellers, 119;
Mumford Books, 137;
Quality Books, 112;
SIRS, front cover;
UNC Press, back cover.
Q8 From the President
130 Point: The Network of the Book, C. Thomas Law
131 Counter Point: The Network and the Book, Kevin Cherry
132 Wired to the World, Ralph Lee Scott
132 About the Authors
133 Letters to the Editors ...
134 North Carolina Books
142 Lagniappe: North Carolina Videos: Artistic, Literary, Historical, and Geographical
Views of the Old North State, Sherrie Antonowicz, Marty Wilson, and Catherine Moore
144 NCLA Minutes
Cover: Photo of members of North Carolina Libraries Editorial Board by Rose Simon;
photo of Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University courtesy of Rhoda Channing;
photo of student reading courtesy of Kay Stockdale.
North Carolina Libraries is electronically produced. Art direction and design by Pat Weathersbee of TeamMedia,
Greenville, NC.
From the Provident
Dave Fergusson, President
f you haven't seen. it yet, take a look at NCLATs new home page on the Web. The
T Rockingham County Public Library is generously maintaining it for us, and the
address is http://www.rcpl.org/ncla. Sue Cody took on this web site assignment, and
by the time you have seen it, I think several of our sections and round tables will
have additional home pages of their own set up and linked. Of course, if you are not
a subscriber to NCLA-L, go directly to jail and do not collect $200. Rather, send the
message osubscribe ncla-l yourfirstname yourlastname� to listserv@ils.unc.edu.
While attendance at the NCASL Conference in High Point was below expectations, the
programs and exhibits I visited were great. I enjoyed spending some time soliciting
vendors for future conferences and I won a door prize at lunch. Former Omni magazine
editor Keith FerrellTs take on the Internet, which he delivered after the lunch, was both
challenging and disturbing. Ferrell decried the lack of authority and the disconnected
qualities associated with much of the information our young people accept as fact off of
the Net. He contrasted that with the linear progression of thought and the validity
associated with material which has been judged, edited and published by a publishing
house with a reputation earned over time.
The NCLA Executive Board met Wednesday, August 7, in High Point, and I want to
mention two interesting outcomes. The entire board met all afternoon with facilitators
Ernie Tompkins and his wife Nickol Northern-Tompins to address the unresolved issues in
the 1995 Governance Study. Ernie, who works with the City of Winston-Salem and seems
to know half the librarians in the state, and Nickol, who works for the City of High Point,
graciously donated their time to help us.
After much discussion, it was agreed that the Board would investigate preparing an
amendment to the Constitution for a membership vote. The change would award an
additional seat on the Executive Board to a section or round table reaching a certain level of
membership, and would add additional seats as higher membership numbers are reached.
A motion is also being prepared for the next meeting of the Board which will charge all
NCLA bodies (sections, round tables, etc.) with adopting substantial registration cost
differences for members and non-member rates all at future workshops. This would affix
value to membership, and in effect penalize non-members, or those not involved in the
organization which provides the workshops. Draconian as it may seem, this is a common
practice and expands the value of membership.
A major concern of the Association these days is its decreasing membership, especially
renewals which have really declined. The Membership Committee, headed by NCLA
Directors Barbara Akinwole and Jackie Beach, is working hard to address this problem, but
in the meantime I thought it would be worthwhile to look at NCLA membership as it
would be examined in the oprivate sector� " to see how the value measures up. I selected
two very popular ways of spending oneTs money and then compared them to NCLA
membership.
Comparison of NCLA Membership to the cost of a BMW 318i convertible:
Your NCLA membership costs $10-$40 per year while the BMW rounds out at
$32,750. How good are opportunities to meet other people? The NCLA Conference
draws 1,400 people. The 318i seats four. What does it cost for maintenance? NCLA
averages $30 dues per year. The BMW will average $30 a day if you are lucky. NCLA is,
of course, a North Carolina organization. The BMTer comes from Germany, or worse
yet, South Carolina.
Comparison of NCLA Membership to oTaste of Asia Vacation,� including Singapore and
Bangkok.
Again, NCLA costs about $10-$40 a year. The oTaste of Asia� trip costs $1,860, double
occupancy, and food is not even included! NCLA affords you the opportunity to meet
1,500-2,200 members annually. As to the vacation, how many people can you meet in
nine days? The record of your years in NCLA is preserved in North Carolina Libraries,
but your trip? Snapshots.
Any way you cut it, NCLA is a great deal! DonTt you wonder why more people donTt skip
the family vacation altogether and buy everyone in the family an NCLA membership -
toddlers through grandparents? The amount of money saved by belonging to NCLA is a
Se eee ee Sd OMe OL meme mn mmcnIGal
98 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
See eee eee ae ne a ee ene ne en enn ae eee eee
Community of the Book:
SSE
North Carolina Libraries
In troduction eee by Rosemary H. Arneson
t first glance, reading seems to be the most solitary of activities. Think of reading and
you picture a person alone with a book. For many of us, in fact, the idea of having the
solitude and time to plunge into uninterrupted reading is one of our fonder fantasies. I
submit, however, that reading is a communal activity, something that binds us together
into a Community of the Book.
The first link in the Community of the Book is the connection made between author
and reader. Whatever inner fire drives a writer to write, it is clear as we listen to authors
discuss their work that they are writing with the idea that their work will be read. The
writer writes to inform, to instruct, to convert, to amuse, to entertain, to touch another"
the reader. And once a reader picks up a writerTs book and begins to read, the first link in
the Community of the Book begins. The writer has found an audience.
The conversation between writer and reader does not flow in just one direction,
however. When we are engaged in the act of reading, we are asking questions of the writer.
And the writer answers. The questions may be as mundane as oHow do I hook up the
modem I just bought for my computer?� or as life-changing as oHow do we find meaning in
the suffering caused by the death of a loved one?� In the Community of the Book, we find
answers, or, if not answers, at least someone with whom we can share the question.
The Community of the Book does not exist solely between reader and writer, however,
and that is what this issue of North Carolina Libraries will explore. First, David Stegall,
philosopher, librarian, and bibliophile, explores the importance of narrative to our human
lives. Could we be what we are without the stories we have told through the centuries?
What do these stories say to us and about us? Frances Ashburn builds on this theme by
describing, oLetTs Talk About It,� a book discussion program for adults that connects
scholars in the humanities with readers. This program, which has been successfully imple-
mented in public libraries across our state, addresses both our need for stories and our need
to talk about the stories we hear and read.
Rhoda Channing continues with an examination of the Community of the Book as it
is served by, perhaps even created by, the academic librarian. The library, she tells us, is the
oparagenetic repository� of knowledge, the means by which we pass our culture from one
generation to another. With a sense of high calling, Channing demonstrates that scholar-
ship cannot flourish in the future without libraries and archives that house the accumulated
knowledge of the past.
Susan Mayes, herself an oblate in the Benedictine Order, describes the Benedictine
collection maintained by Belmont Abbey College. This collection serves both the academic
community of the college and the monastic community of the Abbey. Mayes connects this
library to the greater community of the Benedictine Order and describes the role that
reading and books have played in the Order over the centuries.
In his article, Patrick Valentine traces the growth of public library service in North
Carolina. He shows how library service extended into the rural corners of the state, and
how it expanded from a service for owhites only� to an inclusive service reaching the entire
community.
And our public libraries continue to serve as creators of the Community of the Book, as
Joan Sanders shows in her article describing the oShare A Book ... at Home� project. This is
a community project; it involves the local library, its Friends group, Head Start, the local
hospital, and any number of other local service centers. Its goal, simply stated, is to create
in Elkin a community of readers, beginning with the youngest residents.
Mayes, Channing, and Valentine all look at the Community of the Book as something
that stretches back through time, but is it also something that will continue? For evidence,
we present two articles from school librarians Nancy McNitt and Kay Stockdale, both of
which describe programs in their schools that encourage students to read. Stockdale
provides the background, the owhy� of creating Communities of the Book in our schools;
MeNitt describes one schoolTs successful ohow.�
Human beings are social creatures; we cannot live in isolation from each other. Books,
as the articles presented here show, provide us with links with each other, with our past,
and with the future. Join us in celebrating the Community of the Book!
Fall 1996 " 99
Books and the Human Need for Narrative:
Reflections on the Writings of Paul Ricoeur
by David Lee Stegall
oIt is not by chance or by mistake that we commonly think of stories that happen
to us or of stories in which we are caught up, or simply the story of a life.�?
|. Portrait of the Bibliophile
When one thinks of books and of the
voracious reader, in short, the world of
the bibliophile, the lover of books, a
whole constellation of images comes to
mind. Readers who survey the shelves of
their homes characterize the volumes
stacked around them in a dozen differ-
ing yet reverential ways. oThese books
are my friends, to whom I can turn for
wisdom and humor and stories of ad-
venture. These books are my reminders
to myself, of what I have learned and of
what I want to be.� The shelves are like
the layers an archaeologist would dig
through, each layer an interest once had
or an author whose every novel and
story one gathered and savored. Sitting
and surveying a lifetime of books, a fa-
vorite thought experiment of the biblio-
phile is to try to decide what would be
the five books one would want to have
if marooned on a desert island. [For
myself, the answer is Hugh LoftingTs The
Voyages of Doctor Doolittle, The World as
I Found It by Bruce Duffy, The Plague by
Albert Camus, Joseph HellerTs Catch 22,
and Shantyboat by Harlan Hubbard].
This question is, of course, a version of
asking, owhat are the most precious
books to me,� the books one recom-
mends or gives to friends. As the reader
reflects upon the joys of reading, the
authors that have befriended through
their stories, the stories that seemed writ-
ten just for oneTs own predicament, the
enriching of life by books " from all this
one easily slides into thinking the com-
100 " Fall 1996
mon claim that books are a special or
magical invention, and thus by exten-
sion, book collectors and book lovers are
on a sort of quest for the Holy Grail, in
search of, and in communion with,
magical things.
And yet clearly the voracious reader,
the book lover, are also felt to be comi-
cal figures. Consider the parallel with the
history of philosophy, where as any text-
book teaches, the first Western philoso-
pher was Thales. And any story of the
origins of philosophy always includes
the tale of Thales being so deep in
thought that while walking through the
countryside, he fell down a well and was
thus laughed at by passersby. Thales em-
bodies the odaydreamer� and the im-
practical thinker, and these same conno-
tations cling to any discussion of the life
of the bibliophile. The love of books ap-
pears whimsical, akin to a withdrawal
from oreal life.� From Thales onward,
philosophy has had an aura of the
" Paul Ricoeur
comic, as being a daydreamerTs life. The
same comic aura clings to the life of the
bibliophile. The reader seems to be a
daydreamer and sleepwalker, oblivious
like Thales.
il. A Human Need for Narrative
Given the above, books seem to be a
luxury, in both meanings of the term
luxury " an escape from the world and
something quite nonessential. Indeed,
when one thinks of something like
MaslowTs hierarchy of needs, books do
appear to be a luxury. For Maslow, there
are physical needs, then safety needs,
then social needs, then esteem needs
and finally self-actualization needs. We
are tempted, by the glory of the term
~self-actualization,T to say that this is
where the experience of books and story
lies. But such a temptation would be
false, as the philosopher and theorist
Paul Ricoeur has argued in his recent
article,�Life in Quest of Narrative,� in
It is common to talk of the reader bringing the
book to life by the act of reading, but following
Ricoeur, there is also and more importantly
the book bringing the reader to life, giving to
the reader the sense of the world as being
understandable in units of meaning.
North Carolina Libraries
which Ricoeur presents his account of
the nature of narrative. As Ricoeur states,
oFiction contributes to making life...into
a human life.� Ricoeur argues that a
human life is a narrative life, where a
onarrative life� is a life that experiences
stories told to it, and ostories to itself,�
as it describes its own life to itself. Thus,
for Ricoeur, the need for narrative is in-
fused into what it means for one to ex-
perience the world as a human being.
To make such a claim is no small feat,
for as Ricoeur notes oStories are re-
counted, life is lived. An unbridgeable
gap seems to separate fiction and life.�3
Yet, Ricoeur continues othe sense or the
significance of a narrative stems from
the intersection of the world of the text
and the world of the reader.�* As David
Carr puts it, in characterizing RicoeurTs
overall theory, oNarration, far from be-
ing a distortion of, denial of or escape
from ~reality,T is in fact an extension and
enrichment, a confirmation, not a falsi-
fication of its primary features.�5
But to say all of this is to leap ahead
in ~the story.T First of all, what is meant
by narrative? By narrative one means:
Taking the world in terms of units of
Beginning-Middle-End, of finding coher-
ence within a unit of experiences, a carv-
ing out of a unit of meaning from the
flow of experience. Humans experience
the passage of time and the living of life,
not as a stream of succession, of A, then
B, then C..., but as episodes, ~experi-
ences,T which have a coherence. As
Ricoeur puts it, oIn this sense, compos-
ing a story is, from the temporal point of
view, drawing a configuration out of a
succession.�® or again, othe plot serves to
make one story out of the multiple inci-
dents or, if you prefer, transforms the
many incidents into one story.�� To be
human is to hunger for units of mean-
ing, echoing a basic need of humanity.
And it is narrative which meets this hun-
ger, a hunger for endings, for encapsuled
events, for units of meaning in life. A
beginning, middle, and end form a unit
of coherence, of meaning, as they be-
come a recognizable episode. We expe-
rience a capsule of Beginning-Middle-
End by reading or hearing the tale told,
but beneath any story, heard or read,
there is the underlying message of break-
ing the flow of the world into units of
meaning, and learning to tell oneTs own
stories of oneTs experiences.
It is common to talk of the reader
bringing the book to life by the act of
reading, but following Ricoeur, there is
also and more importantly the book
bringing the reader to life, giving to the
reader the sense of the world as being
North Carolina Libraries
understandable in units of meaning.
From this it follows that stories do not
just inform or entertain, if by this we
mean being given facts or diversions
from life. Rather, or more importantly,
to have a self-understanding is to be able
to tell the story of oneself. oLife is an
activity and a passion in search of a nar-
rative,�8 as Ricoeur summarizes the
point. We hear that we should tell our
story, as if we had any other option. To
be human is to be storying, and there is
no other way of being human in the
world. Just as a paleolithic hand ax re-
veals the shape of the human hand, sto-
ries reveal the shape of the human mind,
the shape of omeaning.� Storying, creat-
ing units of meaning and wanting units
of meaning, is part of the structure of
how humans think.
Because the hunger for books, the
hunger for reading, is a subset or
subvariety of the human hunger for
story, books fall into that list of ways and
settings in which humans encounter
narrative " the human activities which
are embodiments of story or narrative.
Such a list in toto, reads like the whole
journey of humanity. First, there is the
tribe gathering around a campfire at
dusk to narrate the hunt or dance again
the myth of how life came to the land.
There is the narrative of parents telling
wisdom tales to children in their laps,
and gatherings throughout human his-
tory, with their public performances of
myths and epics by bards or traveling
entertainers. All this right on through to
todayTs television and theatre and cin-
ema and library storyhour. All reflect an
unbroken chain of humanityTs way of
being in the world, a way of being in the
world in terms of creating units of mean-
ing called stories, units with beginning,
middle, and end, that one can apply to
oneTs own episodes of life. The story oof
my childhood, of finding a companion,
of making oneTs way in the world,� are
all stories of self-understand-
ing whose making one was
tutoring in, by hours of the
stories of oneTs community.
Narrative continues beyond
the personal, for story is the
coin of the realm for far
more than personal dis-
course. A community tells
its history, its story of itself,
with all its accompanying
myths, its wisdom tales, its
exemplars of how good citi-
zens live, on to its chapter
within the story of human-
kind. Science narrates as
well, with its story of evolu-
tion and of the big bang, the story of the
rise of civilization, the story of life and
death. Story pervades then at each
level " the personal, the social and the
general " as being the way humans con-
ceptualize the world.
Ill. Reading as Emancipation
But are books then banal, because they
do only what the campfire tale and the
Aesopian homily does, i.e., supply ex-
amples of how to see units of meaning
in the ongoing flow of time? On the
contrary, it is the power of narrative, the
human as the animal who tells stories,
that guarantees to books a place of rich-
ness and honor in the human story.
This power of stories is often charac-
terized as a storyTs ability to ~freeT the
reader, not free them from their day-to-
day worries, but free them in the sense
of telling them that the world can be
otherwise. For Ricoeur, to be freed, to be
emancipated, is to be shown other pos-
sibilities for oneTs life. As philosopher
David Wood puts it, oRicoeur suggests
we think of the examined life as a nar-
rated life, characterized by a struggle
between concordance and discordance,
the aim of which is to discover, not to
impose on oneself, a narrative identity.�9
In short, from story, one finds there are
other possibilities, other ways to live.
Beyond a need for coherence, the need
for units of meaning, there is then read-
ing as emancipation, and indeed this
notion of the narrative as emancipating
leads one to again think of narrative as
being the last rung of MaslowTs ladder.
This freeing, of what does it consist? In
stories we think that information is be-
ing conveyed " the information about
other places " such as what it is like to
live in a world of concrete and asphalt or
what it feels like to be in love. But what
any story conveys to the hungry reader
or listener is other possibilities, other
Stories become thought
experiments by which one
learns of all the interesting,
differing units of meaning
that humans have made for
themselves.
Fall 1996 " 101
ways one could live oneTs life and other
ways one could think of oneself. Con-
sider the book Reading Rooms,'° in which
various authors write of what libraries
meant to them. One motif that recurs in
this anthology is of young people, often
in isolated circumstances, finding in a
story on a library shelf, possibilities for
their lives that they and perhaps their
whole community had never spoken of.
In a story, a poor black youth can learn
that not all blacks are poor, and from
this fact can imagine other new exciting
possibilities for his or her life. One can
read of worlds where not all the rulers
are male, or where there are positive por-
trayals of gay life, or where growing up
doesnTt mean going to work in the local
mill or foundry. In these pages, there are
tales of places where atheism is fine, or
where parents donTt hit children, or
where imagination is rewarded and lis-
tened to, rather than dismissed. Stories
become thought experiments by which
one learns of all the interesting, differing
units of meaning that humans have
made for themselves. Thus from a story
first felt as someone speaking to the
reader, there comes then from the expe-
rience of the story a modeling of how
one can speak to oneself about one-
~LEADER IN
THE
102 " Fall 1996
self " the possible stories for oneself are
enlarged.
IV. Conclusion
To have said this sounds simple, but
what it says about what it is to be human
is not so simple. Within life, there can
be conflicting stories, distorting stories,
addictive stories; there are no guaran-
tees, and the stories one lives by can
make false endings, assign meanings to
meaningless moments, and become a
fog that settles upon experience to blur
the sharp edges of reality. Yet, stories do
not merely distract us from painful or
dull realities. Stories are the stuff of hu-
man reality " they are how one experi-
ences reality. A story is not a magic po-
tion, but is instead a necessary tonic for
being human, and thus in a roundabout
way perhaps magical after all.
To return to the beginning of the
story: Thales, the philosopher fallen
into the well, is comical, by being so
deep in thought that he tumbles into a
hole in the ground. But he is also doing
something deeply revelatory about the
human situation"he is in his
thoughts, as he walks without seeing,
asking the question, oWhat is the nature
INFORMATION SERVICES
INTEGRATED
INFORMATION
of reality?� or oWhat is this strange
thing that we call ~the worldT?� Likewise,
the bibliophile is at times comic, but is,
as Ricoeur tells us, also a reflection of
something fundamental to the human
situation " the need for story, for narra-
tive, as the stuff of human thought.
References
1 Paul Ricoeur, oLife in Quest of Narra-
tive.� In On Paul Ricoeur, edited by David
Wood. London: Routledge, 1991, 29.
2 Jbid., 20.
3 Jbid., 25.
4 Jbid., 26.
5 David Carr, Charles Taylor, and Paul
Ricoeur, oDiscussion: Ricoeur on Narra-
tive.� In On Paul Ricoeur, edited by David
Wood. London: Routledge, 1991, 162.
6 Ricoeur, oLife in Quest of Narra-
tive,� 22.
7 Ibid., 21.
8 [bid.
9 David Wood, oIntroduction: Inter-
preting Narrative.� In On Paul Ricoeur,
edited by David Wood. London:
Routledge, 1991, 11.
10 Susan Toth and John Coughlan, eds.
Reading Rooms. New York: Doubleday,
1991.
MANAGEMENT
North Carolina Libraries
LetTs Talk About It Some More
by Frannie Ashburn
n Thursday evenings this
spring, thirty citizens of rural
Randolph County gathered
in their small public library
in Archdale to talk about
childrenTs literature in a pro-
gram called oNot For Chil-
dren Only.� Over a nine-week
period, they met five times to discuss
the enduring value of such works as
Little Women, Wind in the Willows, Roll
of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and CharlotteTs
Web, books that can be read and en-
joyed by adults as well as by children.
At the first program, there was
lively discussion about the two books
that everyone had read in preparation
for the eveningTs lecture and discus-
sion " Iona and Peter OpieTs Classic
Fairy Tales and Tatterhood and Other
Tales, collections of fairy tales that focus
on heroines instead of heroes. The
eveningTs speaker, Dr. Cassandra Kircher
from Elon College, was the first of the
five humanities scholars who would
come every other week to lead pro-
grams. Dr. Kircher began with a half-
hour introduction to fairy tales in
which she discussed the origin and col-
lection of these culturally significant
stories. The audience then split into
three small groups for the real business
of the evening, a oLetTs Talk About It�
program " and the participants were
eager to do just that.
The groups quickly began animated
exchanges about their own favorites,
and how these special stories had af-
fected their lives and families. More
than one person had been surprised to
discover the multiple origins of the clas-
sic fairy tales and their often violent
original versions. Cinderella " in all
her cultural permutations " was a hot
topic, including the values and lessons
North Carolina Libraries
that children learn from her story.
There was much talk of family
storytelling in one discussion group
whose nine members ranged in age
from 25 to 80 and included some with
college degrees as well as a recent gradu-
ate of the libraryTs literacy program.
One woman recalled the pleasure of
hearing her grandmotherTs fairy tales,
which she has passed on to her own
children and grandchildren. She
thought the Tatterhood tales featuring
heroines were oexciting,� and wished
sheTd been told those in her own girl-
hood. She plans to tell some of these to
her granddaughters and grandsons.
The evening ended as most of these
evenings do. Cassandra Kircher drove
away happy to have spent two hours
with enthusiastic people who had read
the books and wanted to talk about
them. She had expected to have a good
time because her husband is an experi-
enced oLetTs Talk About It� scholar and
has high praise for the project. The
Friends of the Library cleared away the
coffee and cookies and congratulated
themselves on the success of their first
programming en-
deavor. The delighted
librarian accepted
gracious thanks from
the departing pa-
trons, ar thing of
whom milled around
in the parking lot
continuing the dis-
cussion long after the
program was oover.�
oLetTs Talk About It�
was launched in
Archdale, and the
only question nine
weeks later was,
oWhen can we do
this again?�
Reading and discussion programs
just like this one began around a
kitchen table nearly twenty years ago in
Rutland, Vermont. Pat Bates, then pro-
gram coordinator at the Rutland Free
Library and now project director for the
Howard County Library in Columbia,
Maryland, experimented with a number
of formats before moving the original
reading group from her home to the
public library and adding a humanities
scholar to enhance the discussion.
Within two years of settling on this suc-
cessful formula, Bates had received
funding from the National Endowment
for the Humanities to develop the oLetTs
Talk About It� project with the Ameri-
can Library Association. A national
team of scholars and librarians worked
together to develop themes, select
books, and set up a workable program
format.
In the past 11 years, libraries in all
50 states have participated in oLetTs Talk
About It� programs, and more than a
hundred themes have been developed
at the local, state, and national levels. A
The reading and discussion
program is really a ohook� to lure
readers into the library and
encourage them to explore the
wealth of reading already
available there ....
Fall 1996 " 103
oLetTs Talk About It� series has four or
five sessions, each featuring a reading
selected to address the overall theme.
Themes are based on topics like work
(oWorking�), the Civil War (oRebirth of
a Nation: Nationalism and the Civil
War�), romantic love (oDestruction or
Redemption: Images of Romantic
Love�), popular fiction (oWhat America
Reads: Myth Making in Popular Fic-
tion�), and womenTs autobiography
(oThe Journey Inward: WomenTs Auto-
biography�). Books are selected because
theyTre oa good read� and because they
address some aspect of the series theme.
The reading and discussion program is
really a ohook� to lure readers into the
library and encourage them to explore
the wealth of reading already available
there; hence, osuggested additional
reading� lists are handed out along with
the series books.
The North Carolina oLetTs Talk
About It� project is funded by the State
Library of North Carolina and housed at
the Duke University Office of Continu-
ing Education. Reading and discussion
series on mystery, religion, science fic-
tion, and Tar Heel literature have been
developed over the years. The most re-
cent of these explores oTwentieth-Cen-
tury African-American Literature� and
features the works of such writers as
James Baldwin and Alice Walker. This
theme was developed by Mimi
McNamee, oLetTs Talk About It� state
project director, in conjunction with
the North Carolina Humanities Coun-
cil. Our state council is a strong sup-
porter of libraries and has awarded nu-
merous grants for oLetTs Talk About It�
programs to the stateTs public libraries.
Readers and scholars have contin-
ued to meet regularly in public libraries
statewide and nationwide to talk about
books and literature. This is critical for
libraries in small rural communities
where such opportunities often do not
exist outside the library. A 1995 report
on reading and discussion programs
supported by the Humanities Projects in
Libraries and Archives at the National
Endowment for the Humanities states
that:
e Programs have occurred in every
state, the District of Columbia, and
the three territories
e Reading and discussion programs
have drawn an overwhelmingly en-
thusiastic response from partici-
pants, scholars, and librarians
¢ In comparison with other oparallel
school� program formats, the
reading and discussion group
104 " Fall 1996
entails active personal investiga-
tion of humanities subjects over
an extensive and sustained period
of time (approximately 30 hours
of reading, listening, and discuss-
ing for a typical five-book series)
e By 1987, nearly 2 million people
had attended reading and discus-
sion programs sponsored by all
sources. Since 1987, about two
million more people have partici-
pated in reading and discussion
programs, both scholar-led
(supported by the Humanities
Projects in Libraries and Archives
program of the National Endow-
ment for the HumanitiesT Division
of Public Programs) and others
e Replication of programs has
become easier, more frequent, and
less expensive through the efforts
of the National Endowment for the
Humanities, state humanities coun-
cils, the American Library Associa-
tion, and others
e The demographic mix of partici-
pants has changed. More males are
attending programs, especially pro-
grams that use nonfiction (usually
history, political science, or biogra-
phy). The age range is wider (from
16 to 83) and the mean age has de-
creased from 58 to 42.1
This is a program that works well and
continues to grow and expand.
Humans have a genuine need for
stories, and we hunger for the intellec-
tual stimulation of connecting and
communicating with others through
thoughts and words. For as long as
books have been written, people have
been reading and contemplating what
theyTve read and then gathering to-
gether to talk with other readers. This is
not a new phenomenon. What is new,
is that this ogathering together� takes
place in the public library and that the
gathering includes a humanities
scholar.
The oLetTs Talk About It� format
(scholar-led reading and discussion pro-
grams targeting the out-of-school adult
audience) provides an opportunity to
talk about books and ideas and life and
literature and values and all the other
fascinating things explored by readers.
Within this context, adults can read a
book and gather to talk about it, with
the discussion enhanced by a humani-
ties scholar. Scholar participation is the
major distinction between these read-
ing and discussion programs and other
reading projects such as the Great Books
programs.
oLetTs Talk About It� scholars do not
provide the oanswers� nor do they ana-
lyze the text. They enrich the discussion
with biographical information about
the author and critical perspectives on
the text. By raising provocative ques-
tions about a bookTs characters and
themes, the scholar inspires partici-
pants to relate their own experiences
and insights to the book and to share
their responses with the discussion
group. The essayist Hannah Arendt
says, oWe humanize what is going on in
the world and in ourselves only by
speaking of it and in the course of
speaking of it we learn to be human.�
The discussion among participants is
the focus of oLetTs Talk About It,� and
the reading and lecture are the shared
experience which forms the basis for
the discussion. This shared experience
empowers an audience of strangers to
talk easily with one another about im-
portant topics.
The scholar is the key to the success
of these programs, bringing expertise
and personal interests and enthusiasms
to the reading and examination of the
text. Most readers do not have regular
access to scholars with whom they can
discuss their reading. And scholars find
it stimulating and engaging to talk
about literature with a mature audience,
people who bring a life experience to
their reading that is much different
from the average twenty-something col-
lege student.
Scholars are recruited for the
project by librarians and humanities
council staff who know them from
other public programs. And theyTre of-
ten recruited by their colleagues who
have enjoyed their own participation.
At the 1991 Lander University PRAXIS
Humanities Conference in Greenwood,
South Carolina, Dr. Judith James, pro-
fessor of English at the University of
South Carolina observed in a talk en-
titled oCultural Literacy: A Two-Way
Sireets
This leads me to another
observation or two about these
lifelong learners who come to
... public libraries to otalk
about it.� Reading for them is
not an oacademic� exercise.
They are eager to connect their
reading to their life experi-
ence " in fact, they insist on it.
And they have mote life
experience than the students
we customarily teach. They
provide, in this way, a useful
corrective to ivory-tower
North Carolina Libraries
ae
scholarship. They keep us
realistic " and humble. As all
good students do, they teach
me as much (or more) than I
teach them.
Talking about books and
writers with the adult audi-
ences that participate in LetTs
Talk About It enlarges my
perspective, fuels my enthusi-
asm, and feeds my soul.
I invite you to consider for
yourselves as teachers what LetTs
Talk About It has to offer. Just
think: to engage in lively
conversation with interested
readers about books and writers
worth talking about " with no
tests to give, no papers to grade;
who wouldnTt feel renewed in
our calling and better for
having otalked about itT�?3
Discussion is inspired by the litera-
ture, by the life experiences of the par-
ticipants, and by the humanities per-
spective of the scholars. Reading and
discussing literature from a humanities
perspective involves language, history,
anthropology, philosophy, and all fields
of study united by the search to under-
stand the mysteries of human existence.
What are the links of the past to the
present? What is the moral basis for the de-
cisions we must make each day? How can
I be my own person and still peacefully co-
exist with those who are different from me?
We read and discuss literature from
a humanities perspective in order to see
our lives and concerns within a larger
context and to understand others in the
light of these experiences. We can learn
about books from other people, and we
learn about other people when they talk
about books. What do the themes of de-
struction and redemption in Emma
BovaryTs life have to do with my life? with
my loves? How do family dynamics in Pat
ConroyTs The Great Santini help me to
understand my own family or families that
I know?
A library reading and discussion
program is a team effort with the schol-
ars, librarians, and participants each
playing an important role. And the
teamwork at the state and national level
has been no less important in providing
the structure and the funding for
projects that have put programs in hun-
dreds of libraries. The American Library
Association and the National Endow-
ment for the Humanities have been the
major partners in developing reading
and discussion programs at the national
level. The American Library Association
North Carolina Libraries
recognized the importance of providing
packaged programs for busy librarians
so that a library did not have to ore-in-
vent the wheel� by selecting topics and
books to address them. oLetTs Talk
About It� materials are available from
the American Library Association and
include posters, theme brochures includ-
ing an essay that describes the series
theme and an annotated bibliography
for additional reading), clip art, and a
publicity packet (pre-written news re-
leases, public service announcements,
etc.). Major funding from the National
Endowment for the Humanities has en-
abled scholars and librarians to develop
themes and pilot programs for national
projects. North CarolinaTs State Librar-
ian, Sandy Cooper, was the American
Library AssociationTs national project
director for oLetTs Talk About It,� and she
also served as a consultant for individual
state projects. She knows first-hand the
impact these programs have on libraries,
cornmunities, and the lives of readers all
across the country.
In addition to her work with oLetTs
Talk About It,� Cooper was instrumen-
tal in developing the oVoices and Vi-
sions� reading, viewing, and discussion
programs on modern American poetry
that grew out of the oLetTs Talk About
It� project. oVoices and Visions� was de-
veloped jointly by the American Library
Association and the Modern Poetry As-
sociation with funding from the Na-
tional Endowment for the Humanities.
It expands on the popular oLetTs Talk
About It� reading and discussion model
using videos. Scholar-led discussion re-
mains the key to the programTs success.
In a oVoices and Visions� series, poetry
comes alive through outstanding visual
interpretations in the videos created for
the popular Public Broadcasting Service
series of the same name. Drama, dance,
perforrnances, interviews, archival foot-
age, on-location cinematography, and
recordings of the poets reading their
own works heighten the participantsT
appreciation and understanding of the
poetry. Robert DiYanniTs excellent an-
thology, Modern American Poets: Their
Voices and Visions, is the series text.
oVoices and Visions� was so suc-
cessful that the American Library Asso-
ciation, the Modern Poetry Association,
and the National Endowment for the
Humanities developed the oPoets in
Person� project for public library audi-
ences. In oPoets in Person,� engaging
and influential writers talked with fel-
low poets and host Dr. Joseph Parisi,
editor of Poetry magazine, for a National
Public Radio series. The poets use vivid
details and anecdotes to tell how they
came to write some of their favorite
poems, giving unique insights into the
creative process itself. A typical half-
hour audiocassette program features
five or more poems as interpreted by
the poet, demonstrating that contem-
porary poetry is compelling and easily
comprehensible. The series book, Poets
in Person: A ListenerTs Guide, gives bio-
graphical information on each poet, a
critical introduction to the poetTs work,
the text of all poems read on the tape,
a bibliography, and an audiography.
Scholar-led programs follow the lecture/
discussion format.
North Carolina public libraries are
participating in a joint project with
South Carolina that will bring oVoices
and Visions� and oPoets in Person� pro-
grams to over sixty libraries, senior citi-
zen sites, and workplace sites in the two
states. Poetry Spoken Then and Now is
funded by the National Endowment for
the Humanities and is sponsored in
North Carolina by the Center for the
Book, a program of the State Library of
North Carolina. Last fall more than 100
librarians and scholars from the two
Carolinas met in Columbia, South
Carolina, for a one-day demonstration
program and orientation workshop led
by Dr. Joseph Parisi, head of the Modern
Poetry Association and principal scholar
for the oPoets in Person� national
proiect. Dr. Parisi led a discussion on
Rita DoveTs poetry, allowing scholars
and librarians to experience the fun of
being participants instead of presenters.
Six-session poetry programs were
held this spring in five North Carolina
public libraries, one of which was
the Shepard Memorial Library in
Greenville. Dr. Peter Makuck, Professor
of English at East Carolina University
and editor of Tar River Poetry, led the
oPoets in Person� series entitled oAuto-
biography into Art,� and offered the fol-
lowing assessment:
Though I often present these
poets to my writing students
and am familiar with their work,
I both learned more about and
deepened my appreciation for,
say, A. R. Ammons whom ITve
also written about. ParisiTs taped
interviews and his guide book
were unknown to me and
turned out to be wonderful
discoveries. The audience itself
was a very positive part of the
experience for me. As Parisi
quite correctly predicted in his
workshop in South Carolina,
Fall 1996 " 105
these participants were enthusi-
astic, friendly, bright, and didnTt
need to be prodded into discus-
sion. As a teacher, you long for
but rarely have such charged
group participation.
I liked working off campus
and out of an academic environ-
ment, liked discussing poetry
with an informed non-special-
ized group. I enjoyed too
working with MJ Carbo, our
local librarian, planning the
program and strategies. I did the
talking, but she really did the
lionTs share of the behind-the-
scenes work. J risk sounding
sentimental, but it was reassur-
ing to realize that there are such
good people in our community.
This fall, in addition to poetry,
North Carolina public library audiences
will discuss the role the United States
should play in our rapidly changing
world. oChoices for the 21st Century:
Defining Our Role in a Changing
World� is designed to engage the Ameri-
can public in study and conversation
about the values Americans share and
the influence these values have on pub-
lic life. This project is sponsored state-
wide by the North Carolina Center for
the Book in partnership with the North
Carolina Humanities Council. The
North Carolina programs are part of an
eight-state national project funded by
the National Endowment for the Hu-
manities and developed by the Choices
for the 21st Century Library Project of
Brown UniversityTs Watson Institute.
The other states included in the na-
tional project are Connecticut, [linois,
Iowa, Maine, South Carolina, Utah, and
Virginia.
oChoices� programs provide a fo-
rum for examining U. S. foreign policy
options in terms of the nationTs values
and priorities, and they do not advocate
any particular point of view. Programs
are led by humanities scholars and par-
ticipants will use the library reader, What
is America, and What Do We Want It to
Be? which was designed for the non-ex-
pert. Opinions are shared in the open,
supportive, and neutral environment of
the public library. These programs will
attract people of all ages, educational
levels, and experiences and will provide
a public forum for citizens to engage in
informed discussion " all of it for free at
the local public library. This program
truly is democracy in action.
At the heart of the oChoices� li-
brary program is an exploration of four
106 " Fall 1996
distinct visions, or ofutures,� for the
United States in the coming years. Each
future reflects a different assumption
about the goal of U. S. foreign policy in
our national life. In the first session, the
scholar and the participants use the fu-
tures framework to:
e explore distinctly different
perspectives on U. S. foreign policy;
e examine the underlying values
of each;
e identify the pros and cons, risks
and tradeoffs of each; and
e consider the connections between
values and the development of
public policy.
This session lays the foundation for
the series. In sessions two and three,
participants examine challenges facing
the United States in the Post-Cold War
era, choosing from the series topics: im-
migration, China, the environment,
peace, and U. S. trade policy. In the fi-
nal session, armed with a deeper appre-
ciation of the values that are at stake in
the development of public policy, par-
ticipants define a future that reflects
their own judgments about the role
they believe the United States should
play in the future. During this final ses-
sion, they also fill out a ballot express-
ing their views. These ballots are then
shared with elected officials at the na-
tional level.
Literature, poetry, foreign policy
"all are topics of book-based hu-
manities programs that are taking
place right now in North Carolina
public libraries. These reading and dis-
cussion programs clearly demonstrate
that public libraries are lifelong learn-
ing centers in our communities and
are an open forum for all citizens. The
humanist Richard A. Lewis says,
humanities discussion programs
represent an activity that is
essential to our survival as a free
people .... We sometimes hear
discussion dismissed as idle,
nonactive, a waste of time in a
busy world. We are told that what
is needed to solve our problems is
action. But, when it is well
conducted, discussion is action.
Discussion is growth, clarifica-
tion, self-discovery, change,
understanding and any combina-
tion of these and other oevents.�4
Thoughtful discussion is alive and well
in public library programs.
The Archdale Public LibraryTs suc-
cess with oNot For Children Only� in-
spired branch librarian Naomi
Galbreath to apply for a grant from the
American Library Association to partici-
pate in oThe Nation That Works,� a
oLetTs Talk About It� series that exam-
ines work as it is portrayed in films, es-
says, poems, short stories, and oral his-
tories. Archdale was one of 20 libraries
selected nationwide to host a fall series
of programs. oWork Across Ages: From
Grandparents to Generation X� will
examine the attitude of different age
groups toward work and the extent to
which these attitudes reflect changing
national values.
The libraryTs co-sponsors for the
programs are the Archdale-Trinity
Chamber of Commerce, the First Na-
tional Bank of Archdale, and, of course,
those enthusiastic Friends of the
Archdale Library. A newspaper article
about the project reads in part,
What does a small community
library do when the world is
pulling it in opposite directions:
forward, on the one hand, to an
increasingly mechanized
information age, and back, on
the other hand, to the deepen-
ing need for one-on-one dis-
course? In the case of the
Archdale Public Library, the only
solution is to go full speed in
both directions.S
What a delightful response to the
obooks? or computers?� dilemma of
todayTs expanding technologies and
shrinking budgets!
Whether as a librarian or a patron,
discover for yourself the pleasure of the
thoughtful consideration of ideas, of
reading and talking about books with
people in your community. ItTs fun, itTs
free, and it can take place in your li-
brary. Come on, letTs talk about it ....
References
1 Thomas Phelps, oReport On Read-
ing and Discussion Programs Supported
By Humanities Projects in Libraries and
Archives Prepared for the National
Council on the Humanities� (Washing-
ton, D. C.: National Endowment for the
Humanities, 1995), 1. Photocopied.
2 Alan Moores and Rhea Rubin, LetTs
Talk About It, A PlannerTs Manual, (Chi-
cago: American Library Association,
1984), 4.
3 Judith James, oCultural Literacy: A
Two-Way Street,� LetTs Talk About It in
South Carolina Libraries Newsletter
(Spring 1995): 3.
4 Moores and Rubin, 3.
5 Lorraine Ahearn, oLibraryTs Discus-
sions to Continue,� High Point News and
Record, (May 22, 1996), G, SO.
North Carolina Libraries
9 Se a cal Pe Se A ITE PONS TOC SRN RSA OS, oS ene eee Eee
ene sft, eS = eee
" eS Fe
The Community of the Book:
An Academic Library Perspective
hen I was asked to con-
tribute to this issue of
North Carolina Libraries on
a topic which resonates
within me as within most li-
brarians, the phrase oparage-
netic repository� immediately
came to mind. A few years ago, Profes-
sor Emeritus Charles Allen of Wake For-
est used this phrase in a talk to library
staff. As a biologist, Professor Allen
used a scientific term, but broadened
the meaning to include transfer of in-
formation beyond genetics. He pointed
out that libraries, as the repositories of
our cultural artifacts, made it possible
for human beings to learn from people
who were unrelated to them, and who
may have lived hundreds of years earlier
in far parts of the globe, and whose lan-
guage differs from their own. Only hu-
mans can transmit culture beyond ge-
netics and the limits of space and time.
What is the vehicle? It is the printed
word, preserved primarily in the form of
the book. This is an amazing concept,
and in our roles as the keepers of the
book, is a high calling and a grave re-
sponsibility! Who would wish to deny
that through literature we are exposed
to the minds and souls and perspectives
of the great thinkers through the ages!
And exposed as well to the frauds,
hoaxes, and misconceptions of the oth-
ers whose works have crept onto our
shelves!
In academic institutions, more
than any others, these thinkers and
doers of the ages are kept alive through
class assignments, discussions, and in-
teractions. Each term, students meet
Plato and Aristotle for the first time; en-
North Carolina Libraries
by Rhoda K. Channing
counter Aquinas, Luther and Confucius;
debate Keynes and Malthus; and expe-
rience life through the writings of the
existentialists, the Elizabethans, and the
slave journals. Each class forms a com-
munity that exists for the semester, but
which has a life of its own that contin-
ues beyond those brief meetings. How
many of us have committed to memory
phrases with special meanings for us
from the works of Shakespeare, Milton,
Martin Luther King, Jr., Austen, or other
favorites? Their impact affects us for
life. The community of the book, in the
classroom context studies and analyzes,
reads and evaluates criticism of the
works under study, and shares insights
among members. Edwin G. Wilson,
former Provost and much revered pro-
fessor of English at Wake Forest Univer-
sity, and other faculty members as well
have told me that each time a work is
studied in class, the teacher sees some-
thing new, aided in part by the ovalue
added� through student discussion.
Students and faculty members alike are
learners in the process of developing
and assimilating the worthwhile items
to be found in the books we provide. If
there is such a thing as oprogress,� it
seems likely that it comes about
through the community of readers, us-
ing the basis of ideas carefully preserved
from the past; evaluating, affirming or
discarding these ideas; and then com-
bining them with the ideas of others,
perhaps from different disciplines, and
adding the original contributions of the
reader.
The product of this complex pro-
cess is often a book or a journal article!
It is, after all, what our faculty and
graduate students do " use the collec-
tions to formulate theories and do ex-
tensive research to refine them, verify or
refute them, and then publish the re-
sults. In preparation for this essay, I
examined four scholarly works, all pub-
lished in 1995. I chose these books be-
cause they happened to be shelved near
my office and 1995 was visible on the
spine labels! To examine the bibliogra-
phies used by the writers is to be awed
by the exhaustive efforts to gather infor-
mation and interpretations. Without
academic libraries, many of the sources
used would have been unknown to the
authors, or if known, unavailable, be-
cause many of the sources are old and
highly specialized materials which
would never have been acquired,or, if
acquired, would very likely have been
weeded in other types of libraries. Most
of the journals would be found only on
the shelves of fairly large academic li-
braries, carefully bound and covered
with a film of dust.
A welcome acknowledgment of the
role of libraries and librarians often ap-
pears in scholarly publications. For
many scholars, one library, however
large, is inadequate to reach the archival
and primary sources necessary for com-
pleteness. Helmut Walser Smith, whose
German Nationalism and Religious Con-
flict: Culture, Ideology, Politics, 1870-1914
was published in 1995, says, oThe re-
search for this book is based on a num-
ber of archives and libraries throughout
Germany and the United States.� He
names two dozen archives and libraries
in Germany, and especially the aca-
demic research libraries at Vanderbilt
and Yale in this country.! His twenty-
Fall 1996 " 107
four page bibliography attests to his
thoroughness. Michael Grant, author
of Greek and Roman Historians: Informa-
tion and Misinformation, used the writ-
ings of 61 ancient Greek writers and 60
ancient Roman writers as source mate-
rial for his book. He also lists over 110
modern writers, mostly writing in En-
glish, but also in Italian and French, in
his bibliography.? It is my best surmise
that he found these volumes in univer-
sity libraries. Howard MeredithTs Danc-
ing on Common Ground: Tribal Cultures
and Alliances on the Southern Plains, Uni-
versity Press of Kansas, shows extensive
use of a wide variety of sources " inter-
views, oral history collec-
tions, manuscript collec-
tions, government docu-
ments, 135 books, articles,
and doctoral disserta-
tions " to provide the ba-
sis for his conclusions.
Many of his sources were
found at the Universities of
Tulsa and Oklahoma.*
Without collections in aca-
demic libraries with strong
interest in Native American
history, could he have writ-
ten this book? Geographies
of Exclusion: Society and Dif-
ference in the West is David
SibleyTs latest contribution
to scholarship. His bibliog-
raphy includes 239 refer-
ences to scholarly books
and journals.4 We all know
that many journals exist
only because there is an
academic library market
which supports them. The
same is true for many
scholarly press books,
which are printed in rela-
tively small runs and are
no longer guaranteed to
remain in print very long.
The academic library, by
acquiring these resources
and holding on to them
even in the absence of im-
mediate use, can make it possible for
the community of scholars to flourish.
The growth in inter- and
multidisciplinary studies and collabo-
rations has been a most interesting and
instructive one to watch. In an aca-
demic setting, it leads to unexpected
discoveries of parallel and intersecting
work which adds enormously to the
studentTs ability to make connections.
I have always believed that the one el-
ement which indicates the value of a
liberal arts education is the ability to
108 " Fall 1996
make the connections between what
one learns in history and philosophy
and science with what one sees in art,
literature, and politics " and vice versa.
The reader who can put what he or she
is learning in the context of current in-
formation, other points of view, and re-
lated subjects has begun to understand
the world.
David McCullough is an historian
who has won a Pulitzer Prize, two Na-
tional Book awards, and the National
Book Foundation Medal. The Winston-
Salem Journal of March 10, 1996 quoted
McCullough at a National Press Club
function as saying, oThe fabric of our
The academic library, by
acquiring these resources
and holding on to them
even in the absence of
immediate use, can make
it possible for the commu-
nity of scholars to flourish.
way of life is in jeopardy because we are
losing our national memory.� His par-
ticular complaint was the lack of expo-
sure to history courses in the schools.
His only optimistic note was the exist-
ence of a good system of libraries. Our
national memory is in the paragenetic
repository called the library.
In The Chronicle of Higher Education,
Lawrence Biemiller writes about a
young African-American poet, Carl
Phillips.© Biemiller observes that
PhillipsTs poems contain references to
Yeats, an Irish poet, and to Li Po, a Chi-
nese poet. There are allusions to
Ophelia, Fra Lippo Lippi, and Langston
Hughes. How would his
poetic imagination have
been fed without access to
mythology, drama and
literature in the library?
In March, I happened to
have a conversation with
Dr. Olasope Oyelaran, a
scholar in charge of Inter-
national Programs at
Winston-Salem State Uni-
versity. We discussed this
essay, and I was interested
to learn that Dr. Oyelaran
will be teaching the works
of the African writer
Chinua Achebe, one of
which gets its title from
a Yeats poem. It was a
book which conveyed
that poem from Ireland,
like a seed borne by the
wind and dropped to take
root on a distant place.
Perhaps someday all the
digitization projects now
getting started will pro-
vide the access to the
wealth of information
currently held in our aca-
demic institutions, but it
will not be in the next
several decades.
In the classroom and
in the library, students ex-
amine, explicate, and en-
joy or deplore the texts they are re-
quired to read. They learn from
each other, as each adds a slightly
different perspective. More and
more demand is placed on aca-
demic libraries for group study
rooms, where students tackle as-
signments collectively. Whether we
call this the Community of the
Book, the Community of Readers,
or the Community of Scholars, it is
fostered and developed in academic
institutions and their often over-
North Carolina Libraries
looked academic support units, the li-
braries. Perhaps it is fanciful to suggest
that the Community of Scholars is a vir-
tual community, beginning with the
first analysts and critics who published
their views and continuing and expand-
ing to each successive generation study-
ing the same problems and original
texts, but informed by the earlier works.
The students browsing in the stacks,
even working individually, become
members of this community as soon as
they begin to review the words of those
who preceded them. It is a subtle indoc-
trination into the world of scholarship.
The well-known scholar Jaroslav
Pelikan is one who has thought deeply
and read widely about the role of the
university in society. He revisits John
Henry NewmanTs nineteenth century
work, The Idea of a University, with his
own 1992 volume entitled The Idea of
the University " a Reexamination (Yale).
Pelikan has much to say about the role
of the university library which is rel-
evant to the topic of this discussion:
oWhenever, after an era of mass amne-
sia like the present, the search for cul-
tural identity becomes, as it must again,
a search for cultural and spiritual roots,
a new generation will turn to these re-
positories ...��? This follows oFor it is
only by ~the embalming of dead geniusT
in its libraries ... that the university can
become a repository for ~the oracles of
the worldTs wisdom,T and only by ~look-
ing backwardsT as ~a storehouse of old
knowledgeT that it can become ~a fac-
tory of new knowledgeT and, as such,
can ~look forwardT.�8 Pelikan extols the
role of the university library as the
~scholarTs workshop,T and stresses its
centrality: oTt is simply sober fact to say
that no single institution in the con-
temporary world of scholarship has a
greater bearing on the future of the uni-
versity than the library, just as nothing
in the history of the university has had
858 Manor Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
North Carolina Libraries
a greater bearing on its scholarship.�9
My concern, as this is not a budget pre-
sentation, is not to belabor the impor-
tance of the academic library, but to use
his writing to reinforce that Commu-
nity of Readers and Writers which, too,
is made of the quick and the dead. The
study of literature, Pelikan says, to be
understood in context, must include
knowledge of what writings were read
by the author.!° In some ways, I could
describe this as a overtical� virtual com-
munity!
With the links possible over the
Internet, the ohorizontal� growth of the
community is enhanced, and contem-
poraries can share information and
ideas. Again, academic institutions are
advantaged in that they are the most
likely to offer direct Internet access to
every member of the academic commu-
nity, so that college students and fac-
ulty are able to link to others with the
same interest or need. These links, dis-
cussion groups, home pages, and more
do much to broaden access and com-
munication, but they continue to re-
quire the resources of the academic li-
brary for the pursuit, in depth, of the
casual reference on the oNet.� Many of
our institutions offer public access to
FirstSearch and the OCLC Online
Union Catalog, giving our constituents
immediate information about other re-
sources on their topics and the libraries
which hold these resources. It is then a
small step to requesting and receiving
many of these resources and using them
to keep the cycle of reading and re-
search alive. With the importance of
resources sharing among libraries, there
is a collective Community of Resource
Providers undergirding researchers in
each institution. In addition to aca-
demic libraries, major public libraries
and libraries of all types and sizes con-
tribute their unique resources, or some-
times those which are not unique, but
TO LIBRARIES
simply available.
Our challenge as librarians is to un-
derstand the nature of our users and
their work, to help them locate the
Community through our catalogs and
finding aids as well as through their
classmates, teachers, and peers. It is to
support their Communities through our
collection policies and preservation ef-
forts and to encourage them to delve
more deeply by providing inspiring
spaces for exploration and attractive
stacks for the serendipitous discovery.
It is also important to find ways to reach
our Communities and reinforce our
contributions and legitimate calls for
their support.
References
1 Helmut Walser Smith, German Na-
tionalism and Religious Conflict: Culture,
Ideology, Politics, 1870-1914 (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1995), [xi]-xii.
2 Michael Grant, Greek and Roman His-
torians: Information and Misinformation
(London: Routledge, 1995), 156-164.
3 Howard Meredith, Dancing on Com-
mon Ground: Tribal Cultures and Alliances
on the Southern Plains (Lawrence: Uni-
versity Press of Kansas, 1995), 193-212.
4 David Sibley, Geographies of Exclusion:
Society and Difference in the West (London:
Routledge, 1995), 187-196.
5 Charles McDowell, �Unschooled:
Ignorance of History has Historian Wor-
ried,� Winston-Salem Journal (March 10,
1996).
6 Lawrence Biemiller, oNotes from
Academe,� The Chronicle of Higher Edu-
cation (March 22, 1996): A51.
7 Jaroslav Pelikan, The Idea of the Uni-
versity: A Reexamination (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1992), 112.
Sei bide ll 2.
oP TDidewlelae
10" Tbid., 118.
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Fall 1996 " 109
The Benedictine Collection at
Belmont Abbey College
Ithough the Benedictine Collec-
tion of Abbot Vincent Taylor Li-
brary has existed in its current
location and form for little
more than a decade, its geneal-
ogy can be traced back almost
fifteen hundred years to the
foundations of the Benedictine monas-
tic order. St. Benedict of Nursia (480-
547), the father of Western monasti-
cism, established twelve monasteries in
Italy during the twilight of the Roman
Empire as havens for those who wished
to devote their lives to God. In order to
ensure the spiritual vitality and fair gov-
ernment of these houses, he compiled
his famous Rule, a short work of sev-
enty-three chapters with advice on the
religious life ranging from the lyrical to
the prosaic. Numerous commentaries
have been written over the years on the
Rule, but for most librarians two of its
recommendations are paramount: the
monk is called to live as a cenobite, ora
productive member of his community,
and secondly, the monk is to be a life-
long learner, with a corresponding duty
of the community to provide him with
the resources such intellectual work will
require.
Wilfrid Tunink, O.S.B., is one of
many monks to comment on how im-
portant the sense of community is to
Benedictines.
In calling the cenobites the
strongest kind of monks, St.
Benedict turned away from a
prevailing inclination towards
the eremitical life manifest in the
teaching and practice of most
Eastern monks ... We must
110 " Fall 1996
by Susan E. Mayes
conclude from St. BenedictTs
action that community life is a
fundamental and essential
characteristic of Benedictine
monachism.!
The word ocommunity� implies the
need to care deeply for the welfare of the
group while acknowledging that indi-
vidual differences will sometimes make
this very difficult. St. Benedict tells the
Abbot that he must adapt himself to a
wide variety of characters (Rule of St.
Benedict, Chapter 2, hereafter cited as
RB) (RB2). The Abbot is granted formi-
dable powers of leadership for preserving
unity, yet is encouraged to take counsel
from all his monks when a major deci-
sion is contemplated, for God often re-
veals what is best to the youngest (RB3).
This creative tension between the indi-
vidual and the group provides the ulti-
mate test for what Abraham Lincoln so
eloquently calls othe better angels of our
nature,� since people must consciously
choose the high road over the low to
achieve good results. In fact, Abbot
Jerome Theisen (1930-1995) has written
of community as a metaphor for grace,
while disunity may likewise serve as a
metaphor for sin.�
St. Benedict assumes in the Rule that
one of the factors uniting the lives of his
monks will be the ability to read. This
ability is not treated casually, since the
Scriptures are to be read every day, with
extra time provided for reading on Sun-
day (RB 48). It was even the custom,
continued to the present day, for suit-
able literature to be read aloud during
meals.3 In fact, along with prayer and
manual labor, reading is to be one of the
three main activities of the monk.
...One must, in the monastery,
possess books, know how to
write them and read them, and
therefore, if it be necessary, learn
how to read. It is not certain that
St. Benedict is speaking of a
library since the word
bibliotheca, which he uses in
referring to books read in Lent,
can mean, for him, the Bible. But
St. Benedict evidently takes for
granted the existence of a library,
and a fairly extensive one at
that, since each monk is sup-
posed to receive a codex in Lent.
Toward the end of the Rule, it is
suggested that all read the
Scripture, Cassian and St. Basil;
they should be able to read in
the refectory, in choir, and
before guests.*
Even in their reading, the monks are
to maintain their respect for commu-
nity, since they are enjoined not to read
aloud (the custom of the day) in a man-
ner that would disturb their brothers (RB
48). The great monastic libraries grew
from this dual emphasis on the book
and community.
As the monasteries grew larger,
monks travelled as missionaries to dis-
tant locations. There they founded new
houses and continued their work of
prayer and labor. Many Benedictine es-
tablishments today can thus trace their
origins far back in time. In the case of
Belmont Abbey, the Monastery of
Metten in Bavaria was founded in 766.
St. VincentTs Archabbey of Latrobe,
Pennsylvania was founded from Metten
North Carolina Libraries
in 1846. Finally, in 1876, Herman Wolfe,
O.S.B., a native of Germany, a monk of
St. VincentTs, and a former Confederate
medical officer, took possession of the
old Caldwell farm near a small town
then known as Garibaldi, North Caro-
lina.» The new community took the
name of Maryhelp, but when Garibaldi
changed its name to Belmont it quickly
became known as Belmont Abbey.
St. MaryTs College, a school for boys
founded at the Abbey, soon began at-
tracting students from around the re-
gion. Many benefactors donated books
to form the nucleus of the academic li-
brary. St. VincentTs Archabbey gave gen-
erously in the early years. Michael
Mclnerny, O.S.B., a well-known archi-
tect, was responsible for the acquisition
of a complete set of MigneTs Patrology,
now part of the AbbeyTs rare books col-
lection. Thomas Oestreich, O.S.B.,
made several trips to Europe in the late
1800s and early 1900s where he pur-
chased books for the growing college.�
On May 19, 1900, the collection nar-
rowly escaped destruction by fire.T
As was typical of most libraries in
the first part of the twentieth century,
the AbbeyTs collection, of necessity, had
to stand alone. Interlibrary loan was
slow, and it was difficult to determine
what other institutions might have a
needed work. This began to change
when the Library Section of the Ameri-
can Benedictine Academy met in July
1948 and decided to begin work on a
union list of holdings for North Ameri-
can Benedictine libraries. The projected
work was to have both a list of
Benedictine authors and a subject listing
of works about Benedictines and
Benedictinism. Oliver Kapsner, O.S.B.,
undertook this massive task, which was
published as Benedictine Bibliography.?
Belmont Abbey College Library was
among the ninety-four Benedictine li-
braries with holdings included.
Until the early 1950s books by
Benedictine authors in the Abbey library
were interspersed with other works in
the general stacks. The Benedictine Bibli-
ography project provided the impetus for
a future collection to be devoted to mo-
nastic subjects. Under the leadership of
cataloger Julia McDonnell and assistant
catalogers Ethel D. Kaplon and Vickie
Jenkins, works already processed were
checked against the bibliography and a
notation made on a separate shelflist
card to indicate its need for inclusion in
the planned collection. New items
which met the guidelines listed in
Benedictine Bibliography received a spe-
cial notation on catalog cards. It would
North Carolina Libraries
EE I PIE
now be a simple matter to pull
Benedictine books from the stacks and
move them to a separate location. At this
point the search began for a suitable
place to house the new collection.
In 1975, the libraryTs theology class-
room served as a_ temporary
oBenedictine room.� In 1985, thanks to
the generosity of the Cannon Founda-
tion of Concord, North Carolina, the
lower level of the College Library was
completely renovated. At this time two
rooms " the Abbey Room and the Ar-
chives Room " were combined to form
the current Benedictine Room and dedi-
cated to the monks of Belmont Abbey.
The project was truly a labor of love for
the library staff, who had worked hard
over the years shifting the collection
until it could find a permanent
home. Mrs. Marjorie McDermott,
Director of Learning Resources,
and other staff members chose
furnishings with care to provide a
quiet, comfortable area for study
and meditation. Benedictine tra-
dition was not forgotten, as many
antiques of religious and histori-
cal significance blend with mod-
ern furniture. Historic photo-
graphs of the Abbey decorate the
walls. A statue of St. Scholastica,
twin sister of St. Benedict, enjoys
a place of prominence in the
room, as does a ocathedra,� or
abbotTs throne, handcarved by
Brother Charles Eckel. Any librar-
ian who has cleaned up after
messy patrons will appreciate the
sign on the wall which at one
time hung in the Abbey Cathe-
dral, oNotice: Tobacco chewing
and spitting on the floor posi-
tively forbidden.�
Today the Benedictine Col-
lection contains about 3100 vol-
umes and 350 bound periodicals.
According to Ash, it includes
omany rare volumes published in
the last 200 years, and several
journals published by European
abbeys, some of which are
difficult to locate elsewhere
.... As far as we know, it is
the only collection of its
type in the entire South.�!0
Examples of this would be
two well-known monograph
series, Cistercian Studies"! and
Beitrage zur Geschichte des
alten Monchtums und des
Benediktinerordens,'2 held by
only a few American libraries.
The collection continues
to grow with new acquisi-
tions. Twenty-two percent of the hold-
ings are in seven non-English languages,
reflecting the BenedictinesT worldwide
interests and scholarly acumen. About
twenty percent of the holdings are con-
sidered rare or fragile and are housed in
a separate, noncirculating Benedictine
Rare collection. Rare books are available
for library use only Monday through Fri-
day between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and
4:00 p.m. Other Benedictine books circu-
late under the guidelines of the libraryTs
established policies.
St. Benedict in the Rule encourages
all manner of craftsmen to carry on their
work in a spirit of service (RB 57), so the
holdings in the Benedictine Collection
reflect a broad spectrum of interests.
While strongest in the areas of philoso-
For the Benedictines, with their
fifteen hundred years of history,
surviving the Dark Ages
undoubtedly presented more
of a challenge than that found
on any computer network.
Fall 1996 " 111
phy and theology, works in the sciences,
psychology, art and music, sociology,
history, library science, and even cook-
ery are represented. North Carolina is
not forgotten, having a prominent
place in Catholicity in the Carolinas and
Georgia: Leaves of Its History, 1820-1878,
by the Benidictine Jeremiah Joseph
OTConnell.3 Theses and dissertations of
the Belmont Abbey monks, housed in
Benedictine Rare, cover an array of sub-
jects. One of the collecectionTs special-
ties is American Benedictine history,
featuring works on most Benedictine
monasteries as well as biographies of
prominent individuals. Many of the
books have been authored by the
monks of Belmont Abbey over the one
hundred twenty years of its existence.
An interesting example is Major John
Andre : An Historical Drama in Five Acts,
authored by Abbot Leo Haid (1849-
1924).14
Beginning in 1988, all new acquisi-
tions in the Benedictine Collection were
cataloged via OCLC, and in 1994 older
holdings were loaded onto the Online
Union Catalog through retrospective
conversion. We hope that this will in-
crease usage of the collection. An online
catalog is planned in the near future.
The past history of the Benedictine
Collection is well-established; the
present holds a crossroads; the future
remains to be seen. Some might say that
a religious order steeped in a tradition
of solitude and withdrawal from the
world has little to offer in a techno-
logical age, but on closer examination
this proves to be untrue. Web surfers
will encounter numerous references to
the Benedictines, including in many
cases holdings of their libraries and
homepages of their monasteries. For
the Benedictines, with their fifteen
hundred years of history, surviving
the Dark Ages undoubtedly presented
more of a challenge than that found
on any computer network. The shape
of the Benedictine library of the future
may be unclear, but one thing remains
certain: it will remain dedicated to the
ageless ideals of service, knowledge, and
life in community.
References
1 Wilfrid Tunink, O.S.B., Vision of
Peace: a Study of Benedictine Monastic Life.
New York: Farrar, Straus, 1963, 48.
2 Jerome P. Theisen, O.S.B., Commu-
nity and Disunity: Symbols of Grace and
Sin. Collegeville, Minn.: St. JohnTs Uni-
versity Press, 1985.
3 Leo Fowler, O.S.B., interview by au-
thor, Belmont, N.C., June 10, 1996.
4 Jean Leclercq, O.S.B., The Love of
Learning and the Desire for God: a Study of
Monastic Culture. New York: Fordham
University Press, 1961, 16-17.
5 Paschal Baumstein, O.S.B., My Lord
of Belmont: a Biography of Leo Haid. Char-
lotte, N.C.: Laney-Smith Inc., 1995, 33.
6 David Kessinger, O.S.B., interview by
author, Belmont, N.C., March 14, 1996.
7 Simon J. Donoghue, oThomas
Oestreich and the Founding of a Great
Library,� Catholic Library World GS, no.3
(JIanuary/February/March 1995): 33-35.
8 Baumstein, My Lord of Belmont, 185-
189.
9 Oliver Kapsner, O.S.B., Benedictine
Bibiography: an Author-Subject Union List
2nd ed. Collegeville, Minn.: St. JohnTs Ab-
bey Press, 1962; First Supplement,
Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1982.
10 Lee Ash, comp. Subject Collections: a
Guide to Special Collections and Subject
Emphases as Reported by University, Col-
lege, Public, and Special Libraries and Mu-
seums in the United States and Canada.
New York: R.R. Bowker, 1978, 122.
11 Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publi-
cations, 1969.
12 Muenster, Germany: Aschendorff,
1912 -.
13 New York: D,J. Sadlier, 1879 (reprint,
Westminster, Md.: Ars Sacra, 1964).
14 Belmont (N.C.): Belmont Abbey
Press, 1913.
John Higgins, Sales Representative
ww
OXFORD
112 " Fall 1996
P.O. Box 21011
Columbia SC 29221
1-800-222-9086
Fax: 803-731-0320
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS we QUALITY BOOKS INC.
North Carolina Libraries
"
Se
The Spread of Public Libraries:
The Community of the Book in North Carolina, 1900-1960
by Patrick M. Valentine
oPerhaps no deficiency in the Southeast is more marked than its lack of books and libraries and the
consequent absence of reading habits.�
" Howard W. Odum, Southern Regions of the United States, 1936.
efore there can be a commu-
nity of the book, there must be
books " and access to books.
Public libraries were almost
unknown in North Carolina
until 1900. The state was rural
and poor, and libraries of any
and all sorts were few and far
between.! There had been books in
North Carolina almost since the first
European settlers, but these were in pri-
vate or religious collections. During the
nineteenth century, a few communities
had tried to establish literary societies
and libraries, but they were short-lived.
Even where continuing attempts were
made to establish some form of library,
as in Wilmington, they were not pub-
licly governed or supported. Such li-
braries were by their nature restricted li-
braries and the needs of the larger com-
munity were ignored. An ambitious
and promising youngster might gain
access to a wealthy neighborTs private
collection, or to a college collection in
the few places that had one, but access
to books beyond what oneTs family or
church could afford was limited for
most people in North Carolina. Other
than reading the Bible or the newspa-
per, the community of the book hardly
existed.4
This article will sketch the spread of
public libraries in North Carolina. The
German philosopher Jargen Habermas
has argued that democracy progresses
best when there is a public forum for
North Carolina Libraries
open communication. Public libraries
provide such an arena, in the sense of
being repositories and disseminators of
retrievable knowledge and in that, such
knowledge underlies, for Habermas,
oideal speech situations� and demo-
cratic norms.® But for there to be any
practical results from these forums,
there must be public libraries through-
out the governing polity, in this case
the state of North Carolina. For histo-
rians, on the other hand, the establish-
ment of a public library is an index of
community wealth, self-confidence,
and literacy. So it follows that studying
the origin and development of public
libraries can provide insight not only to
a communityTs openness to communi-
cation and the spread of democracy, but
also to local resources and attitudes.�
By the 1870s, Wilmington and
Asheville had the beginnings of viable
subscription libraries which were soon
relatively substantial and well-orga-
nized. A few other towns also laid
claims to having libraries. The Vesper
Reading Club opened a subscription-
based library in Lenoir in 1875, but it
declined after 1900. Salisbury had a Li-
brary Association from 1877 to 1881,
when it turned the collection over to
the Y.M.C.A. In 1880 a box or boxes of
books were sent South and the village of
Highlands had the beginnings of a li-
brary. Charles Hallett Wing, a retired
professor, established a library in Ledger
in 1886 or 1887 using 12,000 books dis-
carded from the Boston Public Library.8
During the 1890s, a few towns estab-
lished quasi-public libraries of one sort
or another. In 1890 New Bern had an
active if small collection formed by the
Whatsoever Circle of women which was
abandoned about 1902. Professor An-
drew L. Betts opened a ofree circulating�
library at his Beulah Academy in Madi-
son. The Hickory Travelers Club started
a subscription library in 1893 by pur-
chasing a rental collection from a local
businessman. A library was supposedly
started in Franklin around 1890 oby
a few school children.� In 1903,
Goldsboro women started a collection
with $25 worth of books, and four years
later induced the city to appropriate
some $400 a year.? Typically, a group of
town women would start a reading
circle or subscription library which was
then considered open to the public "
or at least to proper white folk.1° But
true access to the public at large was re-
stricted, and public funding and control
of libraries almost non-existent.!1
The city of Durham established the
first tax-supported public library in
North Carolina in 1897 with modest
help from Julius Shakespeare Carr. But
after only a few years, the librarian ad-
mitted it was in poor shape, and in 1910
a field agent for the North Carolina Li-
brary Commission (NCLC) reported
that the Durham Public Library was oin
a perfectly awful condition.�!2 The
next year, however, with the hiring of a
Fall 1996 " 113
trained librarian, Lillian Baker Griggs, the situation
improved. In 1912, she reported a collection of
4,900 books and a circulation of 7,250 in a city
with a white population of 11,372.13 County resi-
dents began using it in 1914.14
The capital city of Raleigh was next to open a
public library; indeed, the budding rivalry between
Durham and Raleigh contributed to a race between
the two cities to create a library. But RaleighTs 1896
campaign fell short. Philanthropy once more
saved the day, through a far more generous bene-
factor than Durham enjoyed. Richard Raney do-
nated $40,000 for a library and books in memory
of his wife Olivia. The library opened in 1901 and
by 1908, 11,846 local citizens enjoyed 9,690 books
which circulated 27,270 times.15
The 1900s were the initial seed time for public
library creation in North Carolina. The thirty pub-
lic, society, or Y.M.C.A. libraries operating in 1910
were Aberdeen (1907), Asheville (1879), Charlotte
(1901),16 Durham (1897), Fayetteville (1908),!7
Franklin (1901), Gastonia (1904), Goldsboro
(1907), Greensboro (1902), Greenville (1906),18
Hickory (1906), Hillsboro (1910), Ledger (1886),
Lenoir (1875), McAdenville (1908), Montreat
(1905), Mooresville (1897), New Bern (1906), Ra-
ORANGE leigh (1901), Reidsville (1909), Rutherford College
(1907),!9 Saluda (1894), Spencer (Y.M.C.A., 1908),
Statesville (1907), Wadesboro (1905), Waynesville
(n.d.), Wilmington (1907), and Winston-Salem
(1905). Most of these were not, in fact, tax-sup-
ported public libraries and held an average of only
2,700 books each, which meant that some were
very small indeed.� Librarians and library support-
ers were full of hope and determined to accom-
plish mighty things.
First in any listing of North Carolina librarians
must come that whirlwind of enthusiasm, intelli-
gence, political acumen, publicity, and steadfast-
ness, Louis Round Wilson.2! In 1904 Wilson
teamed with Annie F. Petty of State Normal and In-
dustrial College, Greensboro, and Annie Smith
Ross of the Charlotte Public Library to establish the
North Carolina Library Association (NCLA).?2
Wilson and Petty convinced the state to create the
North Carolina Library Commission in 1909. Wil-
son served as Commission chairman until 1916.
The community of the book, at least as far as librar-
ians and libraries were concerned, was starting to
come together.
An important aspect of library formation, al-
ready alluded to, was the role played by womenTs
groups, specifically the umbrella Federation of
WomenTs Clubs. The public role of women was
quite circumspect in the South, but charity and
cultural work were encouraged.? After 1900, the
Federation began encouraging the formation of lo-
cal public libraries in North Carolina. Aware that
most of the state was rural, the Federation also sent
traveling libraries of books from town to town.
Traveling libraries, with all the attendant problems
of coordination and local lending without a librar-
ian, were not the solution.24 Nonetheless, traveling
and package libraries continued to function well
cS
* Charlotte had a separate library
for African Americans, and a
Y.M.C.A. library.
Op,
G7;
EDGECOMBE
°
UY
itd
ROCKINGHAM | CASWELL} PERSON
~iS
"
z
Q
m�"�
GUILFORD
STOKES
FORSYTH
SURRY
YADKIN
ROCKINGHAM: Reidsville
WAKE: Raleigh
WAYNE: Goldsboro
PITT: Greenville
POLK: Saluda
cn q |
BURKE |
° 6
RUTHERFORD
4s GASTON
Od oS
IREDELL: Mooresville; Statesville
MECKLENBURG: Charoltte
MITCHELL: Ledger
NEW HANOVER: Wilmington
GASTON: Gastonia; McAdenville
ORANGE: Hillsboro
GUILFORD: Greensboro
HAYWOOD: Waynesville
MOORE: Aberdeen
FRANKLIN: Franklin
Commission, 1909-1910 (Raleigh: Edward &
Broughton, 1910).
BUNCOMBE: Asheville; Montreat
BURKE: Rutherford College
CALDWELL: Lenoir
FORSYTH: Winston-Salem
ANSON: Wadesboro
CUMBERLAND: Fayetteville
DAVIDSON: Spencer
DURHAM: Durham
CRAVEN: New Bern
MAP 1: Incident of known municipal libraries, 1910.
CATAWBA: Hickory
Source: First Biennial Report of the North Carolina Library
COUNTY: Town Name [@ ]
KEY (1910):
114 " Fall 1996 ~ North Carolina Libraries
until after the Depression.
Municipal libraries continued to increase in
numbers, but had little impact beyond town bor-
ders. Since the state was still 81 percent rural in
1920, their effectiveness was limited. The legisla-
ture permitted counties to contract with towns for
library service after 1917, but counties themselves
could not operate libraries until 1927. In 1920 #
there were forty-nine white municipal libraries 5
and two for blacks. Thirty-five of the forty-nine
white libraries were free and thirteen were sub-
scription.25 Greensboro, Charlotte, and Durham
were among the first to extend services to the iS
county; significantly, all had strong librarians at =
their helm. As the former librarian at Charlotte Ss
and then State Librarian, Mary B. Palmer, insisted
in 1921 othe movement of county libraries [must]
be pushed in every possible way.�2° Raleigh did
not extend county service until 1926. Even in
1928, residents of only fourteen counties could =
count on library service. Wilson pointed out to VANCE
Griggs that oit should be made very clear that,
while the beginning is a good one, the support is cranvtle
in no sense adequate and the personnel and book
collections have not been built up as they should
be.�27 No county matched the $1.00 per person
standard for library service adopted by the Ameri-
can Library Association. The statewide average
was only $.04.28 At least as far as public libraries
went, there was little support for any community
of the book.
In 1923, Dr. Wilson delivered a blast that shook
the library community and, more importantly,
stirred the populace at large. While attending a
conference in Massachusetts, he discovered the Sa-
lem Public Library had more books than the total
of the seven largest public libraries in North Caro- =
lina.2? He vigorously called for remedial action. 5
Out of the controversy rose the CitizensT Library
Movement (CLM), North CarolinaTs most sus-
tained campaign to increase the number of public
libraries and enlarge their collections. :
libraries for African Americans.
Laurinburg had a library for
African Americans but
none for whites.
Yd)
6! W/
4 * Charlotte and Durham had separate
7
ER
*
PERSON
Se
ROCKINGHAM | CASWELL
RANDOLPH
STOKES
UNION
SCOTLAND: Laurinburg
STANLY: Albemarle
TRANSYLVANIA: Brevard
ROBESON: Rowland
ROWAN: Salisbury
* Shaded counties indicate countywide service
CLM suffered through a slow beginning. Then,
without assuming formal control, Frank Porter
Graham, President of the University of North
Carolina, energized it and led the campaign for
public library service. When Graham gave an ora-
tion at the opening of a new library in Greenville
in 1930, for instance, he was oso inspiring that ev-
eryone wants to help develop their library.�3°
oOur civilization has reached the stage,� Governor
O. Max Gardner intoned in 1929, owhere it has
needs which are distinctly above and beyond the
bread and butter line of bare necessities.�3! Partly
as a result of this popular pressure, North Carolina
had seventy-seven public libraries in 1936. The
CLM could point to the creation of libraries in
Northampton and Granville counties as the result
of long-sustained citizen efforts led by local
women.?2
Yet, as was true of most public services in the
South, public libraries remained grossly
underfunded, understaffed, and underbooked.3
The Depression took a fearsome toll of library bud-
Sw 3
a BURKE
; o /°
: RUTHERFORD
GASTON
6°
MOORE: Pinehurst; Niagara
RICHMOND: Hamlet; Rockingham
MECKLENBURG: Davidson
POLK: Tryon
HENDERSON: Hendersonville
LEE: Sanford
LINCOLN: Lincolnton
MACON: Highlands
LENOIR: Kinston
Commission, 1919-1920 (Raleigh: Edward &
Broughton, 1921).
BUNCOMBE: Asheville; Montreat
CABARRUS: Concord
EDGECOMBE: Tarboro
BRUNSWICK: Southport
GRANVILLE: Oxford
ALAMANCE: Burlington
BEAUFORT: Washington
CHEROKEE: Andrews
MAP 2: Incident of known municipal libraries, 1920.
ANSON: Ansonville
Source: Sixth Biennial Report of the North Carolina Library
COUNTY: Town Name [- ]; refer to 1910 [�,�]
KEY (1920):
North Carolina Libraries Fall 1996 " 1195
gets, to the degree that the Charlotte library lost its
telephone. Although state tax revenues had yet to
fall significantly, Graham wrote in 1930 to Wilson,
then in London, that othe State of North Carolina
has already become a State of Hysteria with regard
to public expenditures.�34 County and municipal
funding for public libraries declined. Nonetheless,
olibrarians used their ingenuity to serve more
people with paralyzed budgets.� Federal aid, anew
element in the financial mix, was both important
and insufficient.35
As the Depression eased in the middle 1930s,
hope sprung anew among the communities of the
book. Towns such as Wilson and Burlington
breathed new life into the growth of public librar-
= ies. In Wilson CountyTs not atypical case, a
es. womanTs club library became a public library and
= employed in 1939 a professional librarian for the
first time. When a taxpayers group induced county
commissioners in Rockingham County to slash
funds in 1939, local citizens instead forced a 68
percent increase in library appropriations.3¢
By 1940 half (51 percent) of the stateTs people
had access to a public library.3� Book stock and cir-
culation statewide were 940,877 and 5,992,548,
compared to 435,142 and 2,942,871 in 1930. This
represented more than a twofold increase in both
categories. North Carolina public libraries had .26
books per person versus .14 and a circulation of
1.68 per capita versus .93 in 1940 and 1930 respec-
tively. The community of the book was slowly
gaining strength despite the Depression but re-
mained quite weak by national standards. A major
development with implications for the future was
legislative permission in 1933 to create regional
(multi-county) libraries. The first regions began to
develop when the state began appropriating aid in
1941.38
Direct state assistance to public libraries, which
began with very modest amounts in 1941, spurred
smaller counties and regions to establish and ex-
pand library service. Seventy-six counties received
$1,298.35 each. Some large counties did not bother
to apply as the support was so meager. Neverthe-
less, State Librarian Marjorie Beal believed that
state aid helped expand library coverage to a mil-
lion more people by 1942.39 North Carolina was
the first state in the southeast to provide direct aid
to local libraries.
Beal undertook a major assessment of public li-
braries for NCLA six years later. She found that the
number of libraries had increased greatly since the
early years of the century and that " statistically,
at least " public library service now reached 92
percent of the population.4° The public in 1948
had access to 1,585,730 books, or .48 books per per-
son and a circulation of two books per capita.
There were 93 professional librarians (87 white and
6 black). However, only half of the African Ameri-
can population received public library service.
Separate (but hardly equal) black libraries held
144,031 books, or .15 books per African Ameri-
can.*! Even so, this may have been the best record
in the South.42
Wilmington, and Winston-Salem had
Greensboro, Henderson, Laurinburg,
libraries for African Americans.
* Asheville, Charlotte, Durham,
* EDGECOMBE
ROCKINGHAM | CASWELL! PERSON
STOKES
SURRY
* Shaded counties indicate countywide service
RUTHERFORD: Forest City; Rutherfordton
MOORE: Pine Bluff; Southern Pines
UNION: Monroe
NASH: Rocky Mount
ROBESON: Lumberton
McDOWELL: Marion; Old Fort
GUILFORD: High Point
HARNETT: Dunn; Erwin
COLUMBUS: Whitefield
HALIFAX: Weldon
North Carolina, July 1, 1928-June 30, 1930
(n.p., n.d.)
BUNCOMBE: Black Mountain; Oteen
BEAUFORT: Washington
CARTERET: Beaufort
CHEROKEE: Murphey
CLEVELAND: Shelby
COUNTY: Town Name [=% ]; refer to 1920 [- ]; 1910 [@ ]
ALAMANCE: Graham
MAP 3: Incident of public libraries, 1930.
KEY (1930):
Source: Eleventh Report of the Library Commission of
116 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
The history of library services to African Ameri-
cans in North Carolina has been only tentatively
explored to date. The community of the book, so
important in the acculturation of immigrant new
Americans in northern cities, apparently played a
lesser role among Southern blacks.*? The library as
a democratic forum for learning and communica-
tion hardly existed for African Americans. No li-
brary gave them equal access to books. The most
vigorous expression of service was in Charlotte,
which opened in 1906 what may be the first real
black public library in the South.44 Durham fol-
lowed suit in 1916, Asheville in 1927, Wilmington
in 1926, and Raleigh in 1935. Blacks established a
library in Laurinburg in 1918 which appears to
have faded away in the later 1930s.45 Durham,
Hertford, and Wake were the first North Carolina
counties to provide bookmobile service to blacks.46
Two public librarians attended the inaugural meet-
ing of the North Carolina Negro Library Association
in 1934, and a library school for blacks opened in
Durham in 1941.
By 1940, eleven of twenty county libraries pro-
vided oService for Negroes,� twelve of sixty munici-
pal libraries, and none of the twenty-one associa-
tion libraries. During World War II, African Ameri-
can soldiers enjoyed some library service at Camp
Sutton.4�7 Between 1948, when Beal determinedly
focused attention on the problem, and 1950, fifteen
counties added Negro library service, and 70 per-
cent of African Americans had access to library ser-
vice. In the 1950s, there was further, if slow,
progress. For example, a black school supervisor
started a library in Williamston in 1953 with $1,000
from the county.48 Public libraries began to inte-
grate during the early 1960s.49
In 1950, ninety-two counties had library service,
covering 95 percent of the stateTs population. This
coverage included nineteen libraries organized as
seven regional systems. As much as half the book
circulation, however, came from bookmobiles, as
North Carolina had more omobile libraries� than
any other state in the union.°® In 1960, there were
ninety-two public library systems, covering some
97 percent of North Carolina.~! The extension of
branches was now more of a concern. Public librar-
ies possessed 3,679,531 books or .83 per capita, and
circulated 12,828,574 books at a cost of $3,363,000
or $.74 per person. If this seems modest, it is; but it
also represents a circulation of almost three books
per resident " three books and the information ser-
vices and reading encouragement which would not
have taken place without public libraries.
By the 1960s, then, there was a reliable if
underfunded network of library service throughout
the state which included not just main libraries but
also branches and bookmobiles.52 In theory, prac-
tically everyone had access to a public library. The
material basis of a library-oriented community of
the book was therefore laid in the difficult sixty
years from the beginning of the century. Libraries,
to return to the vocabulary used by Habermas, pro-
vided a possible if not thriving public forum for
communication and democratic progress.
North Carolina Libraries
MAP 4: Incident of public libraries, 1940.
Source: Sixteenth Report of the Library Commission of
North Carolina, July 1, 1938-June 30, 1940
(n.p., n.d.)
SURRY
BEAUFORT
KEY (1940):
COUNTY: Town Name [ AJ; refer to 1930 [ =]; 1920 [ ]; 1910 [@]
* Twenty-one towns had
"Colored Public Libraries."
* Shaded counties indicate countywide service
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Fall 1996 " 117
Endnotes and References
1 Louis R. Wilson, oThe Growth of
the Libraries ...,� WorldTs Work 14
* (May-October 1907): 8985. See May V.
Crenshaw, oPublic Libraries in the
South,� Library Journal 42 (1917): 163,
for lingering Southern confusion
about what constituted a opublic
library.�
2 See the series by Barbara Beeland
Rehder, oDevelopment of Libraries in
the Lower Cape Fear,� Lower Case Fear
Historical Society, (1964-1966), and the
extensive files at the New Hanover
Public Library, DB:PL 2. There were
some fifteen different attempts to
organize before the Wilmington
Public Library opened in 1907.
3 For Americans, seminal works on
the history of books include Robert
DarntonTs oWhat Is the History of
Books?� reprinted in his The Kiss of
Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural
History (New York: W. W. Norton,
1990), 107-35; and David D. Hall,
oThe History of the Book: New
Questions? New Answers?,� reprinted
in Libraries, Books & Culture, ed.
Donald G. Davis, Jr. (Austin: Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin, Graduate
School of Library and Information
Science, 1986), 27-38. See also Robert
V. Williams, oTheoretical Issues and
Constructs Underlying the Study of
Library Development,� Libri 34
(1984): 1-16.
4 Some accounts based on northern
and urban areas of the United States
suggest a more positive appraisal.
Consult Joseph Rosenblum, A Biblio-
graphic History of the Book: An Anno-
tated Guide to the Literature (Lanham,
Md: Scarecrow Press, 1995). The
community of the book encompasses
of course more than public libraries
and more than libraries. Research is
needed on the productivity and
incidence of printers and booksellers
as well as literacy and literary discus-
sion and writing groups in the South
and elsewhere.
~ For our purposes in this paper, see
Habermas, The Structural Transforma-
tion of the Public Sphere (Cambridge:
MIT Press, 1991), 167-68, 245-47; The
Theory of Communicative Action
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1989), I, 397,
and II, 60-61. Cf. also Patrick Wilson,
Public Knowledge, Private Ignorance:
Toward a Library and Information Policy
(Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1977); Mark E. Warren, oThe Self in
Discursive Democracy,� The Cambridge
Companion to Habermas, ed. Stephen
118 " Fall 1996
kK. White (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1995), 167-200; and
John B. Thompson, Ideology and
Modern Culture (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1990), esp. 109-21.
6 A generation or two of revisionists
have tried to disabuse or modify
greatly the notion of libraries as
oarsenals of democracy� " with
appreciable results. Nonetheless, the
public service orientation and open-
ness of libraries provide a continuing
basis for their democratic as well as
practical utility.
7 Louis R. Wilson, The Geography of
Reading: A Study of the Distribution and
Status of Libraries in the United States
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1938), esp. 184-88, 434-35. For more
extensive documentation than can be
presented here, see Patrick M. Valen-
tine, oThe Struggle to Establish Public
Library Service in Wilson, North
Carolina, 1900-1940,� Libraries &
Culture 28 (Summer 1993): 285-306;
and oSteel, Cotton and Tobacco:
Philanthropy and Public Libraries in
North Carolina, 1900-1940,� Libraries
& Culture (Spring 1996): 272-98.
8 Wendell W. Smiley, oLibrary
Development in North Carolina
Before 1930,� (Greenville: East
Carolina University Library, 1971
[originally proposed as a dissertation
in 1930/32]); James S. Brawley, The
Rowan Story 1753-1953 (Salisbury:
Rowan Printing, 1953), 289-90;
Randolph P. Schaffner, Good Reading
Material, Mostly Bound and New: The
Hudson Library 1884-1994 (Highlands:
Hudson Library of Highlands, Inc.,
1994), 9-18. (There was a separate
Hudson Library, started in 1912 in the
town of Hudson, which changed its
name to Dixie Library in 1916 and
closed in 1925. oHudson Branch
Library,� files of Caldwell County
Public Library.)
9 Mary L. Stevenson, oThe History
of the New Bern-Craven County
Public Library,� (masterTs paper, East
Carolina University, 1978), 6. On
Franklin, see Kate Robinson to Louis
Round Wilson, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North
Carolina, 3274, Louis Round Wilson
papers, series V, folder 464, 1 March
1910 [cited hereafter as LRW].
Carnegie Corporation Public Library
Correspondence, Columbia University
Rare Book and Manuscript Depart-
ment, Microfilm Reel 67, Goldsboro,
letter of Mrs. S. Weil, 31 March 1909.
10 Whether oplain folk� could or
would use a club or subscription
library is open to question. I. A.
Newby, Plain Folk in the New South:
Social Change and Cultural Persistence
1880-1915 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana
State University Press, 1989), 419-20,
443; Deanna B. Marcum, Good Books
in a Country Home: The Public Library
as Cultural Force in Hagerstown,
Maryland, 1878-1920 (Westport:
Greenwood Press, 1994), 129. Candid
reports of the quality of town libraries
during this period can be found in
Minnie W. LeathermanTs reports to the
North Carolina Library Commission,
LRW, folders 505-13.
11 In 1900 North Carolina suppos-
edly had 57 libraries with 285,000
books, which amounts to .15 books
per North Carolinian, but most of
these were college libraries and the
quality and relevance of the books to
the public can be doubted. Report of
the Commissioner of Education for the
Year 1899-1900 (Washington: Govern-
ment Printing Office, 1901), I, 928-31.
12 Unsigned letter by the librarian,
23 April 1903, Durham County Public
Library Archives, Box 1, Correspon-
dence 1897-1911; Leatherman to
Wilson, LRW, V, 505, 5 February 1910.
13 All library statistics are from the
biennial or annual reports of the
NCLC, variously titled, starting with
First Biennial Report of the North
Carolina Library Commission, 1909-
1910 (Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton,
1910).
14 See Griggs, oThe Memoirs of Mrs.
Alfred (Lillian B.) Griggs,� Duke
University Archives (manuscript,
1940), 52: when requesting money for
county service before the County
Commissioners, otears began to roll
down my cheeks and I believe the
audience was affected enough to have
given us the $600� instead of the $400
library trustees had asked for.
1S Raleigh had ten libraries, six of
them college or academy, three
controlled by the state government,
one public.
16 Charlotte also had an African
American public library (1906) and a
Y.M.C.A. library (n.d.).
17 Fayetteville, too, had a tradition
of library service in the nineteenth
century. See oFay.-Library� files at
Cumberland County Public Library. In
January 1933 it became a free library
and in December opened to county
residents.
18 A club library opened in 1904 was
supposedly free of charge to the
North Carolina Libraries
public after 1907. (Greenville) Daily
Reflector, 17 October 1930 and 11
February 1950. But compare LRW, V,
514, Monthly Report of the Secretary,
June 10-July 10 (1910): oThis little
library is entirely under the control of
three book clubs, consisting of 20
members each and seems to be
patronized almost exclusively by the
members.� See also East Carolina
University, Joyner Library Manu-
scripts, 150.1 and 150.6, End of the
Century Book Club papers. Thirty-one
of forty-eight club meetings between
October 1902 and October 1906 were
devoted to the library. The city did
not assume control from the WomanTs
Club until 1928.
19 See Valentine, oSteel, Cotton and
Tobacco,� n. 93.
20 Dates given are those listed in
First Biennial Report ... 1909-1910.
Several libraries did not send in
statistics, while Ledger with a popula-
tion of 52 claimed 12,000 books.
These statistics do not include librar-
ies which had ceased operating by
1909 or sent in no report, such as
Wilson, Kinston, and Lincolnton. The
Brevard Street (oColored�) Library in
Charlotte was not listed until Second
Biennial Report.
21 Perhaps the SouthTs greatest
librarian, Wilson assumed direction of
the University of North Carolina
library in 1901, taught the first
courses in librarianship in North
Carolina in 1910, started the stateTs
second library school in 1931, was
dean of the Graduate Library School
at Chicago, served as president of the
American Library Association in 1935-
36, and finally retired full of honors
in 1959. (The first library school was
at North Carolina Normal and
Industrial College in Greensboro.)
22 See North Carolina Department of
Archives and History [cited hereafter
as NCDAH], NCLA Atchives, 1, 1-8,
67-69, and oThe North Carolina
Library Association, Organized May,
1904,� (booklet, n.d. [1909 or 1910],
bound at p. 31); Louis R. Wilson, oThe
North Carolina Library Association,
1904-1909,� North Carolina Libraries
13 (November 1954): 2-7. A graduate
of Drexel College, Miss Petty was
probably the first professional librar-
ian in the state. She was NCLC
Chairman from 1918 to 1921 and
then its (paid) Assistant Secretary and
Director until 1933.
23 Anne Firor Scott, The Southern
Lady: From Pedestal to Politics 1830-
North Carolina Libraries
1930 (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1970), and oWomen and
Libraries,� Libraries, Books & Culture,
400-405; James V. Carmichael, Jr.,
oAtlantaTs Female Librarians, 1883-
1915,� ibid., 377-399, and oSouthern-
ers in the North and Northerners in
the South ...� in WomenTs Work: Vision
and Change in Librarianship (University
of Illinois Graduate School of Library
and Information Science Occasional
Paper 196/197, 1994), 27-104. CfE.,
Cheryl Ann Karr, oA Preliminary
Examination of the Involvement of
WomenTs Clubs in the Establishment
of Selected Public Libraries in Georgia,
1896-1920,� (masterTs thesis, Univer-
sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
1992). The crucial role of women in
creating public libraries is indisputable
in Aberdeen, Albemarle, Andrews,
Clayton, Davidson County, Durham,
Edenton, Goldsboro, High Point,
Johnston County, Kinston, Maxton,
Mooresville, Morganton, Randolph
County, Reidsville, Salisbury, Saluda,
Swan Quarter, Tyrrell County, Wash-
ington, and Wilson. In addition, the
role of women is often obscured by a
perceived need to have a man negoti-
ate for them with public and private
authorities.
24 The LRW papers indicate that
there was a fair amount of acrimony,
glossed over in public, between the
NCLC and the Federation. See also
Thornton W. Mitchell, The State
Library and Library Development in
North Carolina (Raleigh: Division of
ss iN
State Library, 1983), 19-24; Joanne E.
Passet, oReaching the Rural Readers:
Traveling Libraries in America, 1892-
1920,� Libraries & Culture 26 (Winter
1991): 100-118.
25 Sanford did not indicate whether
its library was free or subscription.
Several of these libraries were located
in small towns with many northern
tourists, such as Niagara.
26 Quotation, NCDAH, 62.9, NCLC
Administrative Section, minutes,
meeting of 17 March 1921. Durham
and Greensboro offered county service
by 1916, but Palmer argued that
Charlotte, which had done so even
earlier, had made a mistake in acting
before the legislature approved the
practice. NCLA Archives, oAddress of
Mr. E. P. Wharton ... November 11,
1921,� and ensuing discussion, 2, 6,
18-23. See also North Carolina Library
Bulletin 8/5 (1931), 79. The uncertain
legal status of county service in some
instances precluded it being listed in
official records. Cf., Fourth Biennial
Report ... 1915-1916, 17. California led
the way with county service, with
Hagerstown in Maryland providing an
influential example for the South.
Peter Thomas Conmy, oThe Centen-
nial of Tax Supported Public Libraries
in California,� California Librarian
(October 1978), 7-15; and Marcum,
Good Books.
27 LRW to Lillian B. Griggs, LRW, V,
516, 25 September 1928. See also
Griggs, oMemoirs,� 52. The push for
higher standards was far different
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Fall 1996 " 119
from earlier years when just the
creation of a library was the rallying
cry. See for instance, J. P. BreedloveTs
opening address at the eighth NCLA
meeting (Washington, N.C., 5 Novem-
ber 1913): oEvery town and village of
North Carolina can have a public
library ... even though the library be
small and its growth slow.� NCLA
Archives, 1, 39. Breedlove was the
Trinity College librarian and treasurer
of NCLA.
28 California spent $1.08 per person
and Massachusetts $0.85. Even in
1932 the president of the Winston-
Salem Board of Trustees considered
county contributions merely a way of
reducing city appropriations. Tommie
Dora Barker, American Library Asso-
ciation Library Extension Board,
Regional Field Agent for the South,
Field Notes, 15-21 November 1932
[cited hereafter as ALA Field Notes; I
am indebted to Dr. James V.
Carmichael, Jr., for copies of these
Notes]. Cf. Paul S. Ballance, comp.,
The First Fifty Years of Public Library
Service in Winston-Salem 1906-1956
(Winston-Salem: Public Library of
Winston-Salem and Forsyth County,
1956?), 26-27.
29 Salem had 42,000 inhabitants, the
seven North Carolina cities 222,607.
WilsonTs article was first printed in the
University newsletter and in one form
or another was widely disseminated
and discussed. For WilsonTs use of
Salem and comparative statistics, see
Robert Sidney Martin, oLouis Round
WilsonTs Geography of Reading: A
Inguiry into Its Origins, Development,
and Impact,� Libraries, Books &
Culture, 425-44, esp. 427-28.
30 Quotation, Griggs to Mrs. R. L.
Carr, 25 September 1930, Griggs
papers, Duke University Special
Collections. See also Helen Marjorie
Beal, oThe Citizens Library Move-
ment,� typescript, 6 March 1936, and
letters by Graham in NCLC Archives,
62.13, Box 1; William Eury, oThe
CitizensT Library Movement in North
Carolina,� (bachelorTs thesis, George
Peabody College for Teachers, 1951);
William S. Powell, oCitizensT Library
Movement in North Carolina,� North
Carolina Libraries 13 (November 1954):
33-39; Warren Ashby, Frank Porter
Graham: A Southern Liberal (Winston-
Salem: John F. Blair, 1980), 66-68;
Griggs to Anne Pierce, 516, 25 Octo-
ber 1929, and Griggs to Wilson, 517, 1
April 1930, LRW, V.
31 Gov. O. Max Gardner, oThe
120 " Fall 1996
Significance of the CitizensT Library
Movement,� (Chapel Hill?: North
Carolina Library Association, 1929).
Governor Clyde R. Hoey, at a CLM
meeting in Charlotte, 26 March 1938,
declared oI believe the extension of
adequate library facilities into the
rural communities will do much
toward advancing the interests of
North Carolina.� Cited, Fifteenth
Report of the North Carolina Library
Commission, 9.
32 One, in Oteen, was a VeteranTs
Hospital Library. Only twelve counties
contributed as much as $1,000
annually to libraries in 1936. Floyd W.
Price, Jr., oA History of the
Northampton Library, Northampton
County, N. C., 1934-1966,� (masterTs
thesis, University of North Carolina,
1981), 12; Richard H. Thornton, The
Richard H. Thornton Library (Oxford:
Richard H. Thornton Library, 1975),
15-19.. The CLM did have a direct
impact on the Mebane gift in
Rockingham County.
33 On social services in the South, see
William A. Link, The Paradox of
Southern Progressivism, 1880-1930
(Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1992); George B.
Tindall, The Emergence of the New South,
1913-1945 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana
State University Press, 1967); Numan
V. Bartley, The New South 1945-1980
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univer-
sity Press, 1995); and Dewey
Grantham, The South in Modern
America: A Region at Odds (New York:
HarperCollins, 1994). The best general
state history is William S. Powell, North
Carolina Through Four Centuries (Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1989).
34 ALA-Field Notes, 23-29 September
1932; Frank Graham to Wilson, 15
July 1930, LRW, IV, 320. Upon his
return, Wilson worked strenuously
against a proposed 10% salary cut. As
Griggs wrote to Beal, oLibrarians did
not enjoy high salaries ... during
prosperous days and I think to reduce
them now would be a mistake.�
Griggs to Beal, 24 January 1931,
Griggs papers; see also Wilson to
Griggs, 19 January 1931; Griggs to
Wilson, 21 January 1931.
35 Quotation, Elizabeth H. Hughey,
oPublic Libraries in North Carolina,�
North Carolina Libraries 13 (November
1954): 15. James V. Carmichael, Jr.,
oNorth Carolina Libraries Face the
Depression: A Regional Field Agent
and the ~Bell CowT State, 1930-36,�
ibid., 50 (Spring 1992), 35-40. Federal
aid to North Carolina in 1940-41
amounted to $790,810, the seventh
highest total in the United States.
Edward Barrett Stanford, Library
Extension.Under the WPA (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1944), 62,
Table 6. See also Richard Sylla, oLong-
Term Trends in State and Local
Finance: Sources and Uses of Funds in
North Carolina, 1800-1977,� in
Stanley Engerman and Robert C.
Gallman, eds., Long-Term Factors in
American Economic Growth (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1986),
827 and 837.
36 oSixteenth Report of the North
Carolina Library Commission, July 1,
1938-June 30, 1940,� 13-14.
37 The true percentage was smaller
as blacks had little or no access in
most counties. In addition, as a
result of Supreme Court rulings that
oA public library is not a necessary
expense� and the failure of a local
library tax levy, the Charlotte Public
Library closed from 30 June 1939
1940. Patricia Ryckman, Public
Library of Charlotte & Mecklenbura
County: A Century of Service (Char-
lotte: Public Library of Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County, 1989), 15-16;
Mitchell, State Library, 57.
38 The first regional systems were
B.H.M. (Beaufort, Hyde, and Martin
counties) and Nantahala (Cherokee,
Clay, and Graham counties).
Chatham, Person, and Orange coun-
ties shared a librarian, as did Duplin,
Onslow, and Sampson counties, but
each county had its own board and
autonomy.
39 oSeventeenth Report ... 1942,� 6-7.
40 Helen Marjorie Beal, ed., oLibrar-
ies in North Carolina: A Survey, 1946-
1947,� (Raleigh: NCLA, 1948).
41 Beal fought successfully for
greater resources for black North
Carolinians. She added Mollie Huston
Lee, who was librarian of the Richard
B. Harrison Library in Raleigh and had
worked part time for the State Library
for years, to her staff in 1946 as Negro
Supervisor of Rural Libraries.
42 The capitals of the neighboring
states of Virginia and South Carolina,
for instance, did not open libraries
until 1924, at least in part because of
fear of black involvement. Carolyn H.
Leatherman, oRichmond Considers a
Free Public Library,� Virginia Magazine
of History and Biography 96 (April
1988), 181-92; Dorothy D. Wilson,
oThe History of Richland County
North Carolina Libraries
Public Library,� (typescript, 1967,
oRCPL-misc.� file at Richland County
Public Library). Atlanta ignored a
Carnegie grant for a black branch and
did not have library service for African
Americans until 1921; Jacksonville, on
the other hand, attempted to establish
a truly separate but equal library. On
the relative status of black education
in North Carolina versus other
Southern states, see James N. Padgett,
oFrom Slavery to Prominence in North
Carolina,� Journal of Negro History
XXII, (October 1937): 445-46, 457.
43 Libraries receive little or no
attention in the surveys analyzed by
John R. Larkins, in Patterns of Leader-
ship Among Negroes in North Carolina
(Raleigh: Irving-Swain Press, n.d.
[1959]); or, in Willard B. Gatewood,
Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite,
1880-1920 (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1990). See also John
R. Larkins, oThe Negro Population of
North Carolina, Social and Eco-
nomic,� Special Bulletin Number 23
(Raleigh: North Carolina State Board
of Charities and Public Welfare, 1944).
Some blacks, however, borrowed
library cards from whites: Richard
Wright, Black Boy (New York: Harper &
Row, 1945 ed.), 267-73; Louise J.
Moses, in E. J. Josey, ed., Black Librar-
ian in America (Metuchen, NJ: Scare-
crow, 1974), 140. On European
American immigrants, see Rosemary
Ruhig DuMont, Reform and Reaction:
The Big City Public Library in American
Life (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood
Press, 1977), 98-104, 136-37; and
Phyllis Dain, The New York Public
Library (New York: New York Public
Library, 1972), 28-29, 288-94. The
most comprehensive study is
Plummer Alston Jones, oAmerican
Public Library Service to the Immi-
grant Community: 1876-1948 ...�
(Ph.D. diss. University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1991).
44 Memphis had a branch for blacks
in a ocolored normal school� in 1904
and Galveston in January 1905 had a
branch in a high school but oChar-
lotte, N. C. is the first and only city to
build a library for Negroes with its
own funds.� William F. Yust, oWhat of
the Black and Yellow Races?� Bulletin
of the American Library Association (July
1913), 159-67, quotation 162; and
Eliza A. Gleason, The Southern Negro
and the Public Library (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1941), 20-
22, 28. See also Tommie Dora Barker,
Libraries of the South: A Report on
North Carolina Libraries
Developments 1930-1935 (Chicago:
American Library Association, 1936),
50. For documentation on Durham,
Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, and
Davidson County, see Valentine,
oSteel, Cotton and Tobacco,�n. 37-40,
53, 57, 66-70, 82-84, 142, 145, and 148.
45 It may have been operated by the
Colored Civic League. Laurinburg
Exchange (14 March 1918). Citation
courtesy of Robert Busko.
46 Whites in Scotland County
apparently did not have a public
library until August 1941. See also
Nollie H. Lee, oDevelopment of Negro
Libraries in North Carolina,� North
Carolina Libraries 3 (May 1944): 3; and
Doretta D. Anderson, oA History of
Public Library Service to Blacks in
Wilson, North Carolina,� (masterTs
thesis, University of North Carolina at
Chapemnilet9 76) ty Lo.
47 Kathryn M. Penn, Reading
Interests of Soldiers,� North Carolina
Libraries 3 (May 1944): 12.
48 oMary S. Gray Library a favorite of
WTmston Children,� (Williamston)
Enterprise, 22 May 1984. See also
Williamston Library files in the
Martin Memorial Library; and Francis
M. Manning and W. H. Booker, Martin
County History (Williamston: Enter-
prise Publishing, 1977), I, 280.
49 Capus M. Waynick, et al., ed.,
North Carolina and the Negro (Raleigh:
North Carolina MayorsT Co-operating
Committee, 1964), passim. See also A.
P. Marshall, oService to Afro-Ameri-
cans,� A Century of Service:
Librarianship in the United States and
Canada, ed. Sidney L. Jackson et al.
(Chicago: American Library Associa-
tion, 1976), 72-75; Eric Moon and Karl
Nyren, Library Issues: The Sixties (New
York: R. R. Bowker, 1970), 117-50.
$0 oTwenty-Third Report ... 1954,� 24.
~1 Second Biennial Report of the North
Carolina State Library, July 1, 1958-
June 30, 1960. These statistics are
precise, if not necessarily accurate. For
instance, Ashe, counted earlier as a
county-wide library, is mentioned as
still struggling to establish such
service in 1959.
52 On funding, see for example the
lead editorial oShortchanging the
Libraries,� Twin City Sentinel, April 20
1967.
Thank You to NCLA Contributing Members:
Dr. Benjamin F. Speller, Jr.
Martha Richardson, Southeastern Library Network
Tom Broadfoot, BroadfootTs Publishing Company
Tired of making
opermanent loans?"
3 Checkpoint
Tomorrow's Technology for Today's Libraries�"�
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Ralph M. Davis
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1-800-545-2714
Fall 1996 " 121
oShare a Book ... at Home�
A Literacy Project Sponsored by the Elkin Public Library
by Joan Sanders
oYou mean | can keep this book?�
o| donTt have to return it?�
hese are typical enthusiastic responses to the Friends of the
Elkin Public LibraryTs gift of a book to every participant in
its annual summer reading programs. In 1990, in response
to data indicating that over 50 percent of the adults in Surry
County had not finished high school, and that 30 percent had not
completed the eighth grade, the library launched its literacy out-
reach program, oShare a Book ... at Home.� Funded by the Win-
ston-Salem Foundation, the project's goal was to give each child in
area day care and Head Start centers a book to take home to keep.
Objectives also included giving each center a core collection of
books, and organizing and training volunteers to present weekly
story hour programs at each center. Much of the plan was
grounded in Early Literacy by Joan McLane and Gillian McNamee.
Volunteers were recruited from the active Friends of the Li-
brary group and through the local newspaper. The volunteers were
offered training in a workshop with Pat Seigfried from the Public
Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. A canvas of area
day care facilities identified six centers that wished to participate.
A staff member volunteered to design a logo, button, and book-
mark. Teams of volunteers were matched with centers and oShare
a Book ... at Home� began.
The project has grown to include several more area agencies.
In 1991, the renewed Winston-Salem Foundation grant helped the
Elkin Public Library expand its goals to include giving each new
baby born in the Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital a board book
to keep. The auxiliary of the hospital assumed the annual cost of
purchasing these books in 1992. In 1995, the auxiliary board des-
ignated funds from their annual bazaar for the oShare a Book�
project and requested that Spanish titles be added to their annual
book gift list. Approximately 300 babies receive these books each
year. They are packaged by Friends, who include library materials
and who tie the package in blanket binding from the local
Chatham Manufacturing Company.
In 1992, the success of the oShare a Book ... at Home� project
led to the development of the countywide literacy coalition,
oSurry: A County of Readers.� Smart Start has used the project as
a model for early literacy as well. Also in 1992, the State Library
of North Carolina awarded a mini-grant to the Elkin Public Library
to expand the oShare a Book� project to the local pre-school hear-
ing-impaired satellite class of the Western Carolina School for the
Deaf. Sign language books and videotapes were added to the
libraryTs collection and placed in the childrenTs classroom.
The Tri-County United Way became involved in 1993 when
the directors voted to underwrite the cost of the hardback books
given to approximately 250 pre-school children in the area day
care and Head Start centers. Presentations to various boards, radio
spots, and a regular newspaper column helped to keep the public
aware of the goals and needs of the project.
In 1994, through a second State Library mini-grant, the oShare
a Book ... at Home� project included story sharing during parent
meetings at six Head Start centers. The Motheread model was used,
and Lynn Wright-Kernoble from the North Carolina Humanities
Council served as the initial presenter. Staff members from centers
in three counties attended an in-service training day, receiving
reading tips and examples of effective story hours. Titles used in
122 " Fall 1996
small planning groups included: Flossie and the Fox, Goggles, and I
Have a Friend.
After this workshop, the Head Start literacy coordinator
helped the library staff lead parent group meetings in six Head Start
sites. Ferdinand the Bull was a favorite title with the groups, who
entered into the story and shared ways their children could be-
come involved. The evaluations of the parent meetings were posi-
tive, and books suggested by the Motheread program were contrib-
uted to each center.
The teams of Friends volunteers who present story hour pro-
grams at the centers for ten weeks each spring hold an annual evalu-
ation session. A committee of the Friends chairs the project, select-
ing book titles and gathering ideas for project developments. Posi-
tive outcomes of the project are increased library registrations from
day care and Head Start families, more volunteers, and " most im-
portant of all " books in the homes of more children each year.
Project evaluations have brought about book lists for parents
and staff at each facility, a designated box of favorite books at the li-
brary, and book lists for story sharing. The need for increased aware-
ness among the children of what a library is and does became evi-
dent. The result was the production of a short video by the Elkin
Public LibraryTs KidsT Club. The students, assisted by an experienced
volunteer, created an entertaining film about the Elkin Public Library
building and library services for the children. Now story hour vol-
unteers are accustomed to being greeted as if they are olibrary�:
oThank you, library!� oGood-bye, library!� oI love you, library!�
Currently, the Elkin Public Library staff and Friends are in the
sixth year of oShare a Book...at Home.� With suggestions from the
1995 volunteers, goals for 1996 were formed and a grant was ap-
proved by the Winston-Salem Foundation to expand the project to
include story kits, books, and staff training for the centers. Marian
Lytle, ChildrenTs Librarian at the Rowan County Public Library, pre-
sented oShazam: Connecting Children and Books� in January 1996
to staff members from the centers at a state-accredited in-service
workshop. Following a hot meal provided by a local caterer, the
group enjoyed new and classic book titles as Lytle wove the stories
into story hour themes. Those attending remarked that the work-
shop was the most practical and enjoyable one they had attended
in years! The grantTs final objective is the donation to each cen-
ter of a collection of books and story hour stretchers, including
puppets. Marian LytleTs book list is well worn!
The oShare a Book ... at Home� Literacy outreach project
achieves its yearly goals by providing books to 300 newborns and
250 young children to take home to share. For many of the young
children in the centers, it is their first book. The volunteers are still
hearing the comments which began the project: oYou mean I can
keep this book?� oI donTt have to return it?�
In a county where over 50 percent of adults have not finished
high school and 30 percent do not have an eighth grade education,
the Elkin Public Library and its community have come together to
make a difference.
Reference
McLane, Joan B., and Gillian D. McNamee. Early Literacy. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.
North Carolina Libraries
Library Media Center School Reading
Programs at Morrisville Year-Round
Elementary School
by Nancy B. McNitt
READ! Getting books into childrenTs hands and providing
motivational activities to promote reading help develop a
joy of reading. At Morrisville Year-Round Elementary School, read-
ing success is nourished by daily reading to children, daily sus-
tained silent reading, and weekly at-home reading expectations.
The library media center supports this school literacy initia-
tive. A strong, effective, growing book collection is in place. Care-
ful book selection is continual. The unofficial library media cen-
ter mission statement is oa book on the library shelf is a book not
being read!�
The school community has continual flexible access to library
media center materials. Some of the ways library media coordina-
tors connect the 1,010 students with books include leading author
studies, booktalking, teaching information skills with a wide vari-
ety of books, and connecting books to individual readers. Staff
check out books for room use to support teaching themes, to meet
the needs of special readers, for read-alouds, and for other curricu-
lum uses. Families are encouraged to check out books for
preschoolers, for older siblings, and for parent education.
To further motivate reading, the LMC staff leads three all-
school reading celebrations. A fall readathon challenges students
to read 15,000 pages in three weeks. The library media center pro-
vides forms for students and staff to record the number of opages
read� at school and at home. Volunteers graph reading success in
the halls, which helps motivate sustained reading. Administra-
tors, who will perform for reading awards. daily encourage read-
ing. Morrisville readers have enjoyed their administrators riding
bicycle laps in school, sitting on the school roof, and handcuffed
(with our DARE police officer present) to a flagpole. This year the
principal donned pajamas, curlers, and a night hat, and reclined
in a hallway bed to read aloud to all classes. Knowing that teach-
ers would make certain that 100 percent of the student body
would participate in this event, the PTA took charge of this yearTs
readathon and gave reading shirts to each child.
In spring, after daylight-saving time begins, the library me-
dia center staff delivers an annual Morrisville Reader challenge to
all students and staff. Each person who reads seven hours at
home, before school ends, receives a Morrisville Reader button.
A child who spends six years at Morrisville could have six differ-
ent colored reading buttons when leaving for middle school.
Planning for the reading challenge begins in early March.
LMC staff members meet with staff committees and grade level
planning teams to set spring reading goals. Dates to start and con-
clude the challenge are set on the all-school calendar.
The library media center sends parents a letter describing the
challenge. On the back of the letter is a thirty-space chart with two
spaces marked ofree� (twenty-eight spaces = seven hours). The
reader crosses out one space each time he reads fifteen minutes.
Reading can be someone reading to the reader, the reader reading
to someone, or the reader reading silently. Any kind of reading
counts " comic books, computer monitor, newspapers, books, "
H ow do you develop a lifelong relationship with books?
North Carolina Libraries
the goal is to READ.
Teachers, administrators, and library media coordinators sup-
port the ongoing challenge. The library media center staff dis-
plays the reading button and provides new sheets as originals are
lost. Teachers put reminder notes in newsletters. Administrators
add updates about the ongoing challenge during morning an-
nouncements.
Close to 75 percent of Morrisville Readers, staff and students,
receive their reading buttons on the Friday school television news.
Teachers have students bring their parent-signed, completed read-
ing chart to the library media center. On-air, each reader tells his
name and exchanges the chart for a reading button. Reading mo-
tivation shoots upward as soon as the first buttons are handed out!
Before school television, photographs of Morrisville Readers were
displayed in the school hall.
Continuing to support the importance of books and reading,
the library media center leads an end-of-year all-school book swap.
Media staff and parents collect used books in good condition
throughout the year, so each swap begins with and ends with hun-
dreds of extra books. In June, students bring up to eight used books
to school. Volunteers count and sort books and write on a student-
and teacher-labeled plastic bag how many books the student can
get. On swap day, scheduled classes beginning with fifth graders
bring their labeled empty bags to the library media center and
choose recycled books. About 70 percent of the students take part
in the swap. On the day after the swap, each student who chose not
to join the swap can choose one of the remaining books.
The library media center also manages the Accelerated Reader
computer reading management program. Students can read one
of more than 2,300 books and then test themselves on their un-
derstanding of the book. Book lists are kept in the library media
center, by the classroom computer, at the local public libraries,
and at area book stores. In this school year about 760 students
successfully read over 18,000 books.
Other all-school initiatives are ongoing. The school is en-
rolled in Count on Reading. Students read and vote for the North
Carolina ChildrenTs Book Award nominees. Many classrooms par-
ticipate in the Pizza Hut Book-It program. All classrooms have
room libraries supported by the library media center. A yearly li-
brary media center book fair and teacher-provided opportunities
to buy books from publishersT book clubs encourage student li-
braries. At the beginning of the school year, the library media co-
ordinators help students get their public library cards, and they
support continual use of the public library.
The library media center supports literacy year-round. Li-
brary media coordinators connect students and books daily using
a wide breadth of titles students want to read (yes, this means
some series books like oGoosebumps�). Throughout the school
year, the library media center staff leads motivating activities that
encourage ongoing reading. The outcome of all these initiatives
is wonderful readers who believe books are important!
Fall 1996 " 123
$$ -
Encouraging the Students
to Read, Read, Read
by Kay L. Stockdale
A human mind, once stretched to a new idea, never returns to its former dimensions.
" paraphrasing Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
n this Age of Information, the
school library media center and
the librarian have an expanded
role in the school setting. As the
library has grown from one room
where only books were checked in
and out by hand to the hub of the
school setting with electronic catalogs,
circulation facilities, databases using CD-
ROMs, and telecommunications for ref-
erence and correspondence purposes lit-
erally around the world, one of the main
functions of the library has remained the
same " helping students to improve
their reading ability. Because reading is
the foundation for all learning, as stu-
dents read, they also broaden their hori-
zons forever.
Seymour Sarason defines the cre-
ation of settings as oinvolving two or
more people brought together in new
relationships for a sustained period of
time to achieve stated objectives.�! The
setting can be a new setting or an old set-
ting that is changing in some way.
The faculty and administration of
The outer curriculum is
othe course of study.� The inner
curriculum is owhat each person
experiences as learning settings
are cooperatively created.�
any school setting should be concerned
not only about what the student learns,
but also about how the student grows as
a person. In Creative Curriculum Lead-
ership, Dale Brubaker distinguishes be-
tween the outer curriculum and the
inner curriculum. The outer curriculum
is othe course of study.� The inner cur-
riculum is owhat each person experi-
ences as learning settings are coopera-
tively created.�2 Reading a variety of
materials helps the students to develop
both their outer and inner curriculum.
The overall setting of the school li-
brary media center must have an invit-
ing atmosphere and easily located ma-
terials that not only support the educa-
tional program but also are useful to the
school community. At the same time,
the librarian must make sure that mate-
rials are checked out instead of owalking
out,� perhaps never to be returned to the
library. The librarian must also work dili-
gently yet diplomatically to ensure that
overdue materials are returned to the li-
brary media center. Hence, the librarian
is contributing to the in-
ner curriculum.
For a variety of rea-
sons, many students are
unable to function well in
a large school and class-
room setting. To address
the needs of these stu-
dents, alternative school
Asheville City Schools
System, the Accelerated
Learning Center (ALC)
124 " Fall 1996
settings are created. In the -
was created in 1993 as an intervention
middle school for students who, accord-
ing to their scores on certain tests, indi-
cate that they have the ability to
achieve at grade level but for a variety of
reasons are functioning below grade
level. According to its mission state-
ment, the ALC ois committed to provid-
ing a climate that accelerates academic
achievement and fosters maximum per-
sonal growth for the development of
productive citizens in a competitive,
multicultural society.�3
The ALC uses the North Carolina
Standard Course of Study as the basis for
its outer curriculum. In continuing to
add print and non-print materials to the
library to support the outer and inner
curriculum needs of the community of
this intervention middle school, it is
important to establish a good working
relationship with the principal and the
teachers. Knowing the students is also
important in order to know their needs,
in terms of both the curriculum and lei-
sure reading. Of equal importance is to
know the current library collection so
that it can be utilized effectively within
the school setting and developed appro-
priately.
In a small school, funds often are
not adequate to develop the size library
that is needed. This fact is surely true at
the ALC. To increase the selection of
books available to the students, the li-
brarian suggested making arrangements
for the bookmobile to stop monthly at
the ALC. The principal, the teachers, and
the booknobile librarian supported this
North Carolina Libraries
idea enthusiastically. The librarian
worked with the teachers and the public
library system to make arrangements for
the students to have the opportunity to
obtain their own library cards. As the li-
brarian explained the new program to
the students, she informed them that
they could use their library card at any of
the nine libraries in the city-county li-
brary system as well as on the bookmo-
bile when it comes to their communi-
ties, especially in the summer. The librar-
ian emphasized that this card allows
them to have access to all the materials
in the library system. This card enables
them to be a life-long learner if they use
it to check out and read the materials in
the library. Approximately seventy per-
cent of the student body applied for and
received a library card. During the
awards portion of the graduation cer-
emony, these students were recognized
and received a bookmark with a message
from the librarian to
encourage their con-
tinued use of the
booknobile during the
summer months.
Students in an in-
tervention program
are often behind in
their reading. A sec-
ond approach the li-
brarian took this past
year to help get the
students more inter-
ested in reading was to
invite Dori Sanders, an
African American au-
thor from York, South
Carolina, to visit and
speak to the students.
The Pride Committee
of the Asheville City
Schools provided an honorarium for her.
In preparation for her visit, some of the
students read her novels Clover and In
Her Place. To insure that all of the stu-
dents were familiar with her writings,
the sixth and seventh grade language
arts teacher read the book Clover to them
in class. The librarian read selections
from In Her Place to the various eighth
grade classes. The students also prepared
questions to ask Sanders when she came.
She spoke twice, once to the eighth grad-
ers and then to the sixth and seventh
graders. The students were most atten-
tive and asked a variety of pertinent
questions. Three of the students were
interviewed by the local TV newswoman
for the news segment entitled oNever
Stop Learning.� This approach is similar
to the approach discussed by Dolores
Maminski in her article oUp Close and
North Carolina Libraries
Personal.�4 Sanders spoke of how her
father, a school principal, had always
kept a journal, how much it meant to
her and her family after their homeplace
burned, and how she, too, kept a jour-
nal. Several classes began keeping jour-
nals after SandersTs visit.
A third approach, and perhaps the
old stand-by, in helping the students to
improve their reading is to help them
select an appropriate book when they
come to the library either individually
or as a class. The motto of school librar-
ians is oThe right book in the hands of
the right student at the right time.� And
it works!
A fourth approach the librarian uses
to encourage interest in reading involves
having the students participate in a sur-
vey of the periodicals the library media
center receives. Since periodicals con-
sume a large portion of the library bud-
get, the librarian thought it important to
provide the students with the
opportunity to help evaluate
the collection. They responded
well to the survey. The faculty
evaluated the professional
journals. Based on the survey
responses, the library commit-
tee cancelled five subscrip-
tions. The funds saved here
will be used in other areas of
the library acquisition budget.
During the 1994-95
school year, with the support
of the principal and several
teachers, the librarian began
researching The Accelerated
Reader program. The Acceler-
ated Reader is based upon the
concept of rewarding students
for reading. Books are given
points according to their read-
ing grade level. By reading books and
answering correctly the computerized
questions pertaining to the book, stu-
dents earn points. Prizes also have a
point value. When students have accu-
mulated a certain number of points,
they can ocash in� their points and
choose their prizes. Likewise, a student
may decide initially which prize he or
she would like to have and read books to
earn the number of points needed for
that particular prize. Thus, students of-
ten choose books of a higher reading
level in order to earn points faster. Prizes
can be obtained from various businesses,
partners in education, teachers, and
other donors. Since the initial start up
cost for The Accelerated Reader is more
than school library media center budgets
can absorb, finding outside funding for
this program is essential. To secure fund-
ing for the program, the librarian chose
the collaborative approach by applying
for a grant from the
Asheville City Schools
Foundation, Inc. for the
software, a matching
grant from the schoolTs
business partner for pur-
chasing books, and also
allocate a portion of the
library/media center bud-
get for additional books
included in The Acceler-
ated Reader program.
This year for the first
time in the three-year his-
tory of the ALC, the li-
brary is holding a book
fair. The art students
made posters for each of
the classroom doors as
Fall 1996 " 125
well as individual bookmarks. The librar-
ian went to each classroom to inform
the students of the book fair. Students
recorded the book fair dates in their as-
signment books and received two flyers,
or, if they did not have their assignment
books but wrote the dates in their com-
position books, they received one flyer.
In this case, bringing their assignment
books to class addresses studentsT inner
and outer curriculum. In discussing the
book fair, the librarian suggested that
they might like to begin their own per-
sonal library with a paperback dictio-
nary, thesaurus, world almanac, and
Guinness Book of World Records. The stu-
dents added other titles and asked if par-
ticular books were available. The librar-
ian then explained that arrangements
had been made with the company to try
to get books of interest if they were not
already available. The librarian re-
minded the students that they could
give themselves as well as family mem-
bers and friends the gift of books. Co-
chairs for each class volunteered to re-
turn the flyers with the studentsT re-
quests on them to the librarian who
would pass them along to the company
representative. During the book sale, the
class co-chairs also helped when their
class came to the library to purchase
their books and gifts.
As important as books are, the
printed word is no longer the only
source of information and reading in a
library. Computers have changed greatly
the way information is stored and re-
trieved, as well as the way we communi-
cate with others. The CD-ROM can store
a vast amount of material on a small disc
that is accessed through a computer.
When the classes come to the library to
learn to use this electronic finding aid,
the librarian uses the following method
to teach them how to search their topic
using ComptonTs Encyclopedia on CD-
ROM. The students know the topic they
need to look up. They count off so they
know their order in using the CD-ROM.
The librarian teaches the first student to
look up his or her topic on the CD-ROM.
After that student completes his search
and prints the needed information, the
student moves to the adjacent chair and
becomes the oteacher.� The next student
comes to the student chair and follows
the instructions of the oteacher.� If the
students run into a problem, the librarian
is there to help. The rotation continues
until all the students finish researching
their topics. Because the students are
actively involved in the teaching/learn-
ing process, they are far more attentive
and remain oon task� a greater portion
126 " Fall 1996
of the time.
Communicating with others via e-
mail has also added a new dimension to
the curriculum. With e-mail, students
can communicate with other students
nearby, in another state, or on another
continent. The topics of communication
vary from a single topic to an interdisci-
plinary approach. Because of the intrica-
cies of e-mail, students save their corre-
spondence to their individual disks, as
well as print a copy that is placed in their
portfolios. The teacher or librarian trans-
fers the individual out-going communi-
cations to a common disk to allow them
to be transmitted via e-mail. When the
responses are received, they are printed
so that students have their own copies to
work with and keep in their portfolios.
Adding this dimension to the studentsT
educational experience helps them to re-
alize the importance of learning to use
the computer and how its use broadens
their horizons. Communicating in this
way encourages the students to take
more pride in their writing.
Since the holiday season is such a
special time, the librarian secured a do-
nated tree for the library. The librarian
and art teacher decided to use the inter-
national theme for the tree. The art stu-
dents and the math classes made vari-
ous international decorations for the
tree. This year the theme is an ecologi-
cal tree in keeping with the ecology club
that was recently established at the
school. All the students are invited to
bring something related to nature "a
feather, pine cones, nuts, ribbons, a
decoration they create, or a holiday pic-
ture they cut out that brings in the recy-
cling theme. This year the students will
enjoy hot apple cider when their classes
come in to add their decorations to the
tree. Again, the outer and inner curricu-
lum are addressed.
These methods encourage some of
the students to read more and expand
their horizons. However, since many of
the students need additional help and
the encouragement of a caring person
just for them, the librarian contacted
the North Carolina Center for Creative
Retirement at the University of North
Carolina at Asheville. The chair of the
group volunteering to help the public
schools contacted the education depart-
ment and helped to arrange for twelve
education students to tutor some of the
ALC students. Members from area
churches in the community are also
volunteering.
These methods of incorporating the
library media center into the ALCTs outer
curriculum and the studentsT inner cur-
riculum involve collaborative planning
by the administration, the faculty, and
the librarian. This planning is an on-go-
ing process and takes place both for-
mally and informally. As Jane Bandy
Smith states, a middle school librarian
oshould be able to identify the connec-
tors between student needs, the school
program features designed to address
those needs, and the library media ser-
vices that respond to those needs.�5 As
stated in Information Power,
library media specialists provide
the necessary human link between
a well-developed library media
program and the users served by
the program. As such, they trans-
late the goals presented in the mis-
sion statement into vibrant, in-
spiring learning experiences. Li-
brary media specialists bring to the
school community expert knowl-
edge about the world of informa-
tion and ideas in all their forms.®
The librarian understands the school set-
ting and creates a library setting that
supports and enhances the larger school
environment. By being an integral part
of the instructional team of the school,
the librarian contributes in significant
ways to both the outer, more formal,
curriculum and the inner curriculum
that each person in the school setting
experiences throughout the school year.
By doing so, we hope each student can
continue to develop to his or her fullest
potential and truly become a lifelong
reader and learner.
References
1 Seymour B. Sarason, The Creation of Set-
tings and the Future Societies (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1989), 71.
2 Dale L. Brubaker, Creative Curriculum
Leadership (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Press, Inc., 1994), 1.
3 Asheville City Schools, Accelerated
Learning Center Program Booklet Grades 6, 7,
8, 1995-1996 (Asheville, NC: Author, 1995-
1996), 1.
4 Delores Maminski, oUp Close and Per-
sonal: Middle School Students Read and
Meet Young Adult Authors,� Wilson Library
Bulletin 68:11 (September, 1993): 35-39.
5 Jane Bandy Smith, Library Media Center
Programs for Middle Schools: A Curriculum-
based Approach (Chicago: American Library
Association, 1989), 60.
6 American Association of School Librar-
ians and Association for Educational Com-
munications and Technology, Information
Power: Guidelines For School Library Media
Programs (Chicago and Washington, DC:
ALA/AECT, 1988), 24.
North Carolina Libraries
The Community of the Book:
A Bibliography
by Rosemary H. Arneson
Our original idea in compiling a bibliography for this issue of North Carolina Libraries devoted to
the Community of the Book was to present a selection of books and readings that celebrate the joys of
reading. As we began the work of pulling these works together into one list, we soon realized that there
were far more books on the subject than we could ever cover. Apparently, one common trait among the
Community of the Book is that we love to talk about what we read!
We present here an eclectic assortment of readings about readings, from the historical to the
futuristic, from the celebratory to the eulogistic. The common thread is that, for each author, books
matter. We offer them to you as our way of continuing the Community of the Book.
North Carolina Libraries
Altick, Richard D. The English Common Reader: A Social History of the Mass Reading Public
1800-1900. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957.
oThe history of the mass reading audience,� says Altick, ois , in fact, the history of
English democracy seen from a new angle.� With that sweeping claim, Altick takes on
the task of tracing how the practice of reading developed in Great Britain in the
nineteenth century. During that century, books and periodicals changed from publica-
tions for the elite to publications for the masses. That change took place against a
backdrop of sweeping social and political upheaval. Altick examines those social and
political trends and the impact they had on the business of books as well as on the
practice of reading.
Birkerts, Sven. The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age.
Boston: Faber and Faber, 1994.
Birkerts loves books passionately. In an early chapter, called oThe Paper Chase,� he
describes how this passion developed first into an ambition to write, then into book
collecting as both hobby and profession, and finally into life as an essayist and critic. In
the first part of the book, Birkerts sets out to think, deeply and critically, about the act of
reading and the relationship that arises between reader and writer. In the second
section, he looks at books and reading in the electronic age. And he is not optimistic
about the future of the things he loves so well. Electronic communication, he contends,
erodes our language by odumbing down� our discourse. It flattens our historical perspec-
tive by shrouding the chronology of history and distorting our memories. Finally,
Birkerts says, electronic communication turns us from private beings into collective
ones. Birkerts concludes with three meditations in which he ties the first two parts of
the book together and attempts to look ahead to the future of books and reading.
Canfora, Luciano. The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World. Translated by Martin
Ryle. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.
In Alexandria, the ruler Ptolemy II and his successors sought to build a library that
housed a copy of all the books in the known world. Each book was to be translated into
Greek so that these conquerors could come to some understanding of the peoples and
cultures they had conquered and now hoped to rule. According to Canfora, this library
was the nucleus of the extended community of the empire. Canfora reminds us that
libraries, as the repositories of our culture, help people of vastly different cultures to
understand each other. Libraries are precious things that, if destroyed, cannot ever be
truly replaced.
Clutton-Brock, Arthur. Essays on Literature and Life. Essay Index Reprint Series.
Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1927, reprinted 1968.
Evelyn Clutton-Brock, widow of the author of these essays, brought together sixteen of
her husbandTs contributions to the Times Literary Supplement and the London Mercury.
Fall 1996 " 127
ee ae eae ge Seer ae ae SS a ee ee ee eee re
These essays are works of literary criticism from the 1920s. The essay, oThe Pleasure of
Reading Biographies� (pp. 137-154) speaks of the affection that arises between subject
and reader through the good work of an honest biographer. Clutton-Brock is writing
specifically about Modeste TchaikovskyTs biography of his brother. Clutton-Brock
describes an intimate connection, facilitated by the biographer, and broadens it to
include one with the society and culture of the subject of the biography. He raises the
possibility that we readers seek this connection because we cannot achieve the same
kind of intimacy with the people around us and must, therefore, search for substitutes
through books, but goes on to assert that in literature we seek, and sometimes find, the
beauty that eludes us in life.
Hart, James D. The Popular Book: A History of AmericaTs Literary Taste.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961.
There is, Hart says, some oaccounting for taste� (p. 283). In this book, he seeks to
understand how AmericaTs preferences in popular reading were influenced by contempo-
rary pressures. What societal need did books meet at the time they became popular?
How did the authors of these popular works express the sentiments of the American
people? These are the questions Hart seeks to answer, and in doing so, he provides a
close examination of American social history.
Laskin, David. A Common Life: Four Generations of American Literary Friendship and Influence.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Laskin examines four pairs of authors: Hawthorne and Melville, James and Wharton,
Porter and Welty, and Bishop and Lowell. Their friendships shaped the individual works
of each author, and in so doing, shaped American literature. Laskin goes beyond simply
chronicling the development of each literary friendship. He seeks to discover the bond
between the authors, including the bond of nationality. He looks at the works of each
author to uncover the ostory patterns,� a phrase he takes from Welty, that mirror the
minds and hearts of the writers.
Mills, Gordon. HamletTs Castle: The Study of Literature as a Social Experience.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976.
Mills drew the title of this book from Werner HeisenbergTs Physics and Beyond, in which
Heisenberg describes a visit to Kronberg Castle with Niels Bohr. According to
Heisenberg, Bohr commented as they walked around the castle, oIsnTt it strange how this
castle changes as soon as one imagines that Hamlet lived here?� Mills develops that idea
as he examines how an individualTs experience with the illusion created by literature can
influence and change anotherTs experience with the same illusion.
Morrow, Lance. oThe Best Refuge for Insomniacs,� Time 137 (April 29, 1991): 82.
What book do you pick up at three in the morning? What are the orafts [you] cling to in
bad weather?� In this brief essay, Morrow examines the books we turn to when we need
to grab hold of sanity, during the dark hours of sleepless nights when the troubles of our
lives loom largest. MorrowTs claim is that there are particular books we turn to for help,
books that speak to us in some way that remind us that we are not alone. For Morrow,
these are the works of Samuel Johnson, the Book of Job, and Wind in the Willows, among
others. At three in the morning, we reach for books that will reassure us that we are still
connected with others, that we are not alone, that we are a part of the Community of
the Book.
Moss, Elaine. Part of the Pattern: A Personal Journey through the World of ChildrenTs Books,
1960-1985. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1986.
As a freelance writer, a contributor to Signal and other journals, and as a commentator
for the BBC, Moss devoted her adult life to reading and writing about childrenTs litera-
ture. This volume collects together a selection of her reviews, essays, interviews, and
broadcasts spanning twenty-five years. Read together, they constitute a celebration of
childrenTs literature and of reading. Her essay oA Sense of Community: Zen and the Art
of Librarianship� describes the relationship that is built between the librarian and the
reader as children begin to explore books. Moss cautions against the rush of technology
if it threatens that human relationship.
Mott, Frank Luther. Golden Multitudes: The Story of Best Sellers in the United States.
New York: R. R. Bowker, 1947.
What do The Day of Doom by Michael Wigglesworth (1662), Silas Marner by George Eliot
128 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
(1861), and The Pocket Book of Boners (1941) have in common? All were, according to
Mott, best sellers in their time. By examining which books enjoyed total sales equal to
one percent of the population at any point in American history, Mott traces the develop-
ment of American popular culture. Each best-selling book provides for Mott a window
through which we can view American social history.
Peterson, Carla L. The Determined Reader: Gender and Culture in the Novel from Napoleon to
Victoria. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1986.
Peterson looks at nine literary characters taken from nineteenth century French and
English novels. Reading is an important activity for each of these characters, and she
seeks to discover how each protagonistTs reading shapes his or her life. Peterson carries
her study further to examine how each authorTs depiction of a reader-protagonist reflects
the novelistTs attitude toward books. She combines literary scholarship with an histori-
cal perspective to examine the role books played in the lives of nineteenth century
British and French culture. |
Rubin, Joan Shelley. The Making of Middlebrow Culture.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. |
During the first half of the twentieth century, America experienced a tremendous |
upsurge of interest in reading and in books. Book clubs flourished across the nation; the |
Book of the Month Club, founded in 1926, sought to bring books to a wider readership; ,
the emerging medium of radio gave critics such as Alexander Woollcott and William ,
Lyon Phelps a new venue for their work. To some, this popularization of books and ,
reading among the middle class was benign. To others, including Virginia Woolf, it was
a ocorruption of taste by commercial interests� (p. xiii). Rubin examines the phenom-
enon of the rise of American middlebrow culture and the arguments that surrounded it.
She focuses on five aspects: the popularity of ooutline� books such as Will DurantTs The
Story of Philosophy, the impact of literary programming on the radio, the founding of the
Book of the Month Club, the emergence of ogreat books� programs around the country,
and the introduction of the New York Herald TribuneTs book review section. She com-
bines excellent scholarship with an examination of the lives of the people behind this
movement to make an extraordinarily readable book.
Smith, Hal H. On the Gathering of a Library. Privately printed, 1943.
Smith wrote this book for the person who wants to develop a personal collection of
books that is ogathered� according to some plan, but with room left in that plan for
some variance. He is not writing for the person who looks on books as decorative
objects to fill a room, but for the person who loves books with a consuming passion.
While Smith mentions personal favorites, and recommends certain books to his readers,
he encourages the reader to pursue personal interests. He concludes by pointing out
that the book collection gathered throughout a lifetime will, after oneTs death, be
dispersed, but that, in time, the books will find their way into other collections and thus
live on.
Walpole, Hugh. Reading: An Essay. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1927.
Sir Hugh Walpole begins this small volume by telling the story of his reading Alice in
Wonderland as a child. Alice, he says, is stupider than he would have been if he had
found himself in her situation, and he confesses to relishing the predicaments into
which Carroll puts her. Walpole cites Alice as the book that showed him oanother world
to play in� (p. 8). He wrote this book at a time when many others were listing"or
better, prescribing"Great Books that a person should read. Walpole takes a different
tack: Reading, he says, is fun. In books, a reader can find the same delight he felt when
he imagined the Queen taking off AliceTs head.
West, James L.W., III. American Authors and the Literary Marketplace Since 1900.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.
Authorship in the twentieth century is, as perhaps never before, a commercial proposi-
tion. In this volume, West explores the relationship between the commerce of publish-
ing and the art of writing. He focuses primarily on novelists, short story writers, and
poets, specifically what he calls the opublic� author. West defines the public author as a
serious writer whose work appeals to a large audience and who is thus able to earn a
living by writing. These authors became opublic� not solely by the merit of their works
but through the efforts of the publishing industry.
North Carolina Libraries Fall 1996 " 129
POINT
The Network of the Book
by C. Thomas Law
... So now I make this request of you, a fair one, as it seems to me, that you disregard
the manner of my speech " for perhaps it might be worse and perhaps better " and
observe and pay attention merely to this, whether what I say is just or not ...
ake Forest University has recently
given me permission to attempt a
great experiment "publication of a
dissertation directly on the Web.
There are no intervening paper copies
necessary to complete my Ph.D. in Physics. The
faculty at first said that they thought the idea was
interesting, but that the librarians would not approve
of it. To the amazement of all concerned, my greatest
supporter in this potentially quixotic quest was my
local librarian, Rhoda Channing. At least from the
authorTs and the librarianTs standpoint, our institution
has prepared itself for the evolution of the paradigm of
the book.
Writing for the Web, as compared to writing for
print, is like sculpture as compared to canvas. A sculpture
in low relief is not dissimilar to a textured oil on canvas.
. However, if one uses the media to their fullest, there are
additional possibilities available in three dimensions. As a
culture, we have grown up with, and are completely
comfortable with flat, linear stories that fit in our laps;
but there are times when the new, enhanced feature set
of the Web can be put to good use " namely, in my
dissertation!
I plan to incorporate the following new elements in
my writing:
1. A nonlinear storyline, which the reader can modify
depending on his or her expertise in a given subsec-
tion. This option could allow high school students as
well as Ph.D.Ts to read the same document close to
their respective knowledge levels. (Imagine a oSim-
plify/DeSimplify� button on each page.)
2. Moving images, which can relate the experiments at
a glance in ways that would otherwise take chapters
of additional linear explanation.
3. Sounds . Any writer who has ever needed to convey a
sound has been forced to use insufficient analogy.
Now one can simply insert the real thing.
4. oLive� programs, which can be run by the reader.
Scientific theses routinely include long appendices of
170 " Fall 1996
" Plato, Apology
program listings which are next to useless, even
though the program itself might be widely needed.
5. Update pages, which will be links to locations
outside of the formal dissertation to pages which the
author can change at will. Suddenly the dissertation
is more than just a snapshot of oneTs prior knowl-
edge. It can evolve into a complete record of a
project (maybe even continuing all the way up to
tenure).
After my advisors approve of the content, the
libraryTs role is to make this new document available to
the world at large. Circulation concerns will evaporate,
since lost volumes or insufficient copies cannot arise
(except when the Web server goes down). Cataloging
will eventually be automated. (Wake Forest envisions
programs that could extract keywords directly from the
electronic document.) A variety of links to the
dissertationTs Uniform Resource Locator (URL) "maybe
directly from the on-line library catalog"will make it
easy to find. Additional publicization of the item will
likewise be straightforward. In addition to a number of
general purpose Web index sites, Dissertation Abstracts
International will accept abstracts which refer to a URL,
so that this traditional database can still be used. It is
exciting to think that people outside of the degree-
granting institution might actually get to see and use my
dissertation.
Consider the effort that has been expended over the
years to get margins and type set properly; the market-
ing, shipping, distribution, cataloging, and shelving
needed to make books accessible. With such an army of
people involved, it is easy to lose track of the fact that
books exist to give up their contents to an interested
reader. The Web now simplifies publication and gives up
options which allow a focus on that content instead of
on format. DonTt worry, itTll still be a book.
For more detail on the Web-based dissertation of C. Thomas
Law, see his oWeb Dissertation Frequently Answer Ques-
tions� page at http://www.wfu.edu/ lawct/why.html
North Carolina Libraries
COUNTER POINT
The Network and the Book
by Kevin Cherry
am not now, nor have I ever been, a card-
carrying member of the Flat Earth Society. And,
although computers have inspired me on several
occasions to wield a hammer in a threatening
manner, I donTt really consider myself a Luddite.
ITm simply not a fad follower nor am I into trends, but
the World Wide Web is definitely more than a fad and a
trend. ItTs the way of the future, or at least thatTs what
everything I read tells me, and I suppose thereTs truth to
it. After all, how many people knew where the slash key
was on the keyboard last year this time, and how many
people had ever used it? What for? Still, while the Web
has great promise, I donTt think libraries should start
surplusing their shelving any time soon.
The InternetTs greatest strength is also its greatest
weakness: mutability. Its ability to update and distribute
information to the world quickly and at a relatively low
cost is definitely a benefit that paper-based information
canTt provide, and the electronic worldTs amplification of
the interaction between creator and user is an advantage
that any form of communication should envy. Some-
times, however, information must remain static; it must
become a record. For this to occur, there must be an
institutional commitment to archiving some types of
information on the Internet. And problems dealing with
the identification of the original creation (as opposed to
any of the number of versions that might be downloaded
only to reappear at a server on the other side of the
world) must be confronted, as well as proper citations to
the various forms of interaction the record might gener-
ate. In other words, there must be a clear definition made
between the record itself and the interaction it sparks.
Particularly troublesome for those of us who main-
tain information because of its historical value is the fact
that the Internet lacks a mechanism by which informa-
tion is given an historic perspective. When the WebTs
information grows outdated, it is simply replaced. For
example, a library might publish its services on a Web
page and, as these services change, so does the page
advertising them. This works well for someone who
wants to know when a public libraryTs summer reading
program begins, but woe be unto the researcher twenty
years hence who might be writing the history of that
libraryTs childrenTs services. Sometimes information is
valuable because it is outdated, the dust factor, fine wine
and aging, attic riches, and all that. We history types
hope that somebody, somewhere, is archiving those
North Carolina Libraries
printed sources: the posters, minutes, newsletters, etc. We
honor and esteem the pack rat. There are no pack rats on
the Internet. David Letterman reads his otop ten� at
midnight and, a few hours later, office workers across
America are downloading those numbered quips during
their coffee break. A page goes up. A page goes down.
We all shout, oaccess over ownership,� and I agree "
most of the time; but there are several good sides to
ownership that shouldnTt be overlooked. To specify just
two: 1) When thereTs more than one copy floating
around, the likelihood that the information will survive is
greatly increased. 2) Different individuals use information
in different ways. When everyone just views the same
URL, whereTs the evidence for a future historian of who
knew what, when, and what supports the historianTs
guesstimates about why? For example, the fact that a mill
owner's papers contain labor union handouts, probably
means quite a different thing from the fact that these
same materials turn up amongst the old love letters of a
one-time bobbin doffer.
The standard gripes and complaints about electronic
information arenTt too convincing. ITm not worried about
the flood of material that needs to be sorted through, the
mounds of contradictory, inconsistent, and just plain
wrong information that is floating about in the tangle of
wires and circuits. The disorder of it all doesnTt bother
me. ITm not even concerned that " no matter the
amount of drizzle on a Saturday afternoon, or warmth of
familiar quilt " CPUs still lack the all-important snuggle
factor. Librarians evaluate information. If itTs hooey on
paper, we say so; weTll do the same when more of it is
digitized. And as for the tangle, haze, and disorganization
of it all, itTs our job to arrange information and provide
access to it, no matter its format. And we are good at it. As
for snuggle-ability, someday humans may evolve to find
the blue flicker of a computer screen to be a welcome
companion on a slow, rainy day. But librarians should
champion the archiving of information. They should
fight those trends that make nearly all the evidence of our
activity ephemeral. I suppose they should lobby for larger
and larger and larger hard drives.
Paper, anyone? Chisel and stone?
Kevin Cherry is the Local History Librarian at Rowan County
Public Library. He invites you to visit his collectionTs web page
at http://www.lib.co.rowan.nc.us
Fall 1996 " 131
ired to the :
orld
by Ralph Lee Scott
" Whackers "
Now that fall is in full swing, do you know what your Internet connection is doing?
Are you spending too much time staring at an hourglass, while your Internet request
has gone off to join the newfound life on Mars? If this sounds like you, then you
might consider the following new Internet tools.
Several software products have been introduced recently that will reduce your
need actually to be online over the Internet to view your favorite sites. These
software programs go under the general name of whackers. Whackers automatically
download single web pages, groups of pages, or entire web sites, storing them for
later viewing on your personal computer. The process of automatic download is
called, as you might expect, whacking. When you whack a site, you get all the text
(HTML) and images that are specific to that page. The beauty of this capability is that
you can regularly whack your favorite pages while you are away from your computer,
and then return and view the images later without having to wait for the page to be
transmitted back to you over the Internet. This is because the Whacker has stored
the images in your computer already, and you simply view the files as local pages
stored on your hard drive.
The original and best known of these whackers is WebWhacker. WebWhacker is
available online from the ForeFront Group at: http://www.ffg.com/whacker.html;
so if you want to try out this technology, just point your favorite browser (Internet
Explorer, Mosaic or Netscape) to ForeFrontTs home page and download WebWhacker
over the Internet. A FREE (yes, free) demo is available for Windows 3. 1, Windows 95
and Macintosh users. WebWhacker is being billed as oan indispensable World Wide
Web tool ... (that) makes it easier for teachers to use Internet resources in the
classroom.�
In case it has not dawned on you, you can download a number of web pages to
your local workstation, and let any number of students do assignments on the web
using the download text and graphics files. This is one of the best tools schools can
use to reduce Internet online telecommunications charges. As mentioned earlier, you
can also use WebWhacker to do your downloading work for you, while you go on to
more important assignments (lunch for example, or listening to the latest memo
over the school loudspeaker).
Like any piece of software, WebWhacker must be configured to your special
situation. First of all, you have to tell the whacker what sites you want to whack. You
need to also tell WebWhacker what network browser you are using, and your e-mail
address. Getting past a firewall will require an ohttp proxy� (a fake web address that
your system administrator uses to provide web access) and the port of the proxy.
To use WebWhacker after it is configured, you just double click on the whack
symbol on the toolbar (a broad sword) and the whacking begins. For example, the
author whacked the American Library Association web site prior to the New York
1996 convention and obtained a lot of up-to-date information about events at the
convention. You can instruct WebWhacker as to the level of whacking you want to
do at each site. You can just whack the anchor page of ALA, for example, or you can
go to a specific organization (like the American Library Trustee Association home
page) and whack away there. There is also a oWhack All Levels� choice on the pull
down menu.
Another software package that does something similar to WebWhacker is
ZooWorks. ZooWorks, which describes itself oas taming the World Wide Web,� is
available at: http://zoosoft.com. A olite� version is available to test free of charge.
ZooWorks automatically records information such as the correct URL, page header,
and other needed information, and organizes and indexes the documents automati-
cally. You then can search the ZooWorks database and automatically reconnect for
updates. ZooWorks requires Windows 95 or WindowsNT and Internet Explorer or
Netscape browser software.
132 " Fall 1996
Asout THE AUTHORS ...
Rosemary H. Arneson
Education: A.B.T., University of Georgia,
M.Ln., Emory University
Position: Director, Everet Library,
Queens College, Charlotte
Frannie Ashburn
Education: B.A., Wake Forest University;
_M.L.S., University of South Carolina
Position: Director, North Carolina Center
for the Books ;
Rhoda K. Channing
Education: B.A., Brooklyn College;
M.S.(L.S.), Columbia University;
M.B.A., Boston College
Position: Director, Z. Smith Reynolds Library,
Wake Forest University
Kevin Cherry
Education: B.S., M.A., M.S.L.S., University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Position: Local History Librarian,
Rowan County Public Library
C. Thomas Law
Education: Doctoral Candidate, Physics,
Wake Forest University
Susan E. Mayes
Education: B.A., University of San Diego;
M.S.(L.S.), University of Southern California
Position: Catalog Librarian,
Belmont Abbey College
Nancy B. McNitt
Education: B.A. Hope College;
M.L.S., N.C. Central University
Position: Library Media Coordinator,
Morrisville Year-Round Elementary School,
Morrisville, NC :
Joan Sanders
Education: B.A., Millsaps College;
M.R.E., Duke University
Position: Branch Librarian,
Elkin Public Library, Northwestern
Regional Library
David Lee Stegall
Education: Doctoral Candidate, Philosophy,
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
Kay L. Stockdale
Education: B.A., Atlantic Christian College;
M.L.S., University of Alabama- Tuscaloosa;
Doctoral student, Educational Leadership,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Position: Media Specialist Accelerated
Learning Center, Asheville
Patrick M. Valentine
Education: M.L., University of South Carolina;
Ph.D., Tulane University
Position: Director, Wilson Co. Public Library
iso As ee ee
North Carolina Libraries
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS ...
To: Dorothy Hodder
editor, North Carolina Books
I note your comment in the [spring
edition of North Carolina Libraries]
that othe stuff of fiction fills Too
Rich; The Family Secrets of Doris Duke,
by Pony Duke and Jason Thomas.�
Perhaps that is true and it is indeed
a gossipy biography but I regret it
even getting a mention and any
resulting publicity. It is totally
devoid of any attribution of sources
in preface, footnotes, or bibliogra-
phy. The authorsT refusal to be
judged by such common standards
renders the book as pure unsubstan-
tiated gossip in my opinion. I find it
very much in error most of the time
on subjects or themes with which I
am acquainted.
Thank you for your contribution. I
enjoy the book section very much.
William E. King
University Archivist
Duke University
To: Harry Tuchmayer
editor, Point/CounterPoint
I would like to thank you for your Counter Point article [spring issue] on why public
libraries should be school libraries! Before my tenure at Stough Elementary School in
Raleigh started about 5 years ago, I put in almost 15 years in public libraries. I worked
for Wake County Public Library, Cumberland County Public Library, Craven-Pamlico-
Carteret Regional Library, and Alamance County Library. I guess at heart I still see
myself as a public librarian. But finding myself in a small emementary school library
now, I dislike the attitude that students should not expect to find help on school as-
signments in the public library!
Another article in the same issue of North Carolina Libraries expressed some of
my concerns for students. The article by Cindy Levine gave an academic librarianTs
perspective on what they would like college students to know. Her interest focused
mainly on attitude, rather than skills. She closed her article with a reference to an-
other academic librarian who said the focus should be on students not going to col-
lege. oThe use of libraries is not about getting through college, it is about getting
through life.�
I started out in my elementary school being very insistent that students become
proficient in library skills. As I have become more comfortable in the school setting,
I have changed my focus to one where I hope students feel comfortable and think
about the library as a place to go for all kinds of information. However, if my students
go to the public library and are not helped because they are working on a school as-
signment, how will they feel comfortable or even think to go to the library as adult?
Thank you for your understanding of some of the difficulties we face in the school.
And thank you for reminding us that olibrarian� is not a bad word we should com-
pletely ditch in favor of media coordinator!
Sincerely, Peggy Hickle
Broadfoot's has TWO Locations Serving Different Needs
Broadfoot's
of Wendell
6624 Robertson Pond Road ~ Wendell, NC 27591
Phone: (800) 444-6963 ~ Fax: (919) 365-6008
SOFTWARE
VISUALS
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Are you on our mailing list?
Tar Heel Treasures
for
natives & newcomers
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North Carolina Libraries
|Broadfoot
|Publishing
Company
1907 Buena Vista Circle ~ Wilmington, NC 28405
Phone: (800) 537-5243 ~ Fax: (910) 686-4379
MULTICULTURAL Spey Ss :
SELECTIONS Recent Publications:
The Colonial & State Records of NC (30 vols.)
North Carolina Regiments (5 vois.)
Roster of Confederate Troops (16 vols.)
Supplement to the Official Records (100 vols.)
Full Color Catalog (free upon request)
Fall 1996 " 17%
____ NORTH CAROLINA
Dorothy Hodder, Compiler
aniel W. Barefoot, attorney, travel writer, and resident of Lincolnton, discov-
ered early in his career that Confederate General Robert Frederick Hoke (also
a native of Lincolnton) was oa genuine American hero ... whose story needed
to be told to and preserved for future generations of Americans.� Hoke, as a
young lieutenant of twenty-three, served in the first contingent of North
Carolina troops who fought at Little Bethel Church near Yorktown, Virginia,
in early June of 1861. He oled Confederate soldiers with uncommon bravery and skill
on virtually every important battlefield of the Eastern theater� and surrendered as a
twenty-eight year old major general near Greensboro, NC, in late April of 1865. He,
however, refused to write or talk much about the war; and historians have found few
letters, diaries, narratives of HokeTs adventures, or personal memoirs on which to base
a military biography "that is until Barefoot, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Univer-
sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate of the UniversityTs School of Law,
extensively researched HokeTs career.
Far more than fifty thousand books and pamphlets have been written on the Civil
War, some so recent that Barefoot did not cite them in his twenty-page bibliography,
notably Mark L. BradleyTs Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville (1996).
The Confederate Army, moreover, produced 425 general officers. Yet, no single
biography of North CarolinaTs omost distinguished� and modest soldier, Robert F.
Hoke, had been written in the years following the sanguine conflict until Barefoot
produced fifteen chapters of a military biography that is prefaced by a
delightful chapter on antebellum Lincolnton and followed by two
chapters that broadly cover HokeTs marriage, the birth and careers of
Daniel W. Barefoot. several of his children, and his efforts to industrialize his native state.
. The bulk of the book outlines in sharp detail General HokeTs
General Robert F. Hoke: military service to the Confederacy from January 1864 to May 1865S.
LeeTs Modest Warrior, _ North Carolina, Hoke offered President Jefferson Davis a plan to rid
the eastern portion of the state of Union control around Plymouth
Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, Publisher, 1996. and New Bern, a plan which was foiled by events in the defense of
452 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-89587-150-S. Richmond and Petersburg, and later by the battlefield ineptitude of
General Braxton Bragg. Somehow, the events and plans for HokeTs
aggressive maneuvers and his limited successes seem out of propor-
tion to a more strategic and realistic view of the Civil War: by January
of 1864, Confederate forces had surrendered at Vicksburg, lost at Gettysburg, and
withdrawn from the siege of Chattanooga. The Mississippi River had been opened to
Union forces and most of the major ports had been blockaded, except for Wilmington
and Mobile.
A most important addition to BarefootTs biography might have been an inclusion
of a railroad map for North Carolina just prior to the Civil War. A reader unfamiliar
with the state may have difficulty locating Lincolnton, Plymouth, New Bern, Trenton,
the Trent River, Kinston, Averasboro, Elevation, Fort Fisher, Wilmington, or
Bentonville. Although Barefoot is a travel writer who has a sense of place, his two
other works (Touring the Backroads of North CarolinaTs Lower Coast, 1995, and Touring
the Backroads of North Carolina Upper Coast, 1995) do not give adequate historic maps
to be used as supplements to this biography. The reader is left with a clear and logical
narrative of each battle and military campaign that competes with the best in histori-
cal writing, although recounted within narrow parameters. BarefootTs work will be a
major contribution to Civil War and North Carolina history collections in academic
and public libraries.
" Stewart Lillard
SET AS eek es University of North Carolina at Charlotte
174 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
Carol Ingalls Johnston.
Of Time and the Artist: work and the critical community, followed by an overview of
Thomas Wol. fe, His N ovels, her subject. In the following four chapters she discusses WolfeTs
and the Critics osemi-autobiographical novels,�" Look Homeward, Angel, Of Time
[Columbia, SC]: Camden House, 1996. 221 pp. $54.95. The short chapter entitled oConclusion: The Pebble in the Pool,�
ISBN: 1-57113-067-5. [Order from Camden House, P.O. summarizes JohnstonTs findings. An extensive list of works
Box 4836, Hampden Station, Baltimore, MD 21211.] consulted and an index add to the value of the book.
t is a rare pleasure to be able to state without hesitation or equivocation that a |
book is superb and unquestionably worth buying and reading. This is such a book.
Though Wolfe scholars and devotees will certainly read this book its audience |
should be much broader. All readers who are serious about literature " those for :
whom writers, their works, and the critical reaction to those works still matter "
should add this volume to their lists of required reading.
Carol Johnston, on the faculty of the Department of English at Clemson Univer- |
sity, is already well-known and respected for her definitive book, Thomas Wolfe: A }
Descriptive Bibliography, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 1987. In Of
Time and the Artist, Johnston demonstrates that she is not only a careful, meticulous
scholar but also an imaginative and gifted writer, able to show the
reader new patterns, themes, and connections among WolfeTs
writing and life, that of other writers, and the views of critics.
Johnston begins with an introduction to WolfeTs life and
Wolfe studies. In thirty concise pages she captures the essence of
and the River, The Web and the Rock, and You CanTt Go Home Again.
JohnstonTs thesis is that oliterature and criticism nourish
each other and each in turn nourishes and is nourished by
society.� Her book focuses on Wolfe as a member of this literary community and on
the dialog between his writing and that community.
At the beginning of chapter three, Johnston addresses a basic question: oWhat is it
that empowers Look Homeward, Angel ?� Her answer is that, for general readers and
critics alike, WolfeTs 1929 novel ochanged their lives, or altered their perception of
reality, or encouraged them to achieve goals that they believed beyond them.� She
illustrates by citing the responses of Hugh Holman, Louis Rubin, and William Styron,
as well as that of younger members of the Thomas Wolfe Society. This personal
response to WolfeTs work helps explain WolfeTs continuing popularity with readers
despite sometimes harsh evaluations by literary critics.
A pivotal episode in WolfeTs literary career was the publication in April 1936 of
Bernard DeVotoTs abrasive review of Wolfe and The Story of Novel, WolfeTs book about
writing Of Time and the River. DeVoto accused Wolfe of being oastonishingly imma-
ture� and totally dependent on his editor, Maxwell Perkins. By the end of 1936,
Johnston says, Wolfe recognized the truth of what the critics were saying, that oin
lionizing PerkinsTs influence on Wolfe, they denied Wolfe the authority of his own
prose. o Within six months, Wolfe had broken his relationship with Perkins and
Scribners, and his literary career otook a whole new direction. o Johnston clearly and
thoroughly traces the story of the huge manuscript that became The Web and the Rock,
stating that oAswell and Harpers (WolfeTs then-editor and publisher) were less than
forthright about the conditions under which the manuscript had been prepared.� She
points out that oin retrospect, it is clear that despite its good intentions, Harpers
bungled the publication of WolfeTs third novel.� This difference between WolfeTs
authorial intent and the intent of his editors has been a major theme in Wolfe studies,
as Johnston shows.
In light of the high number and quality of publications relating to Wolfe that
have appeared in the last fifteen years, Johnston asks, oWhat is left to be said about
Wolfe? The answer is plenty " especially as the best scholar/critics increasingly avail
themselves of the archival material available at Harvard University, the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Pack Memorial Library in Asheville. ... [T]he
study of Thomas Wolfe still has much to tell us about him and his writing, about the
nature of literature, and about the complexities of publishing it. o And that is why this
book is so important: writing, the nature of literature, the complexities of publishing"
the stuff upon which intellectual inquiry is founded"is discussed intelligently,
imaginatively, and excitingly in this volume.
Johnston has written a stunningly successful book. Though the price, unfortu-
nately, may deter some potential purchasers, it is recommended for all academic
libraries and for public and high school libraries with readers who are serious about
literature and want more than the latest best seller.
" Alice R. Cotten
a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
North Carolina Libraries
Fall 1996 " 135
o many the word oorphanage� brings to mind visions of uncaring,
Dickensian, institutionalized abuse and neglect of unfortunate children. This
was indeed the sense behind the uproar over Newt GingrichTs politically
explosive suggestion that orphanages could be a viable alternative to welfare
and the foster care system. Richard McKenzie, the Walter B. Gerken Professor
of Enterprise and Society in the Graduate School of Management at the
University of California at Irvine and the author of numerous books and articles on
economics, has challenged this criticism and has written an
eloquent defense of the idea of orphanages in his book The Home:
A Memoir of Growing Up in an Orphanage.
The Home, as it is simply referred to throughout the book, is
a Presbyterian home for children. We are told only that it is in
kena. rural North Carolina and is near the town of Planeville and about
The Home: forty miles north of a olarge city� called Centralia. (A little
& 4 research, however, revealed that the Home is the Barium Springs
A Mem oir of Gr owing Up Home For Children in Iredell County and that Planeville is most
inanO rp hana ge. aie Statesville and Centralia is probably Charlotte.) Life in the
ome was generally a positive experience for McKenzie and for
New York: Basic Books, 1996. x, 228 pp. $23.00. others with whom he has kept in touch. Rules were strict and
ISBN 0-465-03068-8. punishments could be harsh, but when compared to the alterna-
tive (in McKenzieTs case a drunken, abusive father and a loving
but alcoholic mother who committed suicide), the Home was a
haven where boys and girls could grow up in a stable environ-
ment. Children worked hard but also had free time to explore the
1,500-acre grounds, build close and lasting friendships, acquire a solid secular and
religious education, indulge in childhood pranks and adventures, and generally have
as onormal� a young life as possible under the circumstances. McKenzie has researched
the adult lives of alumni of the Home and of other orphanages and found that among
them the divorce rate is lower and that they tend to be more successful and earn
higher salaries than the average. He boldly and without apologies maintains that his
experiences with orphanage life are preferable to the uncertainty of todayTs foster
home system and that negative ideas about orphanages should be set aside.
While supporting orphanages as institutions, however, McKenzie tells the disturb-
ing story of an ex-Master Sergeant nicknamed oBowtie� who administered punish-
ments by whipping boys with his belt, often to the point of bleeding. These punish-
ments went unchecked for months before the administration got wise and Bowtie was
fired. This leads one to wonder what would happen in an orphanage were such a
situation were ignored or where several persons with oBowtieTs� tendencies might be
employed. Certainly the results could be disastrous and worthy of comparison to the
most nightmarish Dickensian vision. In the case of the Home, however, this was an
isolated occurrence and not in keeping with its generally sensible and constructive
approach to mass child raising.
The Home is not merely a dissertation on the merits of an orphanage upbringing.
It is a moving, humorous, and exciting story of a boy's growing up and coming of age.
In this sense, it deserves the compliment of comparison to Tim McLaurinTs Keeper of
the Moon. Particularly noteworthy are the moving accounts of the oexecution� of a
favorite pet collie at the Home, McKenzieTs motherTs suicide and the disturbing event
that preceded it, and his relationship with his father. The Home is also full of interest-
ing and sometimes powerful sociological and psychological insights. All North
Carolina libraries should acquire a copy for circulation and for their North Carolina
collections. It could be recommended as reading for adults and young adults and
could also be useful in providing background information for high school ocontrover-
sial topic� papers.
" Dan Horne
New Hanover County Public Library
een nnn ene eee eee eee eee rere rere SS SSS SSS
* Due toa computer glitch, Dorothy Hodder needs the addresses and phone numbers of all persons who have
reviewed, or are interested in reviewing books for this section. Please refer to Editorial Staff on page 43 for reply address. "
Thank you.
nnn nn SSS SSS SSS
136 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
North Carolina Libraries
2
Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina is a long-awaited
addition to a growing library of cultural history of the Tar Heel state. The
book is the first of three volumes which describe and illustrate regional
examples of the art and technology of building through a broad expanse of
terrain, traditions, and types of architecture that have survived over a period
of two centuries. Two upcoming guides will feature the
mountains and the Piedmont. The current volume focuses on
1,700 individual buildings located in forty-one counties
Gatharine.W. Richi aadan Chachi. Sonate reaching west from the tidewater and coastal plain inland to
Interstate 95. County and local maps pinpoint locations of
A Guide to the Historic the sites along well-marked public roads. Four hundred
photographs add to the clarity and rationale of the selected
Architecture of Eastern North Carolina. architectural examples. Among the treasures the reader will
Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina discover are colonial churches, antebellum plantations, and
P Pr ee 1996. xvi,458 pp. Cloth, $35.00 nineteenth-century lighthouses. Country churches, small
ISBN 0-8078-2285-X. Paper, $19.95. ISBN 0-8078-4594-9, farms, tobacco barns, factories, coastal fishing villages, and
market towns add to the architectural variety packed into the
guided journeys.
The purpose of the book as stated in the preface, is to be
a field guide and reference for the traveler, resident, student,
and preservationist with an interest in the architectural
resources of North Carolina. Unfortunately, the book is not pocket-size, but it can be
carried easily and stored in a backpack, bicycle basket, and car seat. One advantage of
the book is that the examples presented are easily spotted along well-marked roads
and are close to other sites discussed in the text. Another plus is that the arrangement
leads the reader and traveler through a progression of connected counties so that a
circuit of several areas can be made conveniently. To assist in planning a field trip,
simplified county maps appear at the front of the book with selected town maps
within the text. An excellent introduction unravels the tale of the regionTs founding
and development and includes sections on land and water, people and architecture,
settlement and development, architectural traditions, changing architectural styles,
and transformations from the Civil War to World War II. Good photographs and
plans depict selected works in each section. Finally, the body of the book is given
over to an abundance of county-by-county architectural treasures that, although not
all illustrated, are accompanied by concise descriptions of architecture and history
that enliven each site.
The sheer number of buildings and sites presented is awesome"and this is only
one-third of the state! A useful glossary of terms and a well-selected bibliography
conclude the tome. In sum, this is a book that will become a cherished addition to
the library of anyone interested in the architecture of North Carolina; a book to be
carried afield at any free moment, alone or in a group; a source of great pleasure to
guide us into our architectural heritage.
" Edward F. Turberg
Restoration Consultant, Wilmington, NC
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(904) 737-2649 FAX: (904) 730-8913 1-800-367-3927
Fall 1996 " 137
tis 1898 in Wilmington, and young Troy WorthTs father has told him that itTs othe
best possible time for black people.� Mr. Worth owns his own barbershop, the family
lives in an integrated neighborhood, and the cityTs Republican government has
actively promoted desegregation in the years since the Civil War. Trouble is brewing,
though, in the days before the November elections, and Troy soon finds himself
involved. His best friend, Randy, is suddenly distant and hostile; the boys overhear
RandyTs father taking part in a Ku Klux Klan meeting. Troy runs errands for people trying to
avert the hostilities, spies on a hostile Democratic rally, and helps the mixed-race newspaper
editor whose editorials have inflamed the city. All too soon Wilmington is literally in flames
and TroyTs family, along with many others, are suddenly refugees
packed into a cattle car heading north.
Celia Bland. The Conspiracy of the Secret Nine is a well-intentioned attempt to
_ 25 make a relatively little-known period in history accessible to upper
The C onspiracy of the Secret Nine. elementary and middle oe. The nave is brief oan =
simple enough in its style, so that most fourth to eighth graders
would not have much difficulty with it. It is presented as a mys-
tery/adventure, one of the publisherTs oMysteries in Time� series.
While the author has made some effort at historical research,
acknowledging a particular dependence on H. Leon Prather, Sr.Ts We
Have Taken a City, this novel never evokes the vivid sense of time,
place, and personality which characterizes the best historical
fiction. The language is disappointingly modern, not giving any real sense of difference in time
or place. Troy doesnTt display much individuality, and though Troy and Randy are at first
presented as relatively equal characters, Randy appears rarely after the second chapter and the
author does not really try to explain his motives, losing the opportunity for young readers to
try to understand the values (unattractive as they were) of the segregationists. The book does
include a bibliography and a map of oThe Great Migration: 1890s Black Exodus from Southern
States to New York, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma� as historical resources.
Teachers searching for historical fiction for cross-curriculum literature/social studies tie-ins
know that there is very little of any quality set in the U. S. between the Civil War and the Great
Depression. The publisher, Silver Moon Press, lists its specialty as oliterature-based books with a
focus on fourth and fifth grade curriculum� and The Conspiracy of the Secret Nine may be of
interest when a cursory exposure to the events of 1898 is more important than a literary
experience. Teachers and readers seeking quality historical fiction, though, will do better to
turn to more recent periods in history with Mildred D. TaylorTs The Friendship or Bruce BrooksTs
The Moves Make the Man, both of which also deal with the difficulties of interracial friendship,
but in an infinitely more involving fashion.
Illustrated By Donald L. Williams. New York: Silver
Moon Press, 1995. 90 pp.$12.95. 1-881889-67-X.
" Margaret Miles
New Hanover County Public Library
cCorkle, a native of Lumberton and a former teacher and librarian, is a true oovernight
success.� Her first two novels, The Cheer Leader and July 7th, were published simultaneously
when she was twenty-six. They received glowing reviews and in 1985 both works were added
to the Viking Penguin Contemporary American Fiction series. Carolina
Moon, like her other writing, examines relationships in a small south-
ern town.
McCorkle tells the story of Queen Mary Stutts Purdy (she calls
herself Quee and has lately taken to pronouncing her last name
PurDAY). Quee, who adopts needy humans like some people collect
Jill McCorkle. stray cats, is a sixty-nine year old entrepreneur who has performed
Carolina Moon. abortions, designed ceramic meat centerpieces complete with aroma
for vegetarians, and is currently operating Smoke-Out Signs (oPut your
Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Press, 1996. butt out and bring your butt in�), a combination spa and extended
272 pp. $18.95 ISBN 1-56512-136-8. therapy session for people who want to quit smoking. From her oghost
wall� of old photographs of strangers, Quee spins stories of lives that
are remarkably similar to hers and her neighborsT, but in her versions
the characters survive hard times and flourish because they are strong.
Within QueeTs sphere is Tom, who spends his free time at the beach, walking the bound-
aries of an oceanside lot that since Hurricane Hazel is mostly under water, and thinking about
his father, who committed suicide when Tom was ten. Denny, a motormouthed nonconform-
as St, is trying to start a new life. Her academic husband divorced her after she took off most of
178 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
= = """ " NT NE SPE REN I Nv SE ee Se aa re eee ee eS i
her clothes in a movie theater while watching William Hurt in Body Heat. Mack is forever tied
to his beautiful wife Sarah, who lies in their bed in a possibly permanent coma. Alicia is
trapped in a marriage to a man of movie star looks and monstrous actions.
At first these people seem bizarre, nothing like the neighbors in my home town. And
yet ... while McCorkle may exaggerate to catch our attention, her characters ring true. Quee,
a woman with a colorful reputation, knows most of the secrets of the town, all of which
reflect some shade of love: unrequited love, hidden romantic liaisons, a sense of abandon-
ment and rage at the loss of a loved one, an abused wife, a lonely church-going widow with
lascivious thoughts...
The story is woven together with letters from the dead letter file in the post office
addressed to oThe Wayward One.� (Interestingly, McCorkleTs father was a postal worker). In
the missives, covering a period of twenty-five years, a woman confides her innermost feelings
to her dead lover.
Once one gets comfortable with the somewhat disconcerting use of present tense narra-
tive, the people of Fulton, North Carolina, spring to life. Carolina Moon is a funny and sad,
angry and romantic, whimsical and tough look at love in all its nuances. It will only enhance
the reputation of this major young American writer. All academic and public libraries should
buy it.
" Suzanne Wise
Appalachian State University
n the summer of 1774, Joseph Hancock took out an advertisement in the North Carolina Gazette calling for
the return of his runaway slave. Hancock explained in the ad that his slave, named Buck ocalls himself Tom
Buck.� This brief statement discovered by the authors of Slavery in North Carolina, 1748-1775, could be used
to illustrate the cultural separateness of slaves and owners, the persistence of African customs in the slave
quarters, and a subtle but telling form of slave resistance. oTom Buck� the authors tell as, could be an
anglicized version of oTaiwo, o Yoruban for the first born of twins, oThambo,� an Ngoni or Malawian name,
or any of a host of other names used over the years by slaves and their descendants.
There are precious few sources available to study the formative years of slavery in North Carolina. This
could, perhaps, explain the little that has been written on the
peculiar institution during the colonyTs early days. If the evi-
dence doesnTt exist, there just isnTt much a writer can say. But by
Marvin L. Michael Kay and Lorin Lee Cary. drawing upon the few records that are still present, by making
° ° comparisons to VirginiaTs Chesapeake region and South
Slaver yin North Carol na, 1748-1775. caren Ps and by Sein Pibers and demography,
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, the authors have been able to construct a picture of North
1995. 402 pp. $45.00. ISBN 0-8078-2197-7. Carolina slavery during its initial development.
The picture shows two-thirds of all slaves during this time
period being African born, many of whom would never speak
English. It shows individual acts of resistance " sabotage,
arson, feigned ignorance, truancy, petty pilfering, murder, and running away-
coalescing into an unconscious, almost organized, slavery-wide opposition. It
shows African values and worldviews holding sway in the naming of children, the
creation of families, and the worship of gods. And it shows masters constricting
the already circumscribed world of their African laborers.
Kay and Cary, professors emeriti of the University of Toledo, spent twenty years
scouring county court records, tax lists, old newspapers, wills, etc., for mention of
North Carolina slaves and slavery. They have counted heads, averaged export totals,
es and calculated sex imbalance ratios, seeking in composites the lost individual situa-
im North Carolima tions. They have extrapolated and compared " but still, the lack of source material is
all too evident. The authors call upon two or three contemporary commentators time
and again to give voice to a circumstance their numbers describe. They revisit the
same murder several times to illustrate various points, and they describe a slaveTs
preparation of the poison, otouck,� in support of sundry observations.
ee Faced with such a paucity of information, it must have been difficult not to
inflate the importance of some findings or to overinterpret others. This was perhaps
the case when the authors observed that South Carolina bandits demonstrated class
solidarity by choosing their victims oprimarily from the ranks of the more affluent
Marvin L. Michael Kay backcountry farmers.� Social bandits? Perhaps. But then again, these backsountry
Ana RorinbGlee cary highwaymen maybe just found it more lucrative to steal from othem that had.o
This work is clearly intended for an academic audience.
" Kevin Cherry
Rowan Public Library
North Carolina Libraries Fall 1996 " 139
he Last Chivaree is the chronicle of the Hicks family of Beech Mountain,
that traces its roots back generations to the mountains of western North
Carolina. One of its most famous members is Ray Hicks, the well-known
teller of Jack tales.
The book is based on a series of interviews and conversations with
Hicks, his family, and neighbors, which reveal much about the character of
mountain people and their way of life. The author is able to capture the
speech, beliefs, and folklore of the family.
Ray Hicks and his late cousin, Stanley, who was a master
dulcimer maker, are among the nationTs most prominent ambas-
sadors of traditional Appalachian culture. Both men have been
Robert Isbell. named National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for
The Last Chivaree: the Arts. Ray Hicks was a founder of the annual Storytelling
: i Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, of which he says, oThereTs a
The Hicks Family of Beech Mountain. _ 1ot thatTs not true, but a lot that is.�
Robert IsbellT s book is a snapshot of the mountain tradi-
tions of the Hicks family, which remain virtually untouched
since the eighteenth century. The author is able to weave
together the lives of the people with their stories and customs.
Developing a feeling for the rugged way of life in the mountains
before the modern world encroached, Isbell writes about the
dignity, tenacity, and endurance of early pioneers that survive
into todayTs world. The story of Ray HicksT early years as one of
ten children and his later courtship of his future wife Rosa is
told with clarity and understanding.
Isbell first met Stanley Hicks in 1955 after hearing him
perform near Boone. Thirty years later, he was able to locate him
and began a friendship with him and his family which provides a
basis for this book. His admiration for the Hicks family is evident.
The Last Chivaree is a book to be savored and to remind us
of a quieter and simpler way of life. It is a book of interest to
any collection of folklore or Appalachian materials. Sources are
appended.
Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina
Press, 1996. 174 pp.$19.95. ISBN 0-8078-2266-3.
" Joan Sherif
Northwestern Regional Library
nn Fearrington of Raleigh combines family traditions and imagination to create
Christmas Lights.
Christmas Lights is the story of one familyTs annual Christmas night trek to oooh
and ahh� at all of their cityTs holiday decorations.
The reader climbs into the old station wagon along with the
family and travels over country roads, down city streets, passing
sights each one more dazzling than the previous. Tall pine trees
Ann Fearrington. are transformed into peppermint sticks, an office building is
, , decorated like a giant gift box, and toy soldiers and snowmen
Christmas Ligh ts. bedeck a fast food restaurant. One house is so alive with lights the
night quiet is shattered by its oblink, dazzle and shine!�
Just when we think we have seen it all, the family turns for
home. They know they have saved the best light show for last "
their very own Christmas lights on their very own tree!
The dark pages of Christmas Lights seem to glow with FearringtonTs illustrations of multicolored
lights. The bold yellow text adds illumination to every page.
Though the story could be set in Anytown, USA, Fearrington has chosen to include many North
Carolina landmarks throughout. The rolling hills of Stokes and Surry Counties are represented, as are the
lighted trees of Cameron Village Shopping Center, Winston-SalemTs downtown lamp posts and
Moravian stars, Granville CountyTs 1899 Puckett Farm House, and RaleighTs WRAL TV tower.
The simple text, glowing illustrations and perennial theme of book will make it a welcome addition
to every public library and elementary school collection, as well as their holiday storytime programs.
" Beth Hutchison
Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996.
32 pp. $15.95. ISBN 0-395-71036-7.
140 " Fall 1996 North Carolina Libraries
OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST
Tell Me a Tale: A Novel of the Old South is the story of young Moses, a former slave, who returns
to the neighborhood of the eastern North Carolina plantation where he once lived. He seeks out
four old-timers, and, over a bottle, tells them a story of his former life that draws to a bitter and
dramatic conclusion. This is actor James McEachinT s first novel; his acting credits include Play
Misty for Me, True Grit, and a television series. (1996; Presidio Press, PO Box 1764, Novato, CA,
94948-1764; iv, 252 pp; cloth, $18.95; ISBN 0-89141-584-X.)
Jerry Bledsoe has written a simple, bittersweet story about a childhood Christmas in Thomasville,
North Carolina, that will be a sure hit as a stocking stuffer this year. Public libraries can expect
requests for The Angel Doll: A Christmas Story. (1996; Down Home Press, PO Box 4126,
Asheboro, NC 27204; 128 pp; cloth, $14.95; ISBN 1-878086-54-5.)
Taffy of Torpedo Junction, a childrenTs adventure story by the late Nell Wise Wechter
about life on the Outer Banks during World War II, is available in an attractive new
paperback edition with a foreword by Bland Simpson. The book was originally published
in 1957 by John Blair, and won the North Carolina Division of the American Association
of University WomenTs award for Juvenile Fiction. (1996; University of North Carolina
Press, PO Box 2288; Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288; xvii, 134 pp; paper, $9.95; ISBN 0-
8078-4619-8.)
Richard Rankin, a history professor at Queens College in Charlotte, has collected
twenty-six essays representing North Carolina Nature Writing: Four Centuries of
Personal Narratives and Descriptions. In the process he traces the evolution of nature
writing, and serves up a poignant reminder to guard our remaining natural habitats.
(1996; John F. Blair, Publisher, 1406 Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103; xv, 272 pp;
paper, $12.95; ISBN 0-98587-151-3.)
Something new in guidebooks: The Newcomer ~s Guide to North Carolina: Everything
You Need to Know to be a Tarheel, by Bill Lee, may come close to living up to its
ambitious title. After detailed introductions in Chapter One: Who We Are, the book
presents Our Land; History; Politics; Our Economy; Sports; Travel and Leisure; What We Eat"and
Drink; Arts and Entertainment; Haunts, Mysteries, Legends and Wonders; Notable Crimes and
Disasters; Education; Motor Vehicle Regulations; and Taxes. Chapter Ten contains a comprehensive
list of North Carolina authors; appropriate chapters list telephone numbers for state government
offices or quote tax rates; most chapters conclude with short bibliographies for further reading.
Folksy, down to earth, and wideranging, the book is a reasonable length for a beginning Tar Heel
to absorb. An index would make the book more useful, but it does have a detailed table of con-
tents. (1996; Down Home Press, PO Box 4126, Asheboro, NC 27204; viii, 278 pp; paper, $14.95;
ISBN 1-878086-51-0.)
New publications from the ultimate North Carolina legal reference authorities at the Institute of
Government include The Law of Self-Defense in North Carolina by John Rubin (1996; Institute of
Government, CB No. 3330 Knapp Building, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330; xvi, 215 pp; paper, $18.00; ISBN 1-56011-245-X); and David OwensT
Introduction to Zoning (1995; Institute of Government, CB No. 3330 Knapp Building, The
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330; iv, 120 pp; paper,
$15.00; ISBN 1-56011-275-1.) New editions of their titles on employment law, municipal govern-
ment, the law and the elderly, North Carolina crimes, and many other useful subjects are also
listed in their catalog.
NCASL Awards and Scholarshi
aistibo: ails p
Elizabeth J. Jackson of Cary:
recipient of the $1000 NCASL Scholarship
Rebecca Bloxam of Lexington City Schools:
winner of the NCASL Administrator of the Year
Pam Kanoy of Pilot Elementary School in Davidson County:
winner of the Carolyn Palmer Media Coordinator of the Year
North Carolina Libraries
a
Fall 1996 " 141
he aguiappe" | North Carsliniana
compiled by Plummer Alston Jones, Jr.
*Lagniappe (lan-yap�, lano yapT) n. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. [Louisiana French]
PP yap P Pp 8
North Carolina Videos:
Artistic, Literary, Historical, and Geographical Views
of the Old North State
Sherrie Antonowicz, Marty Wilson, and Catherine Moore, all members of the Audiovisual
Committee of the North Carolina Library AssociationTs Public Library Section, collaborated on
the compilation of the following reviews and annotations of North Carolina videos.
Carter, Linda, producer. Sister BeckyTs Baby. Kinston, NC: Neuse Community
Screen Players, 1995. Color. 30 minutes. $49.95. Includes teacherTs guide and
public performance rights. Order from: Linda Carter Productions, Route 5,
Box 59, Snow Hill; NC 28580. Telephone: (919) 747-2712.
142 " Fall 1996
Audiovisual materials about North Carolina are always in demand in schools and public
libraries, but they can be hard to locate. That is why it is a pleasure to find a video not only
about North Carolina, but produced here as well. Linda Carter and the Neuse Community
Screen Players have given us a live-action video of one of Charles ChesnuttTs short stories,
oSister BeckyTs Baby.�
Charles Chesnutt, along with Paul Laurence Dunbar, was one of the first African-
American authors to gain national recognition. He lived and worked in Fayetteville from
1866 to 1884. Many of his short stories are based on folktales told by North Carolina slaves
and illustrate the resourcefulnesss slaves used when dealing with their masters.
In oSister BeckyTs Baby,� a slave is traded by her master for a racehorse. Unfortunately,
the new owner does not want BeckyTs baby, and the mother is separated from her infant. It
is up to the conjure woman at BeckyTs old home to get the two back together.
The Neuse Community Screen Players, a group modeled after community theater, but
formed expressly to make films and videos, has done an excellent job in bringing the story
to video. Tolya Adams, as Becky, and Alicia Alexander, as the Conjure Woman, are particu-
larly good in their roles. This is not a Hollywood production " there are a few problems
with sound, scene transition, and a couple of (mercifully short) wooden performances "
but it is technically and artisitically well above many nontheatrical videos.
Students will enjoy hearing the actors use local place names like Robeson County,
Bladen County, and the Wilmington Road as they enjoy a good story well told. Program-
mers could pair this video with Direct CinemaTs similar Gullah Tales, or use it with one of
Tom DavenportTs Appalachian oJack Tales� videos to compare and contrast the white and
the African American viewpoints in folktales.
Public librarians interested in materials expressing the African-American experience
will want the video to circulate to patrons. All libraries building North Carolina video
collections should definitely include Sister BeckyTs Baby in their acquisitions lists.
Linda Carter and the Screen Players are to be commended for their efforts, as are the
North Carolina Arts Council, the Kinston Community Council for the Arts, and the Neuse
Regional Library for their financial contributions. We need more North Carolina produc-
tions like this one.
" Sherrie Antonowicz
Greensboro Public Library
North Carolina Libraries
OTHER NorTH CAROLINA |
Stoney, George C., Judy Helfand, and Susanne Rostock. The Uprising of T34. VIDEOS OF INTEREST: i
87 min. $490. Distributor: First Run Icarus Films, 153 Waverly Place, New York, NY I
10014. Telephone: 1-800-1710. Discounts available for nonprofit organizations. Whiteside, Tom. The Cameraman
Has Visited Our Town. 1989.
A olost episode� in southern history comes to life in this documentary of the 20 min. $40.00, includes s/h and 6% }
General Textile Strike of 1934. An optimistic labor movement was forcefully put NC sales tax. Distributor: Tom
down and the memory of those events suppressed by the workers who lived Whiteside, 1410 Acidia St., Durham,
through them. Gaston County shares echoes of these remembrances as many of NC 27701. i
the modern interviews contained in this film are from local retired workers or An introduction to the films of
mill owners. H. Lee Waters of Lexington,
In Gaston County over two thousand workers took part in the general North Carolina, taken between
walkout and over forty mills were closed. The Loray Mill Strike in Gastonia in 1936 and 1942, of local people
1929 (although not dealt with in this film) was actually a precursor to the in the Piedmont area of North |
widespread national strike, encompassing over four hundred thousand workers, Carolina and shown in local
which coincided with that fateful Labor Day of September 1934. theaters as short subjects before
Historical events played a role in the beginnings of this grassroots move- the feature movie. Just a sample
ment. Optimism through New Deal legislation in the form of the National of the North Carolina communi-
Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 legitimized workersT rights to organize. Also ties filmed by Waters include
textile mill owners had voluntarily adopted a Cotton Textile Code in July 1933 Salisbury, Thomasville,
which established a minimum wage of twenty-five cents an hour with a forty- Kernersville, Burlington, and |
hour work week, plus protective laws against child labor. When promises by the Graham.
mill owners to provide better working conditions were never fulfilled, disgruntled
textile workers were willing to try the union as a means of alleviating their plight. | North Carolina Bed and Break-
The strike lasted just three weeks and was put down forcibly by National fasts and Country Inns. 1995.
Guard Troops. Confrontations culminated in the death of seven workers in 48 min. $19.95 + 6% NC sales tax. i
Honea Path, South Carolina. After this tragic event, which stunned textile Distributor: Video Marketing Group, ;
workers and drew ten thousand to the funerals of slain strikers, President Inc., Raleigh, NC.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt intervened with a call for the strike to stop and for Telephone: (919) 781-0500. i
workers to be allowed to return to their jobs. Supposedly workers were to be re-
employed but events turned against them. Almost everyone connected to the
union was blacklisted. All workers no longer employed by the mills were thrown
out of the mill village housing. This hard put-down of union-organized recruit-
ment had a long-reaching effect, particularly in the South, with very little
progress in the unionization of textile mill workers until the 1960s.
This film took six years to make. It was produced in part by George C.
More than fifty unusual and
unique places to stay are
featured along with lush
photography of nearby attrac-
tions from all parts of the state.
River Run: Down the Cape Fear
Stoney, a professor of film and television at New York University and a Winston-
Salem native, who provided all of the original photography. Using archival meienpeenasn
alem native, who provided all of the original photography. Using archiva UNC-Wilmington and UNC-TV,
footage and the strong voice of oral history, the film draws on the personal ;
; eae : : seas ; : 1994. 55 min. $23.94 + $4.00 s/h.
memories of individuals interested in these historical events, including many Sage : i
dsitinie andes s t t emia aiaic 6-12 d Distributor: UNC-TV Foundation.
participants. Indeed, this is not a reenactment, but almost a reliving and uncov- Telephone: (919) 549-7123.
ering of a topic which for decades was considered otaboo.�
The tone of the film portrays the individual worker as the hero, but also strikes
a delicate balance between the negatives and positives of omill village life.� For
example, while those workers provided mill village housing were expected to adopt
a lifestyle in which drinking was prohibited, the rent on the oshotgun houses�
provided was as low as twenty-five to fifty cents per room per month.
The original music written for this production adds a unique plaintive timbre.
The interspersion of archival footage (some of which was provided by the Gaston
County Public Library) of mill workersT lives with the interviews enhances the
development of the story line. It is readily apparent that the production team
members were very committed to their subject and wanted to portray not only the
bravery of those involved in these historical events, but also show the dynamics or
cause and effect of historical events in the lives if everyday people.
According to early communications with the project team, which date back
This historical documentary
follows the Cape Fear River
from its origin to the Atlantic
Ocean, and focuses on contem-
porary environmental concerns
affecting its future.
Roanoak: The Unsolved Mystery
of the Lost Colony.
PBS Video, 1988. 3 videotapes. 180
min. $175.00 + $7.00 s/h.
Distributor: PBS Video.
Telephone: 1-800-424-7963.
to early 1993, the original length of the film was to have been approximately one A three-part dramatic series,
hour. Further editing with a paring of about ten to twelve minutes from the these videos recount the events
current eighty-seven minute total length would possibly enhance this produc- of the Roanoke Voyages, the
tion; however, who among us would have the heart to remove a further word first prolonged encounters
from the lips of any of the olintheads,� who come across with well-spoken between the English and the
dignity as proud representatives of the southern American spirit at its best. Native American Indians on
For a further look at the history of textiles in Gaston County, see the WTVI, Roanoke Island in Dare County,
Channel 42 production, oSpinning Through Time: Gaston County and the North Carolina.
Textile Industry,� produced in 1996. " Catherine Moore
" Marty Wilson, Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library High Point Public Library
North Carolina Libraries Fall 1996 " 143
AE ae ae LL a NED OS SEH IS IEG TR ESET NDING ETHIE PEST
NortuH CAROLINA Lisprary ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Executive Board
August 7, 1996, High Point, North Carolina
Members and guests present: Elinor Swaim, Clarence Toomer, Mary Louisa Bryant, Barbara Best-Nichols,
David Fergusson, Beverley Gass, Wanda Brown, Steve Sumerford, Marsha Wells, Beth Hutchison,
Kathryn Crowe, Sheila Core, Robert Burgin, Karen Perry, Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, Sue Ann Cody, Janet Flowers,
Carol Freeman, Cristina Yu, Betty Meehan-Black, Helen Tugwell, Ross Holt, Teresa McManus, John Via,
Gene Lanier, Barbara Akinwole, Jackie Beach, Edna Cogdell, Patrick Valentine, Martha Davis,
Nancy Clark Fogarty, Barbara Levergood.
President David Fergusson called the meeting to order and asked
for approval of minutes from the previous meeting. The minutes
were approved (with some spelling corrections).
Treasurer's Report
Treasurer Wanda Brown reported that there were receipts of
$19,170.50 this quarter and expenses of $30,569.88 Wanda
noted that she had not received any final bills for the last biennial
conference. Robert Burgin made a motion to accept the report
and Jackie Beach seconded. The motion carried.
Administrative AssistantTs Report
Marsha Wells reported that membership has increased since the
last board meeting by 195, but new memberships and renewals
are coming in slowly. The total is now 1736, but 545 people who
were members in 1995 have not renewed.
¢ Sections & Round Tables
ChildrenTs Services Section: Beth Hutchison was not available to
give a report because she was giving a presentation at the NCASL
conference.
College & University Section: Kathryn Crowe reported that the
section will sponsor a workshop on October 18 at the Cone Center.
The workshop title is oBringing It All Together: Campus Collabora-
tion for Information Technology.� Also, the board has discussed
the possible merger of the College and University Section with the
Community and Junior College Section.
Community & Junior College Libraries Section: Sheila Core
reported that the section is looking at the possibility of sponsoring
a program at the Learning Resources Conference. They have not
yet polled the section about the possible merger with College &
University Section.
Documents Section: Barbara Levergood reported that the spring
workshop was a big success. The Section is planning a workshop
on October 4 on oLegal Resources and Services Using Government
Documents.�
Library Administration & Management Section: Robert Burgin
reported that the section will sponsor a workshop November 21
and 22 at Shell Island. The board voted to oppose the recommen-
dation of the NCLA Governance Study to change the make-up of
the NCLA Executive Board.
NC Association of School Librarians: Karen Perry reported that
the number of pre-registered individuals for the biennial confer-
ence was 311, compared to an average of 600 pre-registered from
the last two conferences.
Other news from the NCASL: Section representatives Linda
144 " Fall 1996
McDaniel and Karen Perry met with Rep. Howard Coble on ALA
Legislative Day in May. They discussed concerns about pending
copyright legislation for libraries. The ChildrenTs Book Award
Committee selected the lists of nominees for 1997 from childrenTs
suggestions across the state. The Battle of the Books Committee
worked on formulating questions for the 1997 book list. The
NCASL Executive Board met in Raleigh on May 23. The Board
empowered Karen Perry to negotiate a contract for convention
services for 1999 and 2001. The dates selected were August dates
with the understanding that the contract may need to be renego-
tiated for October or November if August does not meet the
needs of the membership.
Public Library Section: Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin reported that the A-
V committee will host a workshop on audio books on October 25 in
Wilmington and November 8 in Hendersonville. The Young Adult
committee now has a homepage. The Technical Services committee
is updating the Technical Services Directory. The Adult Services
committee also has a homepage. The Trustees/Friends committee
has completed the revision of their handbook. The committee
voted to financially support the NCLA Leadership Institute.
Reference & Adult Services Section: Sue Ann Cody reported that
the section will host a program called oProviding or Policing:
Internet Access Dilemmas in Libraries.� It will be held at the
McKimmon Center in Raleigh, November 8. The board also
approved a $250 donation of the NCLA Leadership Institute.
Resources & Technical Services Section: Janet Flowers reported
that the section will sponsor a workshop entitled oThe Intercon-
nected Information Systems Environment: Perspectives for Re-
sources and Technical Services.� Also, the board has discussed
various matters such as the proposed restructuring of NCLA, NCLA~s
finances and membership recruitment. They have distributed a
membership survey.
New Members Round Table: Carol Freeman reported that the
round table sponsored a very successful workshop on the World
Wide Web. Also, the premiere issue of the oNew Members
Roundtable Bulletin� was published in July 1996. The NMRT
presented the following petition to NCLA with the required fifteen
signatures. oWe the undersigned members of the New Members
Round Table of the NCLA hereby request that the Executive Board
of the NCLA approve a mail ballot for the purpose of amending the
NMRT by-laws. The by-laws must be amended to reflect the
Executive BoardTs August 1994 decision to give a two-year auto-
matic NMRT membership to those joining NCLA for the first time.
The proposed language for the amendment is as follows:
North Carolina Libraries
Individuals joining the NCLA for the first time will receive free
membership in the New Members Round Table for each of the
first two years of paid membership in the Association. In
addition, individual membership shall be open to any other
member of the NCLA who has not been an Association
member for more than two years and for fewer than ten years,
and now states a preference for this Round Table at the time of -
payment of Association dues.
NC Library Paraprofessional Association: Louisa Bryant reported
that the NCLPA executive committee discussed the proposed
restructuring and recommended that the Association should
request retaining voting rights on the NCLA Executive Board. Also,
the membership committee has sent letters to academic libraries to
encourage larger participation. Four childrenTs programs are
planned for each region. These workshops will focus on puppetry,
flannel boards and storytelling. The executive members participated
in the Virginia Library Association Paraprofessional Forum where
program chair Meralyn Meadows was a guest speaker.
Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns: Barbara Best-Nichols
reported that REMCO will be finalizing plans for a conference in the
spring of 1997.
Round Table on the Status of Women: Betty Meehan-Black
reported that the round table will sponsor a Hiring Smart workshop.
Technology & Trends Round Table: Cristina Yu has become the
chair. She reported that they will sponsor a workshop called
oWorking Wisely on the Web� on October 18. They are working on
a homepage.
© Committee reports
Conference: Beverley Gass
Constitution, Codes, & Handbook Revision: Ross Holt reported
that the Conference Handbook has been added to the NCLA
Handbook as Appendix |, as per Executive Board action. The
committee also modified the Conference CommitteeTs duties by
adding, oTo keep and maintain the Conference Handbook (Appen-
dix l).� The committee incorporated the IRS rate for mileage
reimbursement for travel. The committee made some changes in
the Honorary and Life membership pages and added a list of
Distinguished Service Award recipients.
Finance: Teresa McManus reported that the committee has worked
on drafting a budget proposal. The resulting budget shows a
shortfall of $20,000. The Finance Committee will submit an annual
budget for 1997 at the November 1 Board meeting. Robert Burgin
made a motion to change to an annual budget. Karen Perry
seconded. The motion carried.
President Fergusson has appointed a committee to make some
recommendations about our financial situation, including consider-
ation of the impact of annual dues, increasing costs for Administra-
tive Assistant, etc. The following people have been asked to serve:
Larry Alford, Nancy Fogarty, Teresa McManus, Beverly Gass, Gwen
Jackson, Wanda Brown, Karen Perry, Rose Simon, Sylvia Sprinkle-
Hamlin, Robert Burgin.
Governmental Relations: John Via reported that NCLA was
represented by 14 members and friends for the 1996 National
Library Legislative Day. He also reported that he had posted a
message on NCLA-L to encourage members to contact their
representatives asking for support of LSCA. He shared some tips he
learned from attending oLobbying 101� at the ALA conference.
Recent victories and partial victories are evidence that the Washing-
ton ALA office is very effective: Communication Decency Act was
Stalled; the Telecommunications bill gives reduced rates for
libraries; and the digitalization of government documents was
Slowed to give librarians chance to respond to it . Elinor Swaim
added that this is very important time to advocate for support for
LSCA. She also encouraged us to thank state legislators for their
support for State Aid
North Carolina Libraries
Intellectual Freedom: Gene Lanier reported that the committee
receives about one request per week from librarians facing
censorship challenges. In January the ALA Intellectual Freedom bill
passed. The committee is also working on a document to help
clarify interpretation of access to electronic information (Acceptable
use policies on Internet use)
Literacy Committee: Dr. Pauletta Bracy was giving a presentation
at NCASL. The committee will meet quarterly and will work closely
with the various literacy programs throughout the state.
Membership: Barbara Akinwole and Jackie Beach reported. In an
effort to recruit and retain members, the Membership Committee
proposes to provide recruitment displays, send membership
posters to all types of libraries, revise the membership form, place
special membership recruitment ads in NC Libraries and Tar Heel
Libraries and send thank you notes to new and renewing mem-
bers. President Fergusson suggested that we charge a substantial
higher registration fee for non-members to attend workshops;
Jackie agreed that reduced rates for members is a benefit of
membership. Patrick Valentine agreed, adding that less money will
be available for sponsoring workshops this year. John Via sug-
gested that we put a statement regarding higher fees for non-
members into the Bylaws of each roundtable and section.
President Fergusson asked Barbara Akinwole and Jackie Beach to
consult with Ross Holt to develop such a motion to bring before
the board. Beverley Gass asked about how we would monitor this
to determine who is a member. Teresa asked the committee to
think about adding legislators as honorary members.
Scholarships: Edna Cogdell reported that the Query-long Scholar-
ship for the 1996-97 academic year has been awarded to Marni Jo
Overly. Melanie Terry, a student at NCCU, is the recipient of the
NCLA Memorial Scholarship.
Special Projects Committee: Patrick Valentine reported that the
funding available is lower than last year. The committee is con-
cerned that there is a lot of overlap in programs. He reminded the
Board that bills need to be sent to the Administrative Assistant, not
the Treasurer and he reminded people to observe NCLA rules before
they submit a grant.
e Other reports
North Carolina Libraries: Rose Simon reported that the most recent
issue has been published. She distributed a list of upcoming issues
and editors.
SELA Representative, NANCY CLARK FOGARTY Everyone is encour-
aged to attend the Oct 22-26 SELA conference in Lexington KY.
NCLA Web Page Ad-hoc Committee: The NCLA Web page URL
is:http://library.rcpl.org/ncla/. The purpose of the page is to serve
the membership and the library profession by providing informa-
tion about NCLA library-related sites. Rockingham County Public
Library has agreed to host the site at no cost to the organization.
New Business
Ross Holt presented the by-laws changes that were recommended
by the New Members Round Table(see above). It was moved by
Jackie Beach and seconded by Robert Burgin that we change the
bylaws as requested by the board of the New Members Round
Table). The motion carried.
Martha Davis noted that in ALA there is a drive to increase funds for
ALA minority scholarships. She asked the board to consider whether
NCLA wants to make a contribution. President Fergusson asked her
to postpone the discussion until the next board meeting when we
know NCLATs financial situation.
Jackie Beach asked us to be aware that there is a major revision of
PLA Bylaws ; proposing elimination of sections. She asked us to
carefully consider our vote on this very controversial change in
bylaws.
Fall 1996 " 145
NortTuH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 1995-1997 EXECUTIVE BOARD
PRESIDENT
David Fergusson
Forsyth County Public Library
660 W. Fifth Street
Winston-Salem NC 27101
Telephone: 910/727-2556
Fax: 910/727-2549
D_FERGUSSONG@FORSYTH.LIBNC.US
VICE PRESIDENT/
PRESIDENT ELECT
Beverley Gass
M.W. Bell Library
Guilford Technical College
P.O. Box 309
Jamestown NC 27282-0309
Telephone: 910/334-4822
x2434
Fax: 910/841-4350
GASSB@GTCC.CC.NC.US
SECRETARY
Steven L. Sumerford
Glenwood Branch Library
1901 W. Florida Street
Greensboro, NC 27403
Telephone: 910/297-5002
Fax: 910/297-5004
STEVES2241@AOL.COM
TREASURER
Wanda Brown Cason
Z. Smith Reynolds Library
Wake Forest University
PO Box 7777 Reynolda Station
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7777
Telephone: 910/759-5094
Fax: 910/759-9831
WCASONGLIB.WFUNET.WFU.EDU
DIRECTORS
Jacqueline B. Beach
Craven-Pamlico-Carteret
Regional Library
400 Johnson
New Bern, NC 28560
Telephone: 919/823-1141
Fax: 919/638-7817
Barbara Akinwole
State Library of North Carolina
109 E. Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
Telephone: 919/733-2570
Fax: 919/733-8748
BAKINWOLE@HALDCRSTATENCUS
ALA COUNCILOR
Martha E. Davis
M. W. Bell Library
Guilford Tech. Comm. College
P. O. Box 309
Jamestown, NC 27282-0309
Telephone: 910/334-4822
Fax: 910/841-4350
DAVISM@GTCC.CC.NC.US
146 " Fall 1996
SELA REPRESENTATIVE
Nancy Clark Fogarty
Jackson Library
UNC-Greensboro
Greensboro, NC 27412
Telephone: 910/334-5419
Fax: 910/334-5097
FOGARTYN@IRIS.UNCG.EDU
EDITOR, North Carolina Libraries
Frances Bryant Bradburn
Information Technology
Evaluation Services
Public Schools of North Carolina
301 N. Wilmington Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2825
Telephone: 919/715-1528
Fax: 919/733-4762
FBRADBUR@DPI.STATE.NC.US
PAST-PRESIDENT
Gwen G. Jackson
494 Breezy Point Road
Swansboro, NC 28584
Telephone: 919/393-2651
GJACKSON@UNCECS.EDU
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
(ex officio)
Christine Tomec
North Carolina Library Association
c/o State Library of North Carolina
Rm. 27 109 E. Jones St.
Raleigh, NC 27601-1023
Telephone: 919/839-6252
Fax: 919/839-6252
CTOMEC@NCSL.DCR.STATE.NC.US
SECTION CHAIRS
CHILDRENTS SERVICES SECTION
Beth Hutchison
Public Library of Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County
301 N. Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
Telephone: 704/336-2409
Fax: 704/336-2677
BAH@PLCMC.LIB.NC.US
COLLEGE anp UNIVERSITY SECTION
Kathryn Crowe
Jackson Library
UNC-Greensboro
Greensboro, NC 27412
Telephone: 910/334-3215
Fax: 910/334-5097
CROWEK@IRIS.UNCG.EDU
COMMUNITY anp JUNIOR
COLLEGE LIBRARIES SECTION
Shelia Core
Surry Community College
P.O. Box 304
Dobson, NC 27107
Telephone: 910/386-8121
x317
Fax: 910/386-8951
DOCUMENTS SECTION
(Term ends 1996)
Cheryl McLean
State Library of North Carolina
109 E. Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
Telephone: 919/733-3683
Fax: 919/733-5679
CMCLEAN@HAL.DCRSTATENC.US
(Term ends 1997)
Barbara Levergood
Davis Library CB#3912
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Telephone: 919/962-1151
Fax: 919/962-4451
LEVERG.DAVIS@MHS.UNC.EDU
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION anp
MANAGEMENT SECTION
Robert E. Burgin
North Carolina Central Univ.
1801 Fayetteville Street
Durham, NC 27707
Telephone: 919/560-6485
Fax: 919/560-6402
BURGIN@NCCU.EDU
NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION
OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS
Karen Perry
1000 Parkwood Circle
High Point, NC 27262
Telephone: 910/819-2870
PERRYK@UNCG.EDU
NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC
LIBRARY TRUSTEES ASSOCIATION ,
Clifton Metcalf
56 Cedar Hills Circle
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Telephone: 919/962-0331
Fax: 919/962-2279
PUBLIC LIBRARY SECTION
Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin
Forsyth County Public Library
660 W. Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Telephone: 910/727-2556
Fax: 910/727-2549
S_HAMLIN@FORSYTH.LIB.NC.US
REFERENCE anp ADULT SERVICES
Sue Ann Cody
UNC-Wilmington
601 S. College Road
Wilmington, NC 28403-3297
Telephone: 919/395-3688
Fax: 910/395-3863
CODYS@UNCWIL.EDU
RESOURCES anp TECHNICAL
SERVICES SECTION
Janet Flowers
Davis Library CB#3902
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Telephone: 919/962-1120
Fax: 919/962-4450
JANET_FLOWERS@UNC.EDU
ROUND TABLE CHAIRS
NEW MEMBERS ROUND TABLE
Carol Freeman
Allied Health Library
Forsyth Technical Com.
College
1900 Beach Street
Winston-Salem NC 27103
Telephone: 910/723-0371
XI
Fax: 910/748-9395
CEREEMAN@BULLNCDCC.CCNCUS
NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY
PARAPROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
Renee Pridgen
Cumberland Co. Public Library
300 Maiden Lane
Fayetteville, NC 28301
Telephone: 910/483-1580
Fax: 910/486-5372
RPRIDGEN@CUMBERLAND.UBNCUS
ROUND TABLE FOR ETHNIC
MINORITY CONCERNS
Sheila Johnson
Forsyth County Public Library
660 W. Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Telephone: 910/727-2556
Fax: 910/727-2549
S JOHNSON@FORSYTH.LIB.NC.US
ROUND TABLE ON SPECIAL
COLLECTIONS
Sharon Knapp
Perkins Library
Duke University
P.O. Box 90185
Durham, NC 27708-0185
Telephone: 919/660-0185
Fax: 919/684-2855
SEK@MAIL.LIB.DUKE.EDU
ROUND TABLE ON THE STATUS
OF WOMEN IN LIBRARIANSHIP
Elizabeth Meehan-Black
Davis Library CB#3902
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3902
Telephone: 919/962-1120
Fax: 919/962-0484
BETTY_MEEHAN-BLACK@UNC.EDU
TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS
ROUND TABLE
Diana Young
State Library of North Carolina
109 E. Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
Telephone: 919/733-2570
Fax: 919/733-8748
DYOUNG@HAL.DCR.STATE.NC.US
North Carolina Library Association
North Carolina Libraries
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor
FRANCES BRYANT BRADBURN
Information Technology Evaluation Services
Public Schools of North Carolina
301 N. Wilmington Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2825
(919) 715-1528
(919) 733-4762 (FAX)
fbradbur@dpi.state.nc.us
Associate Editor
ROSE SIMON
Dale H. Gramley Library
Salem College
Winston-Salem, NC 27108
(910) 917-5421
simon@sisters.salem.edu
Associate Editor
JOHN WELCH
Division of State Library
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
(919) 733-2570
jwelch@hal.dcr.state.nc.us
Book Review Editor
DOROTHY DAVIS HODDER
New Hanover Co. Public Library
201 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 341-4389
Lagniappe/Bibliography Coordinator
PLUMMER ALSTON JONES, JR.
Corriher-Linn-Black Library
Catawba College
2300 W. Innes Street
Salisbury, NC 28144
(704) 637-4449
pajones@catawba.edu
Indexer
MICHAEL COTTER
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
(919) 328-6533
miccot@joyner.lib.ecu.edu
Point/CounterPoint Editor
HARRY TUCHMAYER
New Hanover Co. Public Library
201 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 341-4036
Advertising Manager
KEVIN CHERRY
Rowan Public Library
P.O. Box 4039
Salisbury, NC 28145-4039
(704) 638-3021
Kcherry@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us
ChildrenTs Services
MELVIN K. BURTON
Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library
1555 E. Garrison Boulevard
Gastonia, NC 28054
(704) 868-2165
College and University
ARTEMIS KARES
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
(919) 328-6067
artkar@joyner.lib.ecu.edu
Community and Junior College
BARBARA MILLER MARSON
Paul H. Thompson Library
Fayetteville Tech. Comm. College
PO Box 35236
Fayetteville, NC 28303
(910) 678-8253
Documents
MICHAEL VAN FOSSEN
Reference Documents
Davis Library CB #3912
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
(919) 962-1151
vanfosen.davis@mhs.unc.edu
Library Administration and
Management Section
JOLINE EZZELL
Perkins Library
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-0175
(919) 660-5880
jre@mail.lib.duke.edu
New Members Round Table
RHONDA HOLBROOK
Glenwood Branch Library
1901 W. Florida St.
Greensboro, NC 27403
(910) 297-5000
N.C. Asso. of School Librarians
DIANE KESSLER
Durham Public Schools
808 Bacon St.
Durham, NC 27703
(919) 560-2360
kesslerd@bacon.durham.k12.nc.us
North Carolina Library
Paraprofessional Association
MELANIE HORNE
Cumberland Co. Public Library
6882 Cliffdale Road
Fayetteville, NC 28314
(910) 864-5002
Public Library Section
JEFFREY CANNELL
Wayne County Public Library
1001 E. Ash St.
Goldsboro, NC 27530
(919) 735-1824
jcannel@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us
Reference/Adult Services
SUZANNE WISE
Belk Library
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
(704) 262-2798
wisems@appstate.edu
Resources and Technical Services
WILLIAM FIETZER
Atkins Library
UNC-Charlotte
Charlotte, NC 28216
(704) 547-2365
ali0Owhf@unccvm.uncc.edu
Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns
JEAN WILLIAMS
F.D. Bluford Library
NC A &T State University
Greensboro, NC 27411
(910) 334-7617
williamj@athena.ncat.edu
Round Table on Special Collections
MEGAN MULDER
Wake Forest University Library
PO Box 7777 Reynolda Station
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7777
(910) 759-5091
mulder@lib.wfu.edu
Round Table on the Status of Women in
Librarianship
JOAN SHERIF
Northwestern Regional Library
111 North Front Street
Elkin, NC 28621
(910) 835-4894
jsherif@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us
Technology and Trends
DIANE KESTER
Library Studies and Ed. Technology
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
(919) 328-4389
Isddkest@eastnet.educ.ecu.edu
Wired to the World Editor
RALPH LEE SCOTT
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
(919) 328-6533
ralsco@joyner.lib.ecu.edu
Trustees
ANNE B. WILGUS
N.C. Wesleyan College
Rocky Mount, NC 27804
(919) 442-2662
(919) 977-3701 (FAX)
SS
North Carolina Libraries
Fall 1996 " 147
NCLA
North Carolina Library Association
Use the application below to enroll as a member of the North Carolina Library Asssociation or to renew your
membership. All memberships are for one calendar year. THE MEMBERSHIP YEAR IS JANUARY 1 THROUGH
DECEMBER 31. If you join during the last quarter of the year, membership covers the next year.
Dues (see below) entitle you to membership in the Association and to one section or round table. For each
additional section or round table, add $5.00. Return this form with
your check or money order, payable to
North Carolina Library Association.
NCLA DUES
(Membership and One Section or Round Table)
FULL-TIME LIBRARY SCHOOL
m LIBRARY PERSONNEL
STUDENTS (two years only) .... $10 Earning up to $15,000..............00 $15
Earning $15,001 to $25,000.......... $25
m RETIRED LIBRARIANS ............. $15 Earning $25,001 to $35,000.......... $30
mg NON-LIBRARY PERSONNEL: Earning $35,001 to $45,000 aviseaiethd $35
(Trustee, Non-salaried, or Friends Earning $45,001 and above........... $40
of Libraries member) ............... $15
gm INSTITUTIONAL (Libraries & m CONTRIBUTING (Individuals, Associations,
Library/Education-related and Firms interested in the work of
DUSUMESSCS) eee rec $50 IN CEA aca ce ate eee $100
NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
please print or type CHECK SECTIONS AND ROUND TABLES
New membership Renewal ONE INCLUDED IN BASIC DUES. Add $5.00 for
each additional section or round table.
Membership Number if Renewal "___ ChildrenTs Services
__._" College & University Section
Name __. Community & Junior College Libraries Section
Last First Middle __ Documents Section
___ Library Administration & Management
Title ____NC Association of School Librarians
__.__NC Public Library Trustees Association
Library ____ Public Library Section
____" Reference & Adult Services Section
Business Address ___ Resources and Technical Services Section
___ New Members Round Table
City ane Zip __._ NC Library Paraprofessional Association
___ Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns
pavtinie TaaH Hare Nebaber ____ Round Table on Special Collections gee ; ;
Wen Gace "" Round Table on the Status of Women in Librarianship
Mailing Address (if different from above)
Technology & Trends Round Table
AMOUNT ENCLOSED: (SEE ABOVE)
$ Membership and one section/round table
TYPE OF LIBRARY I WORK IN:
___ Academic
Public
School
Special
Other
$5.00 for each additional section/round table
$ TOTAL (PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH)
Mail to: North Carolina Library Association
c/o State Library of North Carolina
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-1023
NCLA|
eS """""" rr ce cree rm ee ee ee ee ee ee eee
Wings of Paradise
The Great Saturniid Moths
lobn Cody
With a Foreword by Richard S. Peigler
Cody's beautiful paintings, accompa-
nied by commentary on the mothsT life
tycles, habits, and geographical range
and on the circumstances of his finding
and Painting each moth.
Sep $60 cl -2286-8
72 illus., 9 x 12
Talk
AN about Trouble
a ew Deal Portrait of Virginians
the Great Depression
Naney J. Martin-Perdue &
Charles L. Perdue Jr., editors
Vad one life histories recorded by the
~tginia WritersT Project fieldworkers
Petween 1938 and 1941. All bear
Miso to the vast socio-economic and
G tural changes brought about by the
t teat Depression and the New DealTs
oSPonses to it.
177 45.4 -2269-8 / Oct $19.95 pb -4570-1
halftones, 3 maps, 8/2 x II
Tentonville
¢ Final Battle of Sherman
and Johnston
2% Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr.
ad �,� best-researched and best-written
Sunt to date of one of the Civil
jo at's most neglected battles.T"W. T.
ri .
nit, edlto, North Carolina Troops
P $37.50 cl -2281-
Civil Wa, sath 1-7
The WoodwrightTs Apprentice
Twenty Favorite Projects from The WoodwrightTs Shop
Roy Underhill
With an Illustrated Glossary of Tools and Techniques
Includes step-by-step directions, complete with easy-to-follow photo-
graphs and measured drawings. Builds new skills for the apprentice
woodworker"from frame construction to dovetailing, turning, steam-
bending, and carving.
Oct $29.95 cl -2304-X / Oct $17.95 pb -4612-0
290 illus. 84% x II
A Guide to the Historic Architecture of
Eastern North Carolina
Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern
More than 1,700 buildings in forty-one counties from the coast to
Interstate 95, Written for travelers and residents alike.
Oct $35 cl -2285-X / Oct $19.95 pb -4594-9
320 illus., 60 maps
Southern Pamphlets on Secession,
November 1860-April 186!
Jon L. Wakelyn, editor
oFor everyone interested in our national cataclysm. The pamphlets are
expertly chosen, expertly introduced, and expertly placed in context.�
"William W. Freehling, University of Kentucky
Sep $45 cl -2278-7
Civil War America
New in paperback
Lee Considered
General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History
Alan T. Nolan
oGeneral readers as well as Civil War buffs will enjoy serving as the jury
for Mr. NolanTs case. . .. His argument is a persuasive one, artfully
fashioned.T"New York Times Book Review
Sep $13.95 pb -4587-6
New in paperback
High Lonesome
The American Culture of Country Music
Cecelia Tichi
Cecelia Tichi shows that country music is a national
music form, one that belongs to all Americans.
Sep $18.95 pb -4608-2
ISBN prefix 0-8078
Please call for a free copy of our Fall catalog
Chapel Hill * Phone (800) 848-6224, Fax (800) 272-6817
http: / /sunsite.unc.edu/ uncpress/
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
Cender and Jim Crow
Women and the Politics of
White Supremacy in North
Carolina, 1896-1920
Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore
oDemands that attention
be paid to the pivotal role
of middle-class African
American women in the
making of southern
politics.T Elsa Barkley
Brown, University of
Michigan
Sep $49.95 cl -2287-6
Sep $17.95 pb -4596-5
Gender & American Culture
New in paperback
A Foxfire Christmas
Appalachian Memories
and Traditions
Eliot Wigginton, editor
With a New Preface by
Bobby Ann Starnes
Includes instructions for
recteating many traditional
ornaments, toys, and
recipes, from Chicken and
Dumplings to Black Walnut
Cake, and from candy pulls
to corn husk dolls and
hand-whittled toy cars.
Oct $12.95 pb -4618-X
43 illus., 6 x 72
Back in print
Taffy of Torpedo
Junction
by Nell Wise Wechter
ema New Foreword by
Bland Simpson
ms Perhaps the best
| piece of childrenTs
literature ever pro-
duced in this state.�
"Dennis Rogers _
Aug $9.95 pb -4619-8 3
5x7h |
A Chapel Hill Book 8
5
3
Upcoming Issues
Winter 1996 Managing Technology
Pat Ryckman, Guest Editor
Spring 1997 Regrowing Libraries
Suzanne Wise, Guest Editor
Summer 1997 Library Construction and Design
Phil Barton, Guest Editor
Fall 1997 Government Information
Michael Van Fossen, Guest Editor
Winter 1997 Conference Issue
Spring 1998 Advise and Consult
Unsolicited articles dealing with the above themes or any issue of interest to North Carolina librarians
are welcomed. Please contact the editor for manuscript guidelines and deadlines.
North Carolina Libraries, published four times a year, is the official publication of the North
Carolina Library Association. Membership dues include a subscription to North Carolina
Libraries. Membership information may be obtained from the Administrative Assistant of
NCLA. Subscription rates are $32.00 per year, or $10.00 per issue, for domestic
subscriptions; $50.00 per year, or $15.00 per issue, for foreign subscriptions. Backfiles are
maintained by the editor. Microfilm copies are available through University Microfilms.
North Carolina Libraries is indexed by Library Literature and publishes its own annual index.
Editorial correspondence should be addressed to the editor; advertisement
correspondence should be addressed to the advertising manager. Articles are juried.
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