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PACK HORSE LIBRARYSubmitted by Robert Copley, Louisville, Ky.40218
The "Pack Horse Library" was, to my knowledge, the first free public library serving Johnson County. It was created and administratively funded in the early 1930's as an extension of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). May Stafford was the first librarian. The initial location was a ground floor store front on Second Street in the Herald Motel building. When the long closed Mayo Mansion was reopened, the library was enlarged and moved to first floor rooms in the old mansion. Later it was moved to Main Street in the Stafford building across the street from the Sandy Valley Grocery Company. Finally as the WPA was phased out, the library was moved to the stone building on the Paintsville High School property which had housed area offices for the WPA most of the books were acquired as gifts shipped from distant cities as a result of requests generated by Miss Stafford. Her nephew Stafford Smith and I spent many hours as volunteers helping "Miss May" unpack and sort books and help in the general chores of the library. Distribution of the library books was extended by men and women who rode horses to far reaches of the county. The books were carried and exchanged from their saddle bags, hence the name,"Pack Horse Library". The free availability of books in a period of severe economic recession did much to disseminate cultural exchange long before television or even local radio stations became available.
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