Top 10 Things I Have Learned About Rural Libraries

It has been a little over a year since I became the director of the Pioneer Memorial Public Library in Harman, West Virginia.

While I have lots of library experience, it was primarily in urban areas. This is the first rural, remote library that I have ever worked in. While the size of our collection and our patronage might be small, I have learned some BIG library lessons here. Please allow me to list in descending order the Top Ten Things I Have Learned About Rural Libraries.

10. I cannot please all of our patrons. Although it may cause me sadness when I cannot find the book or material that a patron requests, I can feel good knowing that I have tried my best for them. If our library doesn't own a book, I can offer to buy the book (if it will appeal to others) or inter-library loan the book.

9. Being in charge of a library is a lot like owning your own home. You will always have projects on your "to do" list, and it is impossible to have everything perfect. Somedays, the hours fly by and I realize that I have been so busy helping patrons that I have had very little time to do other things, like cataloging, ordering library supplies, or eating lunch.

8. My best ideas for the library and for buying books come from the patrons. Don't let salespeople at publishing companies persuade you into previewing books. Your patrons are your best source of ideas for books to buy for your library.

7. The patron who is in front of you is more important than any task at hand, unless your library is on fire. Good customer service is the key to a successful small library. Listen carefully to every complaint and suggestion. This is better than any focus group or survey.

6. Know the difference between a teaching moment and when you can just provide a service for your patron. While it is great to try to teach someone how to use a word processing software, if they have limited reading and writing skills, you may both be better off if you just type and write for your patron who needs a flyer created or a letter written.

5. Keep an updated list of talking points for community members, members of the legislature, your board of trustees, and potential donors. Your library is important. Why is it important? Make a list, spell it out, make sure you have a few bullet points that you can tell someone else to remind them of the services offered by the library. An example, "This year, we are reading nonfiction books about animal habitats to help reinforce Content Standard Objectives for Pre-K to third grade."

4. Don't make any major changes for the first six months to one year. Take time to assess the culture of your library and to absorb the process that has evolved. After time, evaluate what works well in the library and what does not. Try changing or tweaking small aspects of your library to improve services or information organization. Evaluate your changes to make sure that they are in line with the mission of your library. (Also, remember that when you effect change you are also changed by the thing you are changing.)

3. Genealogy and tourism play an important part of the activity at a rural public library. At least once or twice a week, we receive visitors who are researching their family trees or copying their genealogies. We have many local genealogies that have been lovingly collected, typed, and hand-written by local researchers. Tourists use the library as a place to use the restroom, stretch legs, get directions, and check email.

2. Libraries have a long and loyal following. The wonderful thing about libraries is that so many people have a warm, and perhaps nostalgic, connection to public libraries. It's easy for me to sell the value of reading and libraries to this natural audience.

1. A small library in a small town may be more important than a big library in a big town. Why? Because in urban areas the general public has a variety of access points for the Internet or buying books, from Starbucks to Barnes & Noble. In a rural community, people may not have access to broadband Internet or bookstores. And it's not just my crazy theory--The Institute of Museum and Library Services conducted a recent report that says the same thing here.

Midwives in West Virginia

I was helping a patron today at the Pioneer Memorial Public Library who was looking for some information about her Harman and Huffman ancestors in Randolph County and Pendleton County, West Virginia. In digging through our records of marriages, births, and deaths, I found an old photocopy about Aunt Sara Midwife (1853-1916). I have no idea where the piece of paper came from but the story of Aunt Sara is so typical of the strong frontier women of West Virginia. I have transcribed below what I found:

Aunt Sara Midwife

"Aunt Sara Murphy Wilmoth Phillips the second of thirteen children of Elder James and Mary (Polly) Stansbury Murphy. Her paternal grandparents were Jonah and Sarah Pride Stansbury.

She was born December 3, 1853 in their home on Haddix Mountain, Randolph County, near the Tucker County line.

She was married July 15, 1869 first to Abel Wilmoth, and to this union were born four children, Lloyd, Hinnie, Emma, and Evva [sic]. Later she married Albert Phillips, but they had no children. Besides her own four children Aunt Sarah helped to rear three other children who needed a home, Elam Cross, Charley Wamsley, and Gladys Vanscoy. After marriage she lived in a log house, but later they built the fine home that was located in the field near where the J and H market is now located. The home burned within the last year, and the burned remains can still be seen from the highway.

Perhaps the greatest contribution she made to her community was her services as a midwife which according to records began in 1889 when she was 36 years old, and ended in 1916 when she was 63. She died December 26, 1916. In her medical records the first births recorded were those of Cora Wilmoth, January 10, 1889, who later married her youngest brother, Hickman Murphy, and Columbus Rossey, July 19, 1889 who was the son of her oldest sister, Isabella. One of the last recordings in her book was Roscoe Murphy, January 16, 1916, a cousin. She worked very little the year of 1916.

Her son-in-law Austin Curtis, who married her daughter Hinnie said, "Her records were thorough, and promptly recorded at the court house."

In most of the reports we find the name of each child, the date of birth, and the number of the child. She gave the names of the parents, and many times their ages, the maiden name of the mother, and the county where they were born. It is interesting to note how many of the parents came into Randolph County from Barbour County.

In response to calls, in early years by the father's voice, and later years by phone, night or day, she mounted her sorrel mare, Maude, and away she went on a side saddle with her little black bag. In cold weather she wrapped her legs even though she wore long skirts and petticoats. She stayed as long as she was needed at each home until both mother and baby were alright.

She was not only a midwife, but she was a friend to help the mother care for the babies, and she did much work as a Doctor anytime she was called.

Aunt Sarah did her work well because of her God given talent, and experience. She was not required to have a practicing license, as did her niece, Bessie Ferguson, who was also a midwife in later years.

Aunt Sarah perhaps never charged more than five dollars to deliver a baby, yet she was a good manager in her home and accumulated considerable wealth. She found work for all members of her family as they raised, harvested, and sold farm products. The merchants in Montrose would buy, trade, and sell, anything the people in the community had extra.

Even though all the children worked for Aunt Sarah, she sent them to school and they all loved her.

Her records show that she delivered 36 babies in this community. Many of their names you will recognize as you read the following complete list as preserved by her grandson, the late Russell Curtis, and his wife Pauline, who loaned the fragile books and Aunt Sarah's picture to be copied. We hope that you will be able to find some names and dates that will help you in compiling your own family history.

In the front of one of Aunt Sarah's books we found this message:

"When these you see, Oh, think of me."

I am indeed thinking of you today, Aunt Sara Midwife of West Virginia.

Fiction From West Virginia

Which reminds me...Have you read the "The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel of an American Midwife" (2012) by Patricia Harman? It is a story that may be a lot like that of Aunt Sarah Midwife.

Patience Murphy is a midwife who travels her community birthing babies and helping out new mothers. Murphy has come to Appalachia to escape a chequered past and to reinvent herself. (And honestly, a lot of people still come to WV to start over or to reinvent themselves.) Midwife Murphy distinguishes herself by serving both the white and black populations of West Virginia.

Probably also true to past times, Midwife Murphy accepts produce or livestock from patients unable to to pay cash.

Patricia Harman proves herself to be a top notch writer by delivering authentic mountain prose without resorting to hokey dialect. As a West Virginian and midwife, Harman's story has the distinct ring of truth and beauty. Each chapter tells the story of a birth and ends with the entry in her journal.

"The Midwife of Hope River" is one of those magical books that is written so seamlessly that it almost reads itself. Rewarding and rich, "The Midwife of Hope River" is a book that will please discerning readers of all ages.

Captain Snyder and his Twelve of West Virginia

I had wondered why Asa Harman had married the sister of his deceased wife and the section I found in "Captain Snyder and his Twelve of West Virginia" by Carrie Harman Roy explains the marriage. (1977)

"The TOWN of HARMAN, WVa, is situated near the junction of the Dry Fork River and Horse Camp Run. For many years a quiet country village, with the event of the railroad [Central WVa & Southern] which ran from Hendricks to Horton, WVa, the town began to grow and many people moved in.

The two main families at the beginning of this little community were the Harmans and the Snyders. Rev. Asa Harman owned most of the land on the east side of the river and Sampson Snyder owned most of the land on the west side.

Reverend Asa Harman (1834-1902), the son of Solomon Harman, was a traveling German Baptist preacher. He went from place to place and would hold services wherever he could. There were no churches at first, but he would visit in the homes and have services there. here the Harman Church of the Brethren was organized by him in 1859, in the home of Mrs. Jonas Cooper. Her husband had been killed in the war.

When the town of Harman came into being, there was much discussion as to what to name it. Reverend Asa Harman had donated 170 acres of land for the town and it was felt that it should be named after him, and it was.

Reverend Asa Harman, due to a financial need, began to sell off parts of his vast domain. The Coopers bought a goodly portion and soon many people owned parts of it.

Reverend Asa Harman married into the Cooper family. First, he married Elizabeth Cooper and to them were born two boys, Henry Clay Harman, and Job Harman. After Elizabeth's death, he married her sister Barbara because Elizabeth requested it."

This also helps to explain the prevalence of the Cooper name, even today, in Harman, West Virginia.

Speaking of good books, I just finished reading "Wonderful Tonight" by Pattie Boyd who was the wife of guitar gods George Harrison and Eric Clapton respectively. This is a must-read (and a quick read) for anyone who loves the Beatles and the music of Eric Clapton.