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.

How To Sell Books, CDs, and DVDs on Amazon

I started selling books and CDs online ten years ago when I realized that I had too many and that I needed to part with some of my collection to make room for newer items. It has taken me a long time to become good at selling online. I have also made a lot of mistakes along the way. But below, in cheat sheet form, is how to sell stuff on Amazon.

Open an Account

If you have never bought anything on Amazon you need to start an account. If you have bought on Amazon, you already have an account that you can use as your seller account. Go to Amazon.com to get started.

Start Small

Start with a small stack of books, CDs, or DVDs that you would like to sell. Using the ISBN, author, or title, search (on Amazon) for the item that you would like to sell on Amazon. Once you find the record for it, if you look to the right of the page you will see a small button that says, "Have one to sell?" Click on this button and follow the prompts for listing your item. (This part is just like Level One cataloguing. You cannot create a new record on Amazon--you have to attach it to a record that already exists.)

Condition 

Take some time to examine each item so that you can accurately assess the condition of your book, CD, or DVD. Does the book have a dust jacket? Include a description of the condition of the dust jacket ("mild shelf wear", "a few small rips", "like mint"). How is the binding of the book? Are all the pages intact? Has someone written their name or notes in the book? Does your book info match up to the Amazon book info? If it has a different copyright or printing date, you want to include that. Does the book smell funny? Has it been kept in a smoke-free household? Is the cover scuffed? Is the CD lightly scratched but still playable? These are all aspects of each item that you should consider and include in an accurate description that will help you sell more easily. Be careful in your descriptions. Discerning book buyers will not hesitate to return an item that is not as described.

When evaluating condition, always err on the side of reducing the condition.

Condition choices include:
Like New - This item should look like it just came from a bookstore shelf. I have had books returned for minor scuffing on the dust jacket.
Very Good - This item might have minor cosmetic blemishes but is almost Like New.
Good - These are books that have writing someone's name on the inside cover, perhaps the pages are slightly yellowed, but the binding is tight and all the pages are intact and readable.
Acceptable - I almost never sell books that are rated at this level because it means a book has serious condition issues. If these books don't have substantial resale value these "acceptable" books are also great for lighting your fireplace in winter.

Pricing 

Take a look at the number of other copies that you are selling. If there are several hundred copies of a book for sale, chances are it is selling for not a lot of cash. It is up to you to decide what your financial threshold is for selling books. For example, I have decided that books that are worth less than $10 are probably not worth selling online personally. (These books probably go to the library book sale or Better World Books.) I try to price my books ten cents below the lowest price on Amazon, therefore my listing gets picked first by the shopper looking for the cheapest price.
The price of a book is just like a stock or bond in that its value may fluctuate regularly based on the number of available copies. As a dedicated bookseller, I update my inventory pricing once a week to remain the lowest price seller on all of my items. I also usually tweak inventory on Fridays knowing that weekends are the busiest shopping time.

Shipping 

Consider which shipping options you will offer to your sellers. The more options you have the more chances you have at making a sale. However, because of my location (in a remote state), I only offer "regular shipping". One-day and two-day shipping is just not viable options when you live in the hills of West Virginia.

Yay, You've Sold a Book! 

Once you sell a book you need to be diligent about shipping out within one to two days, otherwise, customers will complain. When shipping books, CDs, or DVDs, I recommend shipping via Media Mail as this is usually the cheapest form of mailing. First Class mail may be cheaper for smaller and lighter items such as CDs and DVDs. Talk to your local postal employees and make those people your friends. They can be very helpful in recommending shipping choices that will save you cash.
Amazon makes order fulfillment easy by providing you with a shipping label (use it, it avoids typos) and a receipt, both of which you print out from your printer. Technically, if you include even a handwritten note of thanks on the invoice the post office can make you pay First Class. The Postmaster of any USPS center has the right to open and inspect any Media Mail package to confirm that you are sticking to the rules, but honestly, in all my years of selling and shipping, this has never happened.

Make sure that you package your book, CD, or DVD for safe shipping. A cheap way to handle this is by buying bubble mailers in bulk at a place online called ULine. (There are many places and just like books, these prices fluctuate too. Do some research to find the best price.) Imagine that the item that you have sold is going to get thrown and tossed by the package handlers and pack accordingly.

Getting Paid 

Amazon pays out twice a month directly into your (or your library's) bank account. They hold cash out in case of refunds and they also take their cut. (You didn't think Amazon would help you sell for free, did you?) Amazon is purposefully vague about their percentage, but as best as I can figure, they take about a third of your profits. Amazon also reimburses you for shipping, but if you are shipping larger or heavier items you might lose money in this process. That is why it is more profitable to sell small things rather than big things. (Avoid heavy coffee table-sized books.)

That's pretty much all you need to know to get started. The real trick is being able to figure out quickly which books have resale value and which do not. This skill has taken me years to hone.

Good News, Bad News

The Bad News

As most of you reading this already know, I was in a bad car accident on March 20, 2013, on my way to work at the Pioneer Memorial Public Library in Harman, WV. These weeks of recovery have been long and painful, but I am pleased to announce that I should be back to work and driving in the coming weeks. I am still recovering from a broken and dislocated ankle, several broken ribs, a broken sternum, bruised intestines, knee lacerations, and a head laceration. I still cannot walk but am beginning to put some weight on my ankle. Perhaps my greatest accomplishments so far are being able to go up a few steps (yay!) and taking a shower without risking my life.

I have never had a bad accident before but as a librarian who believes in lifelong learning I have learned A LOT from this experience. Here is what I have learned:

* The general world is not set up for handicapped people. I will never complain about parking lots with too many handicapped parking spaces ever again.

* It's very difficult to apply for and receive Medicaid. I will never complain about people who receive government subsidies as chances are good they have had to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops to get help.

* My friends and acquaintances care about me and have truly cared for me during this time. I received flowers, cards, phone calls, and food from many people. I will never doubt that I am cared for again.

* The body is an amazing piece of technology that knows just what to do in a crisis. I will never doubt the magical healing properties of the body.

* I will never complain about cleaning the house or emptying the cat litter box! I miss being able to do these things. Really.

* We have incredible medical technology and yet the body, with its glitches and ailments, is still quite mysterious.

The Good News!

Part of what has sustained me during this time is knowing that I was a recipient of a Rural Librarian scholarship through the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Thanks to UTK and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, I am the only person in West Virginia to receive this scholarship in 2013. I am majoring in Information Sciences and if all goes well will receive my MS degree in two years. Accredited by the American Library Association, I learned about the availability of this scholarship opportunity from the Laura Bush Foundation, took the GREs in November, and applied for it in December.

I learned of my scholarship award just prior to my accident, and knowing that this was waiting for me has helped to sustain me through some dreary days. Most of my course work is online and in the evenings, so it's easy and convenient to attend classes. The goal of my degree is not only to educate myself and advance professionally, it is to custom tailor my studies to improve the Pioneer Memorial Library, which is near and dear to my heart. I could not have received this scholarship if it were not my position at PMPL.

Thank You!

I would like to thank a ton of groups for coming to my aid on the day of my accident including: The Elkins Fire Department, the Harman Fire Department, the Whitmer Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, and Phi Air, the med-evac helicopter that flew me to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, WV. I would also like to thank the Trauma Team and the Orthopedic Departments at Ruby, as well as the doctors and nurses who took great care of me.

I would also like to thank the 2nd and 3rd graders at Harman School for their cheery get well cards and messages. They made me cry.

Thank you to all the folks who called, sent cards, or brought food to my house. I have needed the help and truly appreciate all the kindnesses that have been shown to me. Thank you to Cheryl Brown who has kept the Pioneer Memorial Public Library up and running during my time in recovery. Thank you to library board president Judy Bucher for managing the installation and completion of our new addition, and the renovation of the rest of the library space. If you haven't been to the library in awhile you should stop by and check it out!

When I blog again, I hope to have more information about how my classes are going as they begin at the end of this month!

Overdue: Getting Creative

OK, as a librarian, one of my pet peeves is overdue books and especially long-term overdue books. At the Pioneer Memorial Public Library we don't have a lot of cash to spend on mailing out overdue notices, but at the same time we also only have a $2,000 per year book-buying budget. That means that even a few missing books or DVDs really means a lot to a small library.

The overdue notices are generated automatically by the library circulation software that we use, but these notices are very impersonal and not particularly friendly. So this month when I sent out overdue notices I decided to try a new tactic. After all, I spent years designing direct mail marketing, aka junk mail, in which there is a whole science to getting the all-important response.

So I decided to approach the overdue notice with a little light-hearted verse in the style of Dr. Seuss. Here is the result:

Dear friends and readers,
Please lend me your ears,
We’re looking for lost books,
From over the years.

They may be in your house,
Or under the bed,
We hope that you liked them,
We hope they were read.

But other folks need them,
These wonderful tomes,
For loaning and learning,
For reading at home.

Please look for the books,
Wherever they are,
We need them back pronto
Are they in your car?

For buying new books
We don’t have lots of cash
So please search your cupboards,
And your own bookshelf stash.

Just drop them off
In our trusty drop box for books
No questions asked,
No dirty looks.

If you have returned
the books in this note
Just give us a call,
We’re sorry we wrote. :-)

I also included a note stating that we are waiving all fines until the end of June. Honestly, we just want our books or DVDs back. In direct mail, a one or two-percent response rate is considered good. But in the small library world, I am hoping for a larger return of long-lost books and DVDs. We shall see how successful my new approach may be.

Creating Ad Revenue Through Amazon Associates and Google Adsense

Sounds like a fascinating topic, right? But, if this can generate more income for your library, why not?

Here's how it works.

1. Create a blog within your library website, or externally on a free blogging site.

2. Within that blog, write regular book or product reviews of items for sale on Amazon and include a link.

3. Register your blog for free with Amazon Associates.

4. Every time someone clicks on a blog link and purchases the item, your library gets a small chunk of that money, as a sort of referral fee.

If you have a large library patron population this is a great way to generate income for your library and promote reading through book reviews. Blog entries also encourage a dialogue with your patrons. How can your library better serve your community?

Amazon Associates makes it fairly easy to set up an account and to start to figure out how to link products from Amazon to your blog or website. They recommend that the products that you choose to promote should be in line with the general theme of your website. So, book reviews make a great fit for any library or bookstore website. It's also a great fit with Amazon, the number one bookseller, and online retailer in the universe. You can read more about the Amazon Associates Program here.

(In my next blog entry, I will review two audiobooks I recently listened to by Janet Evanovich. My reviews will include photographs of the book covers and links to buy the products on Amazon, just to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.)

The Google Adsense program is also free to join. The only slightly tricky bit is placing a tracker code on your main page's Html, really not that hard. Once you register your library and Google Adsense approves your account, ads will start appearing on your library's blog. At this point, you may want to go into your ad preferences and indicate which kinds of ads you want for your site. Because our library is associated with a K-12 school, I indicated that I didn't want ads for tobacco, alcohol, or ads of an adult nature on the site.

So, for example, the blog you are reading right now probably has ads on either side of the columns. That is part of the Google Adsense program. Site visitors who choose to click on these ads and then purchase something generate income for the site in the way of a referral fee. But whatever you do, DO NOT click for the purpose of generating income for your library. That is considered click fraud and Google takes this Very, Very seriously.

I've had our Google Adsense account active for about a month and have seen zero revenue. I am hoping that when I create linked book reviews with Amazon our library will generate more income from this. With a well-written book review with correct SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I am hoping to attract a wider audience than just Randolph County, West Virginia. This is another great reason why using the Internet to promote your library is a natural and right thing to do. It only makes sense that if libraries are always living in the shadow of budget cuts they invent and expand new ways to generate income.

You can read more about Google Adsense direct from the source here.

Better World Books - Creative Book Recycling That Earns Cash For Your Library

In my continued quest to find alternative revenue streams for the Pioneer Memorial Public Library, I have connected with Better World Books. A fellow librarian tipped me off about BWB, so I made contact and set up an account. Here's how it works:

Once you sign an agreement the portal to order shipping supplies is open to your library or school. BWB sends free boxes and shipping labels that make this book recycling program even more attractive. To make sure you are not creating a larger carbon footprint through excessive shipping, BWB asks that you send no less than six to twenty-five boxes of books at a time. When you have filled up your boxes all you have to do is call UPS for a pick-up and the shipping is prepaid by BWB.

Better World Books sells these books on 50 online sites and sends your school or library 15% of the profits. An additional 5% goes to the charity of your choice. While 15% may not seem like a lot, BWB is keeping books out of landfills and creatively recycling these materials by reselling them online. The customer service representative that I spoke to said that they process about half a million books a week! That is a mind-boggling figure.

Founded in 2002 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame To quote from their website, "So far, the company has converted more than 58 million books into over $10.4 million in funding for literacy and education. In the process, we’ve also diverted more than 40,000 tons of books from landfills." That's a financial and environmental coup by any standards.

There are a few rules that you need to adhere to in packing up books for BWB such as:

* no Reader's Digest Condensed books

* no Who's Who books

* no damaged or marked-up books

* no Harlequin Romance novels

* nothing from the Modern Library series.

BWB suggests that these be recycled locally, while some may recommend these books as excellent fire starters. ;-)

I'll report back at a later date as to the profits we have received from Better World Books. Even if it's not a lot, it makes me feel good to know that these books may be reused and reread by people who need them or want them. I think of Better World Books as good reading karma.

The Power of Reading When Powerless

So in case you haven't heard, Superstorm Sandy came through on Monday evening and stuck around for a few days leaving power outages, downed power lines, and lots and lots of very wet snow. It was pretty at first. Then, when I realized the snow wasn't going to stop it got a little scary. Then the lights went out.

Without electricity for four full days I had a lot of time on my hands to consider the hardships of our pioneer ancestors who came to West Virginia to find a little patch of land to call their own. Left without electronic devices of TV or Internet, I began to read.

Someone had recommended the book "Follow the River" by John Alexander Thom. This historical fiction tells the story of Mary Draper Ingles (1732-1815) who was kidnapped by the Shawnee Indians from early western Virginia. Ingles later escapes and travels hundreds of miles to find her way home. I had trouble with the detailed violence in this book and could only make my way through about 50 pages before I abandoned this book to move onto something a little more peaceful. (If you are braver than I and want to check this book out we do have it at the library.)

A book I have been meaning to recommend that I read recently is "The Midwife of Hope River" by Patricia Harman. Set somewhere in West Virginia during The Great Depression, I found this book to be real, warm, and very believable. The titular midwife is Patience Murphy, a new midwife with a checkered past practicing baby birthing in Appalachia. The way Harman has structured the chapters is such that we read the story of a birth and then read the journal entry that Patience records for each new delivery. There is not a lot of conflict in this book, but the various people that Patience encounters along her midwife duties are fascinating and realistic. And yes, Patricia Harman lives in West Virginia and has an extensive background as a midwife.

I moved onto "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern. (Nothing pioneer-like here, it is pure turn-of-the-last-century fantasy.) This book held my attention for two days and 528 pages. It is about a lovely and mysterious circus that opens only at night and without notice. The imagery in this book is amazing. All black and white with punctuations of red. My only complaint is that the conflict set up by the premise is never really fully realized. What is wonderful about The Night Circus is the imagined world of this magical circus that is populated by delicious treats, trained kittens, mysterious circus planners, and an exotic contortionist. Nothing super deep, but a fun ride none the less.

I am so grateful to have had such great books to read while we were without electricity. The power of reading allowed me to escape from the oppressive feeling (especially at night) brought on by the extreme change in our daily routines. And reading about Patience Murphy reminded me that even without electricity I had way more resources available to me than our pioneer ancestors did.

I am hoping that you all weathered the storm fairly well. We measured a full 2-1/2-feet of snow at our place just outside Glenmore near Elkins. There are countless trees down, power lines down, and also folks who are still without electricity. I am truly grateful to the power line workers who came from all over the country to help us out in the wake of this freakish storm.