I love stories about women in history who accomplished amazing things by holding tight to their passion and showing fortitude in the face of adversity. Even better if they are fellow book-lovers. Mary Titcomb was just such a woman.
Mary was born in 1852 into a family who valued education. She graduated from Robinson Female Seminary and set her mind to put her education to use. She discovered a library internship program through a church, and after completing it, went on to serve as a librarian in Vermont for 12 years. She entered the field at just the right time. A few years earlier, and a woman would not have been granted such a position. A few years later, and the role would require advanced degrees and certifications through Melvil Dewey’s work to professionalize library work.
Her lack of training in Dewey’s system proved a hindrance, however. In 1893, she applied to work as a librarian at the Women’s Building Library at the Chicago World’s Fair and was denied by Dewey himself.
Determined to move forward, Mary took a position as librarian at the Washington County Library in Maryland. The library was only the second country library in the country and gave her opportunities to be on the cutting edge of library development. One of her main passions was to make books more accessible to people in rural areas. She set up book stations in community gathering places like general stores, post offices, and even creameries. However, these stations were still mainly used by townspeople. So Mary decided to take the books to the people instead of waiting for them to come to the books.
Her “Book Wagon” launched in 1905. The first bookmobile set off over mountain roads, stopping at each house. The library’s janitor, Joshua Thomas, drove the wagon and called himself a “book prophet.” He followed Mary’s instructions to the letter, allowing families plenty of time to browse the books and make their selections.
This library on wheels was a tremendous success. In 1910, however, a freight train destroyed the wagon. The library’s board refused to give up on the idea and in 1912 purchased a motorized truck as a replacement. The truck contained space for 300 books.
Elmer Corderman was hired as the driver and accompanied by librarian Nellie Chrissinger. With the ability to cover more ground more quickly, the bookmobile expanded its territory. Demand grew so high, that in 1915, they replaced it with a bigger truck.
Mary’s creativity inspired a literary revolution around the country. Her career took off as well. In 1914, she was elected Vice President of the American Library Association, the very organization that Melvil Dewey established. She had proven her worth and helped shape the future of community libraries.
Have you ever visited a bookmobile?
What are some of your favorite library memories?
Resources: Mary Titcomb: service through books and The First Bookmobiles
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Fascinating! I love the determination she had to get books in the hands of people. Bookmobiles were such a thing when I was younger. I can’t remember if I personally visited one, or have just seen and read so much about them that I feel as if I did!
I love that she found a creative way to share her love of books and education with those who were easily overlooked. Just think how many lives she impacted with this one idea!
What a great story – perseverance pays off! Love of reading works miracles.
I think I told this story before. My father took my brother and me to a children’s library housed in the basement of a stone house in a neighborhood park. It was a magical place for us as we picked out the maximum number of books allowed and began reading them on our way home. We both are avid readers.
I love hearing about that magical place, Betty. It might have looked like an ordinary basement to the untrained eye, but for you and your brother, it surely was a portal to a thousand different worlds. 🙂
What a fascinating article about Mary Titcomb’s library accomplishments! I come from a family of readers–at least the females were/are all readers. My father worked hard and traveled in his job, so I don’t remember seeing him reading. He was more of a math person. However, all of us females–Mother and the three daughters–loved to read. We frequented the municipal and school libraries, but I don’t remember a bookmobile in our past. What a clever idea!
Reading is such a gift. My daughter is voracious reader. My youngest son, however, has a bit of dyslexia and has always hated reading. Not too long ago, though, I actually caught him reading a novel. For pleasure. I nearly fell out of my chair. Then I nearly cried, it made me so happy. Just goes to show that those early lessons do indeed take root, even in soil that is less than fertile.
Mary was such an impressive woman! I loved learning about her in this post and find her example inspiring. What a fabulous idea to bring the books TO the people. 🙂
Exactly! It seems so logical now, but at the time it was revolutionary.
What an fascinating story, Karen. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Beth. 🙂
Karen, I loved this so much that I have made it into a lesson for my 3rd-grade intervention readers. We are going to analyze the passage and then answer the questions in an open discussion. 🙂 What a fantastic post. 🙂 I loved the bookmobile as a child. We lived in the middle of nowhere in rural Ohio and I was so excited when it would come around. It sincerely was the “big event” on that day in our little one-traffic light town. I also was very fond of our school library and worked many summers for the librarian restocking and organizing and cleaning the shelves. I thought about library sciences when in college, but teaching was my calling. 🙂 Thanks again for always sharing so much of yourself and your love of books and learning. 🙂 You make such a difference in this world and to me. 🙂 Mary
Here is a pdf of my lesson I made with your blogpost: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bvmbnBbe43egmJQs4FQw03RP5W0XR4kE/view?usp=sharing
Mary – This is so cool! I hope your students enjoy Mary’s story as much as you did. 🙂 I included two links at the bottom of my post to the two resource articles that provided much of the information found in this post. If you want to do any further reading. 🙂
🙂 Awesome, I will add those for them. 🙂 I know they will like it. I love you tons! 🙂 Mary
I added the resources for them on slide one. 🙂
So fun!
Great report, Karen. I hope you’ll write a book about this!
She is certainly heroine material, isn’t she, Lenora? 🙂
So great to read of this history! I remember going to a bookmobile when I lived in Alabama for one summer as a child. It was fun!
What a great memory, Traci!
As a child I visited a bookmobile regularly. One bookmobile came to our Christian School every couple of weeks. I confess I never left that bus without an armful of books.
In the summer the bookmobile would stop at various places and I would ride my bike a mile or more to return last weeks pile and check out a new pile.
Those buses were very important to me!
What wonderful memories, Jen! Whenever I visited my town’s library, I always came away with giant stacks of books, too.
What an interesting post, Karen. Thank you so much.
I’ve never seen a bookmobile, but would love to see one.
Growing up, my mom would take my sister and me once a week to the local library. We’d stock-up on books, and do the craft of the week while there. Such fun memories!
Libraries are special places for children, I think. We love them as adults, too, but there’s something about a child discovering the world of books for the first time that can’t be replicated later.
My Mom was a part-time librarian and instilled in us a love of books. When my Dad passed, she couldn’t make ends meet on her salary. Our county library system then offered her a position on the bookmobile. Not only did the supplemental income help enormously, it was a wonderful distraction during that difficult time of grief. She met many people and had the joy of helping them get books way out in the country where no libraries existed.
What a wonderful story, Lisa! I love that!
I loved that piece of history. We had bookmobiles when I was in the 1-4 grade. I couldn’t wait for it to come. I always found me a book to read. I have been happily reading ever since first grade.
My dad always took us to the library on Sunday afternoons when we were small, but during the summers there was no need as the bookmobile came to us at a park a block away. It was a library in miniature and I loved it. I always read above my grade level, and checked out my first grown-up big reads from the bookmobile.