During the Great Depression, a New Deal program brought books to Kentuckians living in remote areas.  This article from the Smithsonian Magazine from 2017 will give you more detail on this program. 

The library recently added two historical fiction books to our collection about this subject.  Below are the titles and a brief description of each book.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson.

Cussy Mary Carter is the last of her kind, her skin the color of a blue damselfly in these dusty hills.  But that doesn’t mean she’s got nothing to offer.  As a member of the Pack Horse Library Project, Cussy delivers books to the hill folk of Troublesome, hoping to spread learning in these desperate times.  But not everyone is so keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and the hardscrabble Kentuckians are quick to blame a Blue for any trouble in their small town.  Provided by publisher

Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes

Set in Depression-era America, Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England.  But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overhearing father-in-law.  So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.  The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything  They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky.  What happens to them, and to the men they love, becomes a classic drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion.  Though they face all kinds of dangers, they’re committed to their job, bringing books to people who have never had any, sharing the gift of learning that will change their lives.  Provided by the publisher