Female librarian on horseback delivers books to the students of a mountain school, Kentucky, 1938...
This scene is part of the Pack Horse Library Project, a New Deal program under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that operated from 1935 to 1943. It employed mostly women to deliver books to remote areas of eastern Kentucky, where rough terrain and poverty limited access to education and libraries.
At its peak, the program served over 100,000 residents across Appalachian Kentucky, with librarians traveling on horseback or mule over narrow mountain trails, often covering 100 miles per week. The collections included donated books, magazines, newspapers, and even handmade materials like scrapbooks compiled from clippings.
The initiative significantly improved literacy and access to information in isolated communities during the Great Depression.
Many Pack Horse librarians earned as little as $28 per month, yet their work laid the foundation for rural library systems that continued after the program ended.
© Old Historical Photos
#archaeohistories