Your Library Stories

Story by Carolgene Wolf “Did anyone famous ever go to Franklin School?” “Maybe somebody famous once sat in my desk!” “Or had class in this very room?” “Let’s try to find out!” “How?” “The library! The Librarian knows everything! Well, maybe just about everything.” Thus, a conversation was begun in the third-grade classroom on the 2nd floor in the SE corner of Franklin School. The project took a few weeks and included a field trip to the Alfred Dickey Free Public Library. Amaz

Story by Beau L'Amour I have no idea of how we were trained, my sister and I, but we knew how to approach my father if he was working and we wanted his attention. We would enter his office picking our way through the piles of books and papers. We would stand to one side of him, just within his peripheral vision, and silently wait while he worked.  Sometimes he would lift his fingers from the keys and say, “Just a minute.”  Then he would go on and complete a thought or get him

Story by Phyllis Bratton, University of Jamestown,  Raugust Library Director Part of the Raugust Library L’Amour Collection Shortly after Louis L’Amour’s death, Kathy L’Amour gave the University of Jamestown’s Raugust Library copies of all of his books, and continued to do so for many years after his death, as more were found among his papers and published.  In this gift, she included many translations of his works. As a result, Raugust Library holds 387 volumes of his work,

Story by Keith Norman Sometimes doing research on a story with the assistance of the Alfred Dickey Library, turns into research about the library. Recently, during a project gathering information on the Battle of Big Mound, fought in Kidder County in 1863, the books the library supplied gave me an unexpected look at the town of Jamestown and the people who made the Alfred Dickey Library possible. The book was “Yet She Follows” written by Edna LaMoore* Waldo, sister of western

Story by Bruce Berg IN 1972 LOUIS L’AMOUR CAME BACK TO JAMESTOWN TO BE HONORED BY JAMESTOWN COLLEGE. I WAS TOLD THAT HE WOULD BE AT THE LIBRARY IN THE LATE  MORNING SO I MADE QUICK PLANS TO TAKE MY 3RD PERIOD ENGLISH CLASS TO THE LIBRARY TO CHECK OUT HIS AGENDA.  NOT MUCH HAD BEEN SCHEDULED FOR HIM AND I FOUND HIM AVAILABLE TO SIT AT A TABLE WITH ME AND ENGAGE IN A BRIEF CHAT. HIS WRITING SISTER EDNA L’AMOUR WALDO  WAS AT THE EAST END OF THE LIBRARY GIVING A TALK ABOUT HER WR

Story by Mike Morrissey I met Louis L’Amour once, and at my age then, the meeting could not have been more perfect. He was passing through Valley City, or, alternatively, he had been brought there by Dad’s brother, Joe, from Jamestown, so that Lou might say hello to Dad after the passage of a lot of years since their last time together.   The time of the rendezvous was post WWII, the exact year of which I am unsure. But the meeting was perfect from my point of view because li

Story by Deb Hornung The James River Valley Library plays a very important role in the elementary classroom. I have taught elementary children for over 30 years, and have depended on and worked closely with the library throughout each school year, at all levels of teaching. I have used the library for thematic teaching units, to find as many resources as possible in order to peak student’s interest on a topic, and I also have borrowed books on a monthly basis to use for ora

I don’t have any one single story about libraries playing a role in my life, but they’ve always been important. They were especially important for the year and a half after college. I took a year off before grad school to work as a caddy in Chicago and on the Oregon coast, and travel through Australia. Because I never stayed in one place very long, I depended on public libraries for internet so I could stay in touch with friends and family, keep up with current events, resear

Story by Stephanie Loose As a young reader, I knew I liked Burgess books. I recall the shape, size and art on the cover and where they were located. I was very surprised years later, when I realized Burgess wasn’t the type of book, but the author. I was the school librarian for three years at Woodworth High School. All juniors and seniors were required to write a paper on a topic of their choice. We would travel by bus to visit Alfred Dickey Library in Jamestown where we lear

Story by Jill Pfaff My library story really begins quite recently. It started when I accepted a position working at the James River Valley Library System. Prior to working for the library system, I honestly did not give much thought to the library other than it being a potential source for me to acquire my next book. The library has always been a “given” so to speak. Growing up, my parents and most of my siblings were avid readers. Our home bookshelf housed a full set of ency

Story by Dr. Jo-Ida C. Hansen Like many people, I am sure, who grew up in Jamestown, I have fond memories of the Alfred Dickey Free Public Library.  My parents, Gordon H. & Charlotte H. Hansen, who owned the Jamestown Sun were seriously avid readers.  I have no doubt that they made sure I had a library card at a very young age.  I do remember trips, as a kid, to the library to pick out a stack of books to borrow.  I think a limit was imposed on how many volumes each library c

Story by Alice Mueller Harris Not long after World War II in 1950, my family took a ship to the United States from Germany to make a new start. There were ten people in all; my father, my mother, her mother and father, her three brothers and three sisters. They found their way to Chicago even though they spoke only German and Polish. I was born on January 22, 1956. From a very young age I had a learning disability. It was really hard for me to learn to read, to write and to u

A librarian at the Alfred Dickey Free Library, whom I knew only as Mrs. Smith, made a profound difference in my young life. I discovered reading at an early age, likely because my parents enjoyed reading to me. One of my best memories is of my dad reading Little Black Sambo to me, with great enthusiasm and humor. While that book is considered somewhat politically incorrect today, I believe my dad thought only that it was a book about a young boy who outsmarts the opposition b

One of my favorite memories is when I signed up for my first library card. I was so excited. Imagine that — I could check out a few books for a whole week. The only problem was that I always finished all the books I checked out (usually the limit was three) by the end of the first day. Back to the library we would go — my mother with me in hand. Eventually I was able to make the long walk down the Third Street hill on my own and visit the library. The staff soon learned that

Bruce Keith & Bill, otherwise known as BBK, are local authors.  They will talk about the process of self-publishing your book from creation through production and on to the ever-changing process of marketing your creation. All Adult Programs are proudly sponsored by Jonny B's Brickhouse

When I was asked to write a story about how libraries influenced my life, I was skeptical. Was I willing to open myself up to a bunch of strangers in my community or on the internet? I know millions of people do it on a daily basis. That is why Facebook is here. Bill did not give up on me. He had heard my story before, and he realized that if I shared my story, it could give people hope. If my story could inspire someone out there, than it was my duty as a human to help my fe

When I received the information brochure regarding fund raising for a new bookmobile, I immediately knew it would be a community project I wanted to support. I remember as a kid waiting for “Bookmobile day” to exchange my pile of library books. I was fortunate to learn firsthand the importance of the library to a community as I worked as a circulation clerk through my high school years at my local public library. I see the library as a hub of the community; as the place for a

Story by Diane Jolin Literacy has always been important to me. That is one of the reasons I became a reading teacher. I would tell my students that to become good readers they would have to read. The more they read, the better readers they would become. I grew up with parents who loved to read. My father read just about every book I brought home, even some of my college textbooks. We always had books around and at times my mother would have to tell us to quit reading and do

This is a story about the impact of the library on my own education from my high school days at Jamestown High School. I was tasked with the requirement to provide a term paper for Sociology class. I was not the best at studies, or reading for that matter, and certainly not one to frequent the library. I reluctantly decided I needed some help with the project. I turned to the one person I knew could point me in the right direction. I made my way to Alfred Dickey Library and