In 1938, deep in the hills of rural Kentucky, a determined librarian rode on horseback through fog and forest, her saddlebags filled not with food or mail, but with books.
She was one of the “book women,” part of the Pack Horse Library Project launched during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In one of America’s most remote regions, these librarians traveled across mountains, creek beds, and snowbanks to bring stories to readers who had no other way to access them.
Often earning just $28 a month, they rode up to 100 miles a week, braving harsh weather and rugged terrain—not for fame, but driven by the belief that knowledge should never be out of reach. In the hollows of Appalachia, they weren’t just delivering books—they were delivering hope.
