Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 8))
A warm tribute to the WPA-funded "book women" (and men) who rode Kentucky's backwoods in the 1930s and early '40s, delivering library service to some of this country's most impoverished citizens. Gathering information from archives, hard-to-find published sources, and interviews, the authors write feelingly of the Pack Horse Library Program's origins and the obstacles its dedicated employees overcame. These ranged from the chronic scarcity of books and magazines (nearly all of which were donated) to the rigors of riding, generally alone, over rugged terrain in all weathers. Those rigors are made more immediate by a reconstructed account of a rider's day: rising at 4:30, stopping at isolated hamlets, cabins, and one-room schools to drop off materials and, sometimes, to read aloud, then plodding wearily home through darkness and drizzle. Supported by a generous array of contemporary photos and sturdy lists of sources and Web sites to give interested readers a leg up on further inquiry, this adds unique insights not just to the history of library service, but of Appalachian culture, and of women's work in general. 2001, HarperCollins, $16.95. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 10 to 12. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Janice M. Del Negro (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2001 (Vol. 55, No. 2))
In the 1930s, President Roosevelt’s New Deal included employment for women who were heads of households. In Kentucky, that employment meant local women became “book women,” who saddled up to supply makeshift library services to locals. Appelt and Schmitzer open their book with an imagined account of a pack horse librarian’s day, from her rising before dawn, to her long trek through freezing rain, to her return home after a twenty-mile circuit. The book then gives an explanatory overview of the work of these women (there were few male pack horse librarians), who spent long hours on horseback in all kinds of weather, carrying “tattered books and magazines, a few bulletins from the WPA, some reference books, and a couple of homemade scrapbooks” from house to house and school to school in the Kentucky mountains. The information is a little sketchy, and it’s surprisingly unconnected to the history of libraries at that time; the concluding speculations about and claims of impact are unsupported. The tone is occasionally unconsciously condescending (especially in the reproduction of mountain dialect), and although these women deserve recognition, the authors have a tendency toward romanticism. Still, this is a little-known part of American and library history, and these women certainly deserve laurels and lauds. The bibliography includes primary source materials, theses, interviews, and websites; black-and-white photographs appear throughout. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2001, HarperCollins, 64p, $16.95 and $16.89. Grades 4-8.