07/31/2026
📚🐴 DID YOU KNOW?! 🐴📚
Long before bookmobiles and e-books, there were Packhorse Librarians—real-life horseback heroes who brought the joy of reading to children and families living in remote mountain communities during the Great Depression.
🌟 A few amazing facts:
• The program began in 1935 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.
• Nearly 1,000 librarians (mostly women) used their own horses and mules to deliver books.
• They traveled up to 18 miles a day over rugged mountain trails and through creek crossings.
• Their saddlebags carried books, magazines, Bibles, and educational materials to families who otherwise had no access to a library.
• Many librarians also read stories aloud, helped teach children, shared community news, and even created homemade scrapbook collections filled with recipes, local history, and quilt patterns.
❤️ At A&O Mounted Patrol, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to discover the magic of reading. That's why we proudly support children's literacy and partner with the Packhorse Library Program by attending community events, visiting with children, and giving away free books to help inspire a lifelong love of reading.
📖🐎 Don't miss our final Packhorse Library event of the summer!
Join us at the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (The Woodlands Chapter) Community Wellness & Resource Fair in Tamina this Saturday. Stop by to meet our 1st Lieutenant J. Clifton and her horse Misty, say hello to the Packhorse Librarian, and let the kids pick out a free book to take home!
We can't wait to see you there!
