Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston

Houston, Gloria. 2011. Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile. Illus. by Susan Lamb.

Harper Collins

In a time when librarians are hitting the floor like excess film, this book seeks to be uplifting and positive about the effect that a librarian can have upon a community but in this reviewers opinion,  it falls short.

Ever since Dorothy was a young girl she wanted to be a librarian because she loves books and people. Ideally she wants to be a librarian in a fine brick building but after marrying, she finds herself in a small rural area in North Carolina that has no library. The town rallies and buys a book mobile and with donated books, Dorothy begins traveling throughout the area. In time, a small house is donated to become the local library and as Dorothy nears retirement, she still helps people find that just right book(s).

There are numerous disappointments for me with this book. Miss Dorothy may love books and wish to bring them to others but she does not speak or believe like I would hope a librarian would. When the people came together and decided they needed a book mobile to reach all the people, Dorothy argued that “A library is a building with shelves and books and windows.” Yet the people persevered and collected enough funds to buy a bookmobile. When a house was finally donated to be the town library, Dorothy shows no joy but states, “It will have to do.” Miss Dorothy sighed, remembering the fine brick library in her hometown. How depressing to have a populace that loves and wants access to books and does the best they can, only to have the librarian sigh and be unhappy with the best that there can be.

The illustrations are fluffy and idealistic, so far from the historical truth of this area during the early 1900s. Everyone is well dressed, the houses are all in a state of perfection, and there are no obvious signs of differing economic or educational status other than one log house. I so wanted to like this book, hoping for a positive story of a librarian’s influence upon a community. While some influence is apparent in the story, in my opinion it isn’t enough to compensate for the poor outlook of a librarian.