Special thanks to Lisa K. Miller for sending us this oral history, an audio file of an interview with Margie Helm available in Western Kentucky University’s TopScholar database. Ms. Helm served as the director of Western Kentucky University Libraries, participated in Bowling Green’s Inter-Racial Commission, and lead efforts to expand library services to African-American citizens. Read more about her pioneering work for equal library access on the WKU Libraries’ blog.
In the interview below, Ms. Helm discusses the rise of the Bowling Green-Warren County Library in the early 20th century. She also talks about checking out and delivering books from the first town library to African-American students in Bowling Green:
Transcript is included. Let’s hope more libraries digitize these types of interviews.