Stories from the Stacks

The Monthly Liaison: November 2022

I was eight-years old and I had just finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows. I was alone in my room with the door not-quite-closed while the household pattered around me—a football game played on the TV; dishes rattled in the kitchen. But I had been following the young boy, Billy, and his two hunting dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan, through the forests and hills of the Ozarks. Their devotion to each other had wrapped itself around my heart. And then. . . the end. I pressed my head between my pillows and cried, the book closed around my hand like it was holding it.

It has been decades now since I read Where the Red Fern Grows, but I still feel the ache of it. It is one of my most specific reading memories: I still feel the nubby yarn ties of the bedspread on my wet cheek; I still feel the book in my hand. I still feel the power of a book to hold me for a while in a world alongside the world in which I live – the humming of the everyday house – and the more I live, the more I value the power of imagined spaces to help us navigate the range of human experience.

Only a few years ago, I visited the Idaho Falls Public Library and discovered a statue of Billy, Little Ann, and Old Dan near the front entrance, and I was astonished to learn that the author, Wilson Rawls, had written the book in Idaho Falls. Rawls grew up during the Depression in Oklahoma and the Southwest. He had little access to books until he was well into his teenage years, and he struggled with grammar and punctuation his whole life, but he had a hunger for storytelling that he carried with him as he traveled from place to place working odd construction jobs. He wrote and wrote—but he was embarrassed by his errors, and at one point he burned all his papers.

Rawls was working construction for the Atomic Energy Commission in Idaho Falls when he met and married Sophie, who encouraged his writing and helped him edit it. In a three week fever of writing, he wrote Where the Red Fern Grows. I imagine him sitting at a table, one hand wrapped around a pencil and the other resting on a sheet of paper. I imagine him looking out the window at the sagebrush and mountains of eastern Idaho, and calling to mind the Ozarks of his youth, the howls of dogs, a red fern waving between wild violets and mountain daisies.

I am grateful he kept writing.

And as we move through the darkest evenings of the year, I am grateful for stories that hold our hands through the night.

Auntie Mame prompted me to think about Thanksgiving a bit differently this year.

Auntie Mame prompted me to think about Thanksgiving a bit differently this year. When I reflect on what family means to me, I not only include my husband, brother, and sisters, but, like Mame, I include my community of friends. Many of these people are those I first met when I moved to Ketchum in 2006…some of whom love and care about me like a “real” family member. As I do them. These are church friends, work colleagues, and of course, the many extraordinary friends I’ve made over my years at The Community Library. 

The Library is where the idea of community and family thrives, as hundreds of individuals of all ages come through its doors every day. From caregivers with kids making their way to story time, to high school seniors working on their college entrance applications in a conference room, to adults seeking learning opportunities at evening programs, to those who just need a moment to relax by the fireplace. Still others seek a connection with Buffy, DeAnn, or another librarian to find a book, solve a tech issue, or just spend some time chatting.  It doesn’t matter what brings someone to the Library, we are here for everyone. 

The end result is a Library where everyone is welcomed…a Library that feels like the best of home! 

I am very grateful for this community of friends–or family, if you will–because it is this fellowship that has made the existence of the Library possible—by nurturing it, supporting it, and enabling it to flourish. You have taught me lessons on family and the power of a caring community of friends. The end result is a Library where everyone is welcomed…a Library that feels like the best of home!

House of Light: A Teacher, a Renowned Literary Legacy,

and the Reach of Inspired Learning

~by Ashley Atwood and Robert Wilson

Republished from Rowland Hall's 2021–2022 Annual Report

Robert Wilson, self-portrait at the Hemingway House, 2022

In May, Upper School science teacher Rob Wilson embarked on an opportunity of a lifetime: a trip to Ketchum, Idaho, to reside in the home of Ernest and Mary Hemingway as a visiting scholar. There, he wrote teaching resources based on his own use of Hemingway in the science classroom, as well as conducted the property’s first biological inventory. It was both a personal journey and a chance for the educator to invite students into his experience, showing them what is possible when you pursue and cultivate knowledge and passion. Read more here.

It's a gathering time of year—collecting up our winter gear, gathering with those dear to us, recalling the origins of our land and legacy, and drawing

to our hearts all we have to be grateful for. In the spirit of gratitude and in celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we've curated some titles

in print, digital and audio formats. . .for you to gather as you please.

All free at The Community Library.

Find these and more recommendations, across genres, here.

Edited by Jo Harjo

Non-Fiction 811.008 WHE

by Jo Harjo

Non-Fiction 811.008 HAR

By David J. Silverman

Non-Fiction 974.4 SIL

by Richard Wagamese

Non-Fiction 158 WAG

by Shane M. Chartrand

Non-Fiction 641.59297

By Dylan Tomine

Non-Fiction 508 TOM

From the Great Courses

Featuring Sean Kahlenberg

Streaming on Kanopy

by Oliver Sacks

in Audiobook

by Larissa Fasthorse

in Audiobook

by Darci Little Badger

in YA Fiction

by Traci Sorell

in Juvenile Non-Fiction

by Darci Little Badger

in YA Fiction

by Traci Sorell

in Pictures Books/Easy

by Kate DePalma

in Children's New

by Kevin Noble Maillardi

in Juvenile Non-Fiction

by Dawn Casey

in Pictures Books/Easy

by Eileen Spinelli

in Pictures Books/Easy

by Oge Mora

in Juvenile Non-Fiction

Giving Tuesday

Generosity gives everyone the power to make a positive change in the lives of others and is a fundamental value anyone can act on.

Support The Community Library here on Tuesday, November 29.

THANK YOU to October Donors

The Community Library is supported by people who believe in the free flow of news, entertainment, and information.

The Library gladly accepts stock donations. Also, you might look at the benefits of making a gift from your IRA (also known as IRA Charitable Rollover Gifts). Money can be transferred directly from your IRA to a 501(c)(3) charity, such as The Library, TAX-FREE! Donors must be 70½ years of age, and a gift from an IRA helps you meet your Required Minimum Distributions.

Strategize now to save on next year’s taxes. Director of Philanthropy, Carter Hedberg, is here to assist you. 

Click here to see our Year-in-Review and download the Library's Annual Report