From Mary Schubert, Pursell Schubert Legacy Library, Oklahoma City, OK

Unlike many of the living book/homeschool lending libraries that have been around for a while, my collection of books did not start because I was homeschooling my children. In fact, we did not start homeschooling until our youngest of five was headed off to kindergarten. After years of considering homeschooling, we dove in with a Kindergartener, a 4^th grader, and 10^th grader at home, and a high school senior and 8^th grader still in public school in 2008.

So, how did my lending library start? It was because of a conversation that I had with Jan Bloom, from BooksBloom at our homeschool convention, May 2012. She and I were talking about some of the books that she had for sale, which my father also had on his shelves at home. She said, “Mary, you should start a lending library!” She then proceeded to tell me about the upcoming 2012 Homeschool Librarians Conference that summer being hosted by Elizabeth Cottrill and Living Books Library. Jan connected me to what then was a Yahoo group, now hosted on Groups.io – homeschoollibrary@groups.io | Home – I so wanted to attend the summer conference at the Cottrill’s but it just was not going to happen. However, my request for recordings of the conference was answered as they were able to make that happen with the help of others. Homeschool Librarians Conference Package – Living Books Library But Jan’s spark had ignited, and the flame, while simmering at times, because of many family issues, kept burning. 

Books have been a major part of my life. Even before I decided to have a lending library, I always dreamed of having one of those richly wooden library rooms with books floor to ceiling, a sliding library ladder and comfy couches to snuggle up in and read an enthralling book. Some dreams become realities, and some stay in our minds and our hearts, but no matter what the outcome is, living at least a part of that dream can be very fulfilling and rewarding all the same. My love for books comes from my father, Dr. Lyle E. Pursell. He grew up on a small farm in southeast Kansas and, according to my uncle, they had a stack of encyclopedias which my father would read from cover to cover. My growing up years were spent in Rolla, MO where my father was a mathematics professor, and where Jan and Gary Bloom were living at the time that I met them. Unfortunately, the opportunity never arose for those three to meet each other, but they all hold a special place in my heart, as well as that of my mother. In my early years, my mother, Charlotte, helped start a nursery school at our local church, primarily so I could have some play friends. We took many trips to our local library and to a neighboring town for her to bring home stacks of picture books. One of my favorites was Roger Duvoisin’s Petunia, and another about a turtle with a flower on its back that I have never come across since. Later, she taught home economics for grades 7-12 in a small nearby town. After her retirement, she found another calling to organize and run a large-print lending library for the residents at the nursing home where my father’s sister had lived. I figured if she could be a librarian, so could I. My parents also shared their library supply catalogs with me and resources for buying used books.  

Since my older children all started out in public school, most of their reading education was done there, but my husband read aloud to them in the evenings. My library and book knowledge came more from years of learning the public school’s accelerated reading system for quizzing my children’s reading levels and deciding that I disagreed with it. I wanted my children’s reading levels to increase, but not at the expense of losing their love of reading. As I researched more, I began to discover a big difference between reading levels and interest levels. While the school wanted my children to keep increasing their reading levels, I believed that it was important to make sure they were interested in what they were reading as well. I began to recognize that many of the older out-of-print (OOP) books that I had loved as a child had larger text and more white space around the words which were easier for one of my children to read, who struggled with signs of dyslexia. However, many of those books did not have quizzes for my children to take and test their comprehension. That was fine by me but did not help with schoolwork.

Even before I was introduced to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, I knew the greater value of narration versus multiple choice. During the summer months, I turned my children loose to browse the shelves of our public library for summer reading, to find whatever interested them versus what they were “told” to read because they could be quizzed on it. To this day, I still believe the most successful reading program is both reading to your child from conception and finding books that they are interested in reading. I also advocate fathers being a part of reading time as much as possible. I desire my library to be a resource to families whose children just want to read and enjoy books, and for parents to find books from every subject, so they can offer a generous feast to their children. 

My library journey has been as much about my own growth and creativeness as a person, and finding a new interest that was full of passion, once again lighting a flame in me that has stayed burning through some very difficult times in my life. However, those difficult times were also other areas of growth for me, provided for the library financially, and remind me that while books are important, relationships are even more so, whether with my children, other family members, or my patrons. It is kind of daunting to think that I have been on this journey for over a decade now and I am not serving more patrons than I am. It is okay – there are a lot of other things that I have done along the way as well to encourage other librarians, homeschoolers, families, and mothers. I am eager to see what the next decade brings. Each of us has our own personalities, our own giftings, and our own abilities. Allowing the Lord to work though those, and daily, putting this library into His hands reminds me that we are on the journey together. It is because of my family’s influence and support that I decided to honor them with my library name: Pursell Schubert Legacy Library. 

This article is part of our Librarian Notices series of library stories at The Card Catalog. You can connect with us to comment on this story or any of our other library stories on our Facebook page.