What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1272416
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 9 See Libraries Page 10 House and Schmidt were so moved by what they were discovering, says Schmidt, that they couldn't limit their observations to short captions underneath the photos. So they added an essay component. This photography studio is in Stamps. (Photo by Sabine Schmidt) And this is the Tollette Public Library. (Photo by Sabine Schmidt) community lost its school. Sometimes we saw both in our travels. And we wanted to honor that, just kind of show what's happening in all of these tiny places in Arkansas." The original intention was to create a photo book: House would contribute portraits, black and white photos taken of a smattering of the library's patrons and employees, and Schmidt would record the community around the library with her color photography. But the duo was so moved by what they were discovering, says Schmidt, that it couldn't be limited to short captions underneath the photos. So they added an essay component. "They're fairly short, but we just had to talk about what we saw and learned and experienced," notes Schmidt. "We didn't plan it this way, but Don's essays, most of them, are kind of written portraits of a person who showed up on portrait day, or the driver of the bookmobile that we followed for a day, or a librarian. He wrote these vignettes, these beautiful portraits of one person, one individual. And mine are kind of like my photos — they're portraits of the town, often with a bit of discourse into history, just kind of how I experienced the town. We just had to write about them. We couldn't just take the photos." So what did they discover that was so compelling? Something not that surprising to Schmidt, used as she was to patronizing St. Paul Public Library: In smaller communities, the public library means so much more than a place to check out books. In many of these towns, the library was a direct lens through which to study the community surrounding it. "Some librarians would probably argue with me on this one, but books are probably the least important aspect of a small public library," she says. "Like the one that I'm in, and it's probably not the only one, DVDs are so much more important when it comes to circulation, what people really want and need. Of course, it's because internet connectivity is an issue here, as it is in many other communities. People may not have internet at home. They may not be able to afford satellite service. Audio books are still important. And just the sense that this is a community hub, where you can go and have a cup of coffee and work on a puzzle and see your friends and see your neighbors. Children's programming is incredibly important, especially for the youngest kids that don't go to school yet. The summer reading program that all the libraries are running this summer is very important to the community. We have one local farm that sells produce on the library porch on Fridays. Crafts activities, arts, things like that — a place for people to go and be part of their community. I think that's the most important aspect of their libraries." Schmidt says there were some more sobering discoveries that changed the vision of the book once they started. "We realized that what we're doing is not only honoring and celebrating the library, but also getting a sense of the culture of Arkansas and the different regional cultures within Arkansas," she says. "And that includes racism. We found out things, we saw things, we've heard from the librarians — every place we went to had some form of historical or present-day racism that was an incredible learning experience. And so the book is different than what we first thought it would be. It's almost like we kind of grew up with the book." For the project, Don House took photos of the libraries' patrons and the staff that keeps things running. (Photo by Don House)