Woman, 90, was 1st bookmobile driver
On a recent Friday, Marian Lechner, a resident of the Butler YWCA, was perusing three books she purchased for 40 cents that morning at a rummage sale.
When the 90-year-old finishes reading the two novels and a book of tips for playing bridge, she will donate them back to a rummage or used book sale, a way of rotating the small book collection in her cozy one-bedroom apartment.
"I'll read anything, even labels if I have to," she joked.
As the first bookmobile driver in Butler County, Lechner was in charge of bringing literature to children in more than 50 area schoolhouses and to adults who browsed through collections in beauty parlors and other locations.
A native of Butler, Lechner dreamed of being a teacher since childhood.
"But I hated it," she recalled. While in pursuit of her education degree at Grove City College, she decided against teaching and pursued a minor in library science.
After graduating, Lechner went on to Columbia University, where she received a master's degree in library science.
Despite the extensive education that taught her to file, organize and choose literature, her first position in the field would take her far from quiet rooms filled with leather-bound tomes.
In the fall of 1942, while working as a spotter watching for enemy planes from the tower of the Butler County Courthouse, Lechner's co-workers mentioned an open position for a bookmobile driver with a
program organized by the Federation of Women's Clubs in Butler County.
Although organizer Gertrude McKinney had already hired a driver for the program, that person resigned soon after seeing the hilly terrain her route would cover.
To offer bookmobile services in Butler County, a collection of books was borrowed from the state library in Harrisburg and housed in the basement of the Butler County Courthouse.
From that base of operations, Lechner stocked her bookmobile, separating books by age and at times by the curriculum in the school.
"When it started it was great," said Lechner, noting many county residents had not ever visited the Butler City Library, which required a paid membership.
Driving to often unpaved territories outside of the city of Butler, Lechner was able to reach about four stops each day.
Due to rations on gasoline during World War II, the route did not reach the outermost townships in the county. The refitted truck, weighed down by 200 to 300 books, was also unable to reach several schools located far from paved roads.
Despite the challenges, librarian Kathy Kline said Butler County's first bookmobile had already come a long way from the nation's first moving library in Hagerstown, Md., which was pulled by horses.
For the students Lechner did reach, she brightened their days.
"It was like Christmas for them," said Lechner, remembering her visits to the many one-room schoolhouses without libraries that she did reach.
Teachers would send a "committee" of students out to pick books from the vehicle, which featured shelves under two flaps on the side, and on the interior of the truck, where Lechner stored books for younger readers, who could crawl easily through the narrow aisle.
Coordinating book choices according to curriculum and grade level, Lechner also had the opportunity to read many of the books she recommended to the young readers.Among her favorites was "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. "I was a grown-up, but I really enjoyed reading them," she said chuckling.With an extensive route of schools and community collections, Lechner visited each site about once every two months.To maintain variety, Lechner and Eleanor (Schmidt) Kellerman traveled to the state library in Harrisburg about once a year, exchanging one truckload of books for another."Sometimes I wonder how I ever had the stamina to do it," she remarked of her busy schedule.While Lechner completed her daily route alone, today's bookmobile, purchased in 1998, is run with both a driver and a librarian.The number of stops has also decreased dramatically, noted Kline, director of the North Trails Public Library in Cherry Township, the current base of operations for the bookmobile.Though the vehicle made 55 stops on its route in 1997, the addition of branch libraries has brought the number of stops down to nine, allowing the bookmobile to make weekly visits.One of several vehicles used throughout the bookmobile program, the current vehicle carries about 2,000 items, including books, movies and audio recordings.By the time Lechner left her position with the bookmobile about eight years later, the bookmobile was already on its second vehicle, a larger truck customized by a shop south of Butler. The newer model featured interior stacks of books that pulled out so patrons did not have to crawl inside to access the full collection.Even after leaving her position, Lechner's work in literacy continued. She served as a librarian for the Navy's Medical Aviation Acceleration Laboratory in Johnsville, Pa.,and then for the General Life Insurance Company in Connecticut.Retiring after 30 years, Lechner returned to Butler, where she joined the Friends of the Library and the Women's Club of Butler.Though today's bookmobile is used less than in previous years, Kline believes the change shows an improvement and not a decline in service."Those other stops are being serviced by expanded or enhanced services (at branch libraries)."Though for Lechner the position of bookmobile driver was no more than an enjoyable first job, other avid readers see her as much more.Calling Lechner a "pioneer for literacy," Maria Blose recently invited her to be a guest at the Junior Women's Club's recent Arts and Literacy Night.Though distanced from her original dream of teaching, Lechner does realize the effect of literature on students."They loved it," she said. "They didn't know they were learning."
