September 8
Cochran County Love Memorial Library MORTON, Texas - After about a 30-mile drive, we entered the city limits of Morton with a population of around 2,000 citizens, at 7 a.m. to visit with Darla Hightower, a one-woman library. Her library,
Cochran County Love Memorial building was formerly a bank with a drive thru teller booth still attached that now serves as Darla’s covered parking. Her city was mentioned in a USAToday article called
Rural American Long to be Linked.
First entering Morton we were passed by farmers on huge farming equipment, then we noticed a few closed shops and stores and could tell that the town had seen bustling and busier times but in the middle of this town, the lights were on at the library and Darla was open for business. Despite telling us of how sick and ill she was the night before it makes you wonder, if Darla gets sick, would the library be open? She confirmed that she has a back up person who is on call if she can’t make it in.
Darla told us about the need for more broadband speed at her library because at first local kids would come in just to play games over the Internet but then they learned to use the other resources in the library for school. She stated that students come in to further their education at nearby colleges and at Texas Tech which saves them about a 90 to 120 mile round trip to the campus in Lubbock. She said that people also come in and check the job markets and apply for jobs online and update their resumes.
A farmer named Donnie who raises cotton, maze and wheat for a living told us about how he uses the library’s Internet services to read farming news, farming magazines and check commodity prices which he stated are a little bit delayed. He also checks with the seed companies and their representatives online. A mother named Carrie told us of her kids using the library to do research for jobs, apply to colleges and for financial aid.
We met Ruste, a Texas boy who had to feed his animals and pet goat before he heads off to school every morning. But don’t be fooled by this kid with a grin and laugh as big as Texas is Internet savvy by using MySpace to chat with his friends outside the area. He also uses it to do his homework and just recently for a school project on the Alamo.
After the interview, Darla darts off to drop Ruste off at school, which was just around the corner. You can tell she does more for the community than just open and close the library and that she deserves that covered parking spot, also.
Next we are off to Denver City about 54 miles south of Morton down Texas highway 214.
Cecil Bickley LibraryDENVER CITY, Texas - Miles of farmland, which is nothing unusual in this part of Texas but what we found different was littered in the middle of the crops seemed to be miniature oil well pumps. The closer we got to Denver City the denser the pumps became in the fields. Then pumps started to get bigger and bigger and after a while you started to feel like they were watching you. We joked about this would probably be a place for a company like Halliburton. Then we passed the Halliburton Energy Services plant sign.
We came to meet Pat McNabb at the
Cecil Bickley Library in Denver City with a population of about 4,000. Pat is head of the Yoakum County public libraries with her other location 15 miles away in Plains. She greeted us with zucchini muffins and two orange and white cats that are the residential mascots of the library also welcomed us.
Pat told us that patrons bring food and treats for the cats and that the library has an entire section dedicated to cats for children to read. You will notice little cat nooks and crannies all round the library were built just for them and also the live displays for the tarantulas and turtles in the children’s section.
Pat told us of how citizens and patrons print out their IRS forms, unemployment check-ins and how many companies don’t hire walk-ins or people who hand carry their resumes to the company. They only accept online applications now. She said that harvesters who come in the fall for grains, watermelons and peanuts will have their trucks lined up in the library parking lot, utilizing the Wi-Fi to send e-mails home and to check grain prices along with the weather to determine if they should harvest or not. She also stated that every once and while they will watch the Dallas Cowboys football game over the Internet since they have no other means of viewing the team while on the road.
We also talked to Phillip, to a quick-witted gentleman with what I would describe as having a heavy Australian-type accent, who started a business as a U.S. wholesale distributor with a company in China. He said that it was because of the Internet access at the library that he was able to be in contact and develop a relationship to get his business started. He also relishes the fact that he can look at pictures of his grandchildren, which he said he would not be able to do without the higher speed Internet at the library.
A librarian named Ginger told us about how people in the county come to the library to submit workforce information instead of having to drive 35 miles to Brownfield in hopes of getting a job. At Denver City’s public library faster broadband services is wanted and need by the citizens and patrons, it is also a place to pet a harmless and friendly fat cat or two.
We are off to make a long five-hour drive to the mountains of west Texas, to Fort Davis located in Jeff Davis county.
Check back tomorrow for more.