Librarians of the West: A Quartet

by Hazel Rumney

"Too Much Dancing Going On" is the account of an independent-minded young woman in a wide-open Montana who loved books and horses, and later a certain literary young man. When Lyle Hardiman, easy-going, illiterate, Montana cowboy, accidentally blunders into the new library with his horse (he thought it was a livery), he meets the new librarian, Miss Rebecca Spark, and sets into motion a chain of events that will ensure the little town of Burnt Creek a place in the history books. With the help of the local saloon/shop sweeper, Lyle will discover a path laid out for him by destiny . . . a path that leads to the heart of Miss Rebecca Spark.

In "The Book Mama", Lady Jane Woodruff is stranded with an abusive husband in a harsh new country and relies on the wisdom of an ancient African American woman to guide her to freedom.

Fourteen-year-old Pearl Ellingson learns life's hard lessons as she struggles to start a library in frontier North Dakota in "Terrible and Wonderful."

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Anthologies

445 pages, Library Binding

First published September 22, 2021

Reviews

[Mark Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Librarians of the West is a 2022 Will Rogers Medallion Award Winner! My story, "The Cowboy, the Librarian and the Broomsman" was also the Short Story Finalist for the Peacemaker Awards.

In every boom town of the Old West, dozens of saloons blossomed almost overnight to serve the rowdy crews who worked the mines of silver and gold or the herds of cattle and horses. After a church finally got established, another civic milestone was the coming of a library. Five Star Publishers salute those pioneer book advocates in an anthology of four short stories that take place on the American frontier in the nineteenth century.

My story: In "The Cowboy, The Librarian, and the Broomsman, " Lyle Hardiman, an easy-going, illiterate, Montana cowboy, accidentally blunders into the new library with his horse (he thought it was a livery). He meets the new librarian, Miss Rebecca Spark, and sets into motion a chain of events that will ensure the little town of Burnt Creek a place in the history books. With the help of the local saloon/shop sweeper, Lyle will discover a path laid out for him by destiny . . . a path that leads to the heart of Miss Rebecca Spark.

I hope you will give it a try!

[Randi Samuelson-Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I'm one of the author's in this book. I want to applaud this glimpse into an often overlooked facet of life on the frontier - one in which libraries and music broke up the monotony of living in remote locations. I think explored seldom-told tales adds texture to the western experience.

[UmlautHerper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a charming collection. I really liked the idea of stories not just about the west but specifically librarians. Definitely not a piece of history I've really seen portrayed before. Now some specific thoughts on each of the stories contained herein:
Too Much Dancing Going: No dancing in the actual story??? What a scandal! Just kidding, mostly just seems like the title could have been something a little more applicable to the story. I was a little baffled at the choice to set up this with a framestory as it didn't really seem to add much to the main events of the story, and honestly might have been more impactful told completely linearly, however, I did like Eliza as a main character and it was fun to see her motivation to ride horses and share books with others.
The Cowboy, the Librarian and the Broomsman: This was probably my favorite of the novellas, up until the end when the story felt like it got a little bit away from reality, especially with the reference to the hair fungus, which as far as I could see after a quick google was not a real thing. However the writing in this story was delightful. I loved the setup of having a narrator setting up a romance and therefore more watching events than being an active participant in a lot of things. Also just in general the writing for this story was just beautiful, very lyrical and reminiscent of prose poetry to me, I thought it was especially delightful when pontificating on the shape of words such as a C looking like a horseshoe and an E looking like a sideways pitchfork that lost it's handle, what a fun way to learn your letters, compared to how its done now where you learn C by learning words that start with C, seems like it'd be more useful to visual what the letter looks like regardless if the word starts with that letter.
The Book Mama: This was a story that had a historical context I was completely unfamiliar with, I believe I had heard of the Homestead Act but I didn't realize it had also brought immigrants from places like Britain to also get homesteads on American soil. I also really liked seeing a community of Black people that were able to be sufficient for themselves. I also really liked the sweetness of Jane's relation with the Black students when she was their teacher. Of note there is reference to abuse in this story so definitely the one with the darkest elements of the collection.
Terrible and Wonderful: I really appreciated that this story focused on a child perspective (for the entirety as technically Too Much Dancing also showed some of Eliza's child years). It was a sweet way to get across the moral of the story that sometimes the life is sometimes terrible and wonderful all in the same day. It was also fun to see solutions and suggestions coming from children and being acknowledged as good ideas by adults.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all the stories. Just wish they were longer.

[Wanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongly written stories of librarians and potential librarians during the settling of the Western United Stares. Each story shines on its own, each has its strengths. From a wife desperately needing to escape her marriage to a young girl favored by the aging doctor, the four authors describe potential situations leading to the the main protagonists establishment as librarian. Dry understated humor undergirds another story in which the beautiful librarian ropes in her cowboy. Superb storytelling skills. One story better than the next. A must read for anyone interested in the West, libraries, or tight writing.

[Debbie Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful collection of stories about libraries in the old west. Loved it!!

[Nadina · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were quite enjoyable stories. I enjoyed the pace of them, though I liked the ones divided into chapters more as it was easier to find a good place to pause. The stories were well written and I liked the characters and how they grew over the course of their stories.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't care much for the first story, it bounced back and forth in time too much. I liked the second story, it was kind of a tall tale. I adored the third and fourth stories, and I wish they had been longer.

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Too Much Dancing Going On” ****
“The Cowboy, the Librarian, and the Broomsman” ***
“The Book Mama” ***
“Terrible and Wonderful” ****

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a delightful collection. "The Cowboy, the Librarian, and the Broomsman" by Mark Warren is a punny tall tale, not a genre I experience much anymore. Charlotte Hinger and Randi Samuelson-Brown focus on the opportunities for self-actualization found in a new place. These two are set in an idealized West and end unrealistically happily, but they are interesting nonetheless. Candace Simar's effort uses the library to pull a community together.

[Elsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An assortment of short stories/novellas dealing with libraries and the West in the late 1880s and early 1900s A couple are set in Montana, one in western Kansas, and one in North Dakota. My favorite was the one by Mark Warren with its tongue-in-cheek humor.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This if 4 different stories about people in the 1800’s trying to get libraries in their towns. They had such hard lives and very little reading material.

[Deirdre Murray]

I could not read this. It was so poorly written and edited that I gave up.