<div class="gmail_quote"><div>This is really a great story. It shows that librarians' work really can make a huge difference in people's lives.<br><br>-- Peyton Stafford<br><br><br><div><font size="2" face="Arial"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113357239" target="_blank">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113357239</a></font></div>
<div><b>Boy Lifts Book; Librarian Changes Boy's Life</b></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><span>October 2, 2009</span>
<p>Olly Neal grew up in Arkansas during the 1950s. He didn't care much for high
school. One day during his senior year, he cut class — and wandered into the
school library.</p>
<p>As he told his daughter, Karama, recently, he
stumbled onto a book written by African-American author <a href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-523" target="_blank">Frank
Yerby</a>. And the discovery changed the life of a teenage boy who was, in
Neal's memory, "a rather troubled high school senior."</p>
<p>The book was <i>The Treasure of Pleasant Valley</i> — and it had an
alluring cover, especially for a teenage boy. </p>
<p>Neal remembers it being "risque — a drawing of a woman who appeared to be
wearing something that was basically see-through. But the symbolism was really
great for me at that age of 16."</p>
<p>There was just one problem: If Neal took the book to the checkout counter, he
was sure that the girls who worked on the counter would tell his
friends.</p></div>
<div>
<p>"Then my reputation would be down, because I was reading books," Neal said.
"And I wanted them to know that all I could do was fight and cuss."</p>
<p>Finally, Neal decided that he ought to steal the book, in order to preserve
his reputation. So he did. </p>
<p>A week or two later, Neal had finished the book — so he brought it back to
the library, careful to replace it in the same spot he had found it.</p>
<p>"And when I put it back, there was another book by Frank Yerby," Neal
said.</p>
<p>"So I thought, 'Maybe I'll read that, too.' So I took it under my jacket,"
Neal said. </p>
<p>"Later, I brought it back, and there was — by God, there was another book by
Frank Yerby. So I took it."</p>
<p>He read four of Yerby's books that semester — checking out none of them. </p>
<p>But Neal's sneaky behavior turned out not to have been so sneaky after all.
</p>
<p>Attending his 13-year high school reunion, Neal ran into the school's
librarian, Mildred Grady. She had seen him trying to steal <i>The Treasure of
Pleasant Valley</i> years ago.</p>
<p>"She told me that she saw me take that book when I first took it," Neal said.
</p>
<p>"She said, 'My first thought was to go over there and tell him, boy, you
don't have to steal a book, you can check them out — they're free.'</p>
<p>"Then she realized what my situation was — that I could not let anybody know
I was reading."</p>
<p>Grady told Neal she decided that if he was showing an interest in books, "she
and Mrs. Saunders would drive to Memphis and find another one for me to read —
and they would put it in the exact same place where the one I'd taken was."</p>
<p>So, every time Neal decided to take a book home, the pair would set off to
the city to find another book for him.</p>
<p>"You've got to understand that this was not an easy matter then — because
this is 1957 and '58," Neal said. "And black authors were not especially
available, No. 1. And No. 2, Frank Yerby was not such a widely known author. And
No. 3, they had to drive all the way to Memphis to find it."</p>
<p>But the women's efforts paid off: Neal went on to attend law school and later
became a judge, retiring as an appellate judge of the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
</p>
<p>When Grady died, her son asked Neal to tell everyone gathered for her funeral
the story of how the librarian nurtured his reading habit as a teenager.</p>
<p>"I credit Mrs. Grady for getting me in the habit of enjoying reading, so that
I was able to go to law school and survive," Neal said.</p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </p>
<p><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </p></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">John Martucci</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">National Sales Manager</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">Enslow Publishers, Inc. - <a href="http://www.enslow.com/" target="_blank">www.enslow.com</a></font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">40 Industrial Road, PO Box
398</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">800-398-2504 (ext 328)</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">908-771-0925 (fax)</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial">201-362-3846 (cell)</font></div>
<div align="left"><font size="2"><b><font size="5">
<p><font size="2" face="Arial">"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't
learn something from him</font></p></font></b><font size="2" face="Arial">." –
Galileo</font></font></div>
<div> </div></div>
</div><br>