READING ROOM
Bullard library pushes capital campaign
By Cathy Krafve Bullard Banner News

Above is the architect's rendering of the proposed building for the Bullard Community Library. The libary is holding its annual golf tournament on Monday at Eagle's Bluff Country Club. For more information, call the library at 903-894-6125.

Walk into the handwrought cabin, over the shiny cedar floors to the picture window with the view of the pond, and it is inviting to settle into a chair at the table where books are spread, open, all over the surface. Obviously, the Martins' home is a world where books are valued friends.

"I don't know when I started liking to read," Pat Martin said, allowing herself to be distracted from her current book project, preparing for a Bible study she teaches, to talk about another favorite project, a new home for the Bullard Community Library.

According to Martin, the need is great.

Space seems to be the number one necessity as she cites all the ways the library has outgrown its services to the community.

Included in the plans for the new building is a spot to serve senior citizens.

"Meals on Wheels" is planning to serve lunch to seniors in the proposed community room each day and to provide the equipment necessary for the proposed kitchen.

The vision is to give seniors a place to enjoy lunch, socialize, play some dominoes, and, of course, check out a few books, according to Martin.

Far-sighted community leaders began planning for the current library in 1976, and by 1979, when the Martins arrived to the area, the library was already in its current home in the log cabin built and donated for that purpose on Main Street.

Martin remembered her surprise when she walked into the library for the first time and all the books were bright orange.

"Well, that's bright," she thought, noticing that the spines of all the hundreds of donated books had been covered with orange tape in order to make cataloging them easier. It was in the days before the library could afford to buy new books.

Martin's background as an educator was one reason she immediately saw the benefit of the new community library, which was still in the infant stages.

She began her own education studying to be a nurse, but her husband's frequent military transfers meant she often found herself adjusting her major along the way at each new university or college. At one point, she even considered being a librarian.

Four children and several schools later, she finished her first degree in speech therapy, then added a master's degree in early childhood development

It was while she was studying for her master's that she developed a love of children's literature, including the Caldecott and Newberry Award winners, to add to her ongoing love of books in general.

When Martin's husband George retired from the US Air Force in 1979, he searched East Texas until he found just the right bit of acreage to satisfy his Aggie heart.

Soon they were members at Bullard Methodist Church.

It was through church that Martin met Velma Cravy who was instrumental in getting the movement for a library started.

"Velma used to say that people would cross the street when they saw her coming," Martin laughed, referring to Cravy's reputation for boldly asking everyone in town for donations to make the library a success.

A career in education, including 12 years in Bullard Independent School District, taught Martin the value of giving children access to books.

"I learned the best way to get their attention," Martin said of her students, "was to read the first seven minutes every day from a novel that was on their level or a little above."

She said she then "enhanced their skills with pop quizzes" about the novel.

Remembering with a grin the effort she put into holding her students' attention, she adds that one fringe benefit of reading to them every day was that she "learned to be a very good oral reader."

Students these days need access to technology, according to Martin.

"We just need to keep up," Martin said. "The world is becoming more technologically advanced all the time."

The dream is to create a computer lab that will provide the community with all kinds of services and have the space and ability to evolve, as new technologies are needed.

With her background as a teacher, Martin feels especially committed to partnering with BISD to provide a place for students to go after school to continue their work and research for school assignments.

Current computer services have already passed up the possibility of rewiring the building again.

Unfortunately, space for tutoring, along with the ongoing GED and ESL classes, has become severely limited, too.

"Parking space is always an issue," she said, adding that there is a need for book space, too, "We have books in storage."

Lighting is an issue.

Then, there is the difficult issue of handicap access.

While everything has been done to improve access to the current building, it is still difficult for those in wheelchairs to maneuver between the shelves or to access the current bathroom. State and Federal regulations make it difficult and expensive to modify.

Martin believes the library is at the point where a new building starts to look like a necessary and practical expense. She is not alone.

With their office and store squeezed into the currently limited space, the Friends of the Library, who recently received their non-profit status as a separate entity, have been raising funds to offset the operating expenses of the library for years.

Their efforts include the golf benefit at Eagle's Bluff, a used book store at the library, raffles, and grant writing for things like equipment, computers, furniture, and even, yes, books.

Not to mention all the bake goods they have sold since the beginning.

Martin chuckled at some of the things they have done over the years to raise money for the library.

One of her favorite memories involves what she called a Re-Blast.

The first Blast and the Re- Blasts that followed "gave the community an excuse to get together," Martin said, "There was nothing else going on in Bullard!"

Martin, Theresa Cheek, and Velma Cravy dressed up as clowns for the event one year.

They threw candy to the children as the clown trio marched in the parade, a parade featuring down-home spectacles ranging from one of Bullard's fire trucks to little children pulling wagons

"You couldn't even recognize us," she said of their costumes.

Another thing they did for several years to help with the effort was to choose a Re-Blast Queen and King. Martin remembered the year it was Jewel Phelps and Leonard Owens, both of whom were involved with the library.

"We voted by putting names in a jar at the drug store," Martin said.

Civic leaders and educated folks of that day wanted to bring culture and educational opportunities to this sleepy bedroom community, according to Martin.

Now the Friends of the Library, along with the staff and other community leaders of today, are doing everything they can to continue that dream.

Their focus is on making the new building a reality.

"When one enters the library, there is an atmosphere of wanting to help, wanting to enrich our patrons lives in some way.

"You can feel it," Martin said.

It is a commitment to caring that will translate into benefits for the community.