I’ve been a librarian for a long time, and I really love it.
I like to talk with people about information. I like to look things up. And yes: I like to read books, in all formats, and to talk with people about the books they are reading.
This love of libraries does not stop with when my workday ends. When I’m on vacation - a small day or weekend adventure, or a longer trip - I want to visit the local library!
It is always fun to see what kinds of things other libraries, and other types of libraries, are doing. What are they doing the same? What are they doing that I never thought of? What are they doing that I know I won’t be able to duplicate at home, but can still marvel at?
The one thing that I have found to be true about every single library I’ve ever visited, across the entire country, is that they are all doing something interesting. Maybe it’s a huge multi-location library with multi-million dollar budgets. Maybe it’s a little teeny room, only open ten hours a week and staffed by one very part time person. It doesn’t matter! They are each doing something that I didn’t think about, have never seen, or carrying it off in a way that is unique and cool.
And I want to see more of them! So, this summer I’m doing a research tour.
I’ll be driving the Lincoln Highway, stretching from New York City to San Francisco, and visiting every public library along the way. I’m so excited to go on an adventure, to see all kinds of excellent things, and to visit so many libraries!
This highway was started in 1913, to help people take their new cars out on adventures. There are some wonderful books about the early trips across the country. I was very surprised to learn that in 1916 Emily Post wrote her first nonfiction book (after a few novels) about a road trip she took with her son and another unnamed relative. It is called By Motor to the Golden Gate, and while she doesn’t actually do the Lincoln Highway, they do drive from NYC to San Francisco. Her reports of adventures make it all sound very fun! And, I found it pretty reassuring for my own trip - which will have all the modern conveniences. I will not need to have goggles to make up for a lack of a windshield. And it’s doubtful that I’ll need to have teams of horses come to pull me out of the mud on a fairly regular basis. Whew!
Effie Price Gladding wrote Across the Continent by the Lincoln Highway in 1915. She and her husband drove from San Francisco back home to New York, following the newly constructed highway. Her report of the trip is less colorful and more detail-oriented than Post’s story - but still manages to make it sound so fun. No GPS, no radio, no windshield, and the roads are barely functional - but they seem to enjoy all the exploration along the way. Her stories of just stopping at house they see along the way, and asking for lunch or dinner or lodging seem amazing to me, as a modern traveler; but that seems to be the way travel happened.
If you have never heard of the Lincoln Highway - understandable. I hadn’t either! Last summer I was in an assortment of National Parks, and found a book about it while I was browsing in assorted gift shops. The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate by Michael Wallis (Author) and Michael S. Williamson (Photographer). I love to road trip, and to explore new places - I was immediately hooked!
This idea is not entirely new for me. Several years ago I drove the Lewis and Clark Trail, from east of St. Louis, following the Missouri River north, turning west in North Dakota and continuing along to Oregon and the Pacific Ocean. It was a great adventure, and I visited every public library along the way! I wrote an article about the libraries, Public Library History on the Lewis and Clark Trail, to share some of the great things libraries were doing. I also talked about them at a few conferences. It was just so impressive to see a broad span of different libraries - all working toward the same goals!

So this summer, I’ll be puttering along this Highway, following the sign posts all along the way. I’ll be stopping into every public library, and admiring all the work they do for their communities. I will highlight some of the libraries here, to share their work with everyone.
If anyone has suggestions on great things to see - tell me! If you are in in one of these libraries, I will be so happy to talk with you! And if you just like road trips, I’ll share some details on the adventures, and undoubtably some of the mishaps, that I find along the way.
Stay tuned for a LOT of library and road trip news this summer!