Latest / Cyrus Webb's tracks / Historian/Author Molly Guptill Manning discusses Ray Trautman and her book A LIBRARIAN'S WAR

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Historian/Author Molly Guptill Manning discusses Ray Trautman and her book A LIBRARIAN'S WAR · Cyrus Webb's tracks

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live. I'm your host,
0:02
Speaker 1: Cyrus Webb. Glad you all could join us once again.
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Speaker 1: For our radio audience tuning in in Mississippi, WYED 94.1
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Speaker 1: FM and WYEDonline.com, we're glad that you all can be
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Speaker 1: with us. Also, join us online worldwide via our podcast
0:14
Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio and Amazon Music, as well as through Conversations
0:17
Speaker 1: Radio Network. We're glad you all could be with us
0:19
Speaker 1: as well. We're excited to welcome historian and bestselling author
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Speaker 1: Molly Guptill Manning to our broadcast today. She's celebrating the
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Speaker 1: release of her brand-new book called A Librarian's War. This
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Speaker 1: is a book that is perfect for all book lovers,
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Speaker 1: but also those who understand the importance of the written
0:35
Speaker 1: word and what all of us need to do to
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Speaker 1: make sure that we're protecting that and sharing it. We're
0:39
Speaker 1: going to talk to Molly not only about the writing
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Speaker 1: of the book, but what it's like for her to
0:43
Speaker 1: be able to tell the story of someone I had
0:45
Speaker 1: never heard of, that being Ray Troutman and his role
0:48
Speaker 1: and his life, but also how all of us can
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Speaker 1: be the hero of our own story as well. Molly,
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Speaker 1: thank you again for stopping by. I really appreciate it.
0:55
Speaker 2: Well, thanks so much for having me. It's such a
0:57
Speaker 2: pleasure to chat with you.
0:59
Speaker 1: The pleasure is definitely all mine. I should mention that
1:02
Speaker 1: the subtitle on the cover of A Librarian's War is
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Speaker 1: The Man Who Fought World War II with Books and
1:07
Speaker 1: Brought the Joy of Reading to Millions. And what's so interesting, Molly,
1:11
Speaker 1: that subtitle kind of applies to the work you've been
1:14
Speaker 1: able to do. As I mentioned, as a historian and
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Speaker 1: author yourself, you've been able to bring knowledge and also,
1:19
Speaker 1: of course, share the importance of words with others. What
1:23
Speaker 1: has it been like for you now as you're celebrating
1:25
Speaker 1: Pub Day of this new book to kind of reflect
1:27
Speaker 1: on your own writing journey?
1:30
Speaker 3: Oh, that's such an interesting question.
1:33
Speaker 2: You know, being Pub Day, I think about all of
1:37
Speaker 2: the work that I've had to put into this book
1:39
Speaker 2: and all of the research. And this took me five
1:42
Speaker 2: years to piece together because Ray Trotman, who's the hero
1:46
Speaker 2: of our story, you know, he's someone that probably most
1:49
Speaker 2: people have never heard of. And yet, He did so
1:53
Speaker 2: much and worked with so many famous people. I mean,
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Speaker 2: what librarian has ghostwritten for FDR and worked with Eleanor
2:01
Speaker 2: Roosevelt to do favors for her related to books?
2:04
Speaker 3: He became friends with Ernest Hemingway.
2:07
Speaker 2: And, you know, he worked alongside Dwight Eisenhower in Europe.
2:10
Speaker 2: He did so many things and worked with so many
2:12
Speaker 2: famous people.
2:13
Speaker 3: And yet for him, he was always.
2:16
Speaker 2: So devoted to making sure that people would get access
2:19
Speaker 2: to books. And he felt soldiers fighting for their lives,
2:22
Speaker 2: you know, fighting for democracy, they needed something small and
2:26
Speaker 2: portable that would give them a dose of courage or
2:28
Speaker 2: that would give them a distraction from the horrific things
2:32
Speaker 2: that they saw while they were in combat. And he
2:34
Speaker 2: just believed books played such an important role for people
2:38
Speaker 2: and to better their lives. And that's what drove him
2:40
Speaker 2: all along. And I think people recognized what he was
2:45
Speaker 2: doing as being something that was just so incredibly positive overall.
2:49
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, when I look at my
2:51
Speaker 2: own writing, I've written a lot about the role of
2:54
Speaker 2: books and information and just the freedom to read, really.
2:57
Speaker 2: I've been working on those themes for over a decade.
3:02
Speaker 2: And I think what drives me is actually a lot
3:04
Speaker 2: of the same things that drove Ray Trotman to fight
3:08
Speaker 2: for books and to try to highlight how important they
3:11
Speaker 2: are to just making people's lives better. And so I
3:15
Speaker 2: guess in a way, working on this book was really...
3:18
Speaker 2: to honor him and to make sure that he's not forgotten.
3:21
Speaker 3: Because he shouldn't be.
3:22
Speaker 2: He contributed to American reading in such a significant way.
3:27
Speaker 2: But also, I guess for me, you know, it shows
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Speaker 2: that one person can make a huge difference.
3:32
Speaker 3: In the lives of millions of people.
3:35
Speaker 2: And I think that's such a beautiful thing to see
3:38
Speaker 2: happen as you read the book and then to know.
3:41
Speaker 3: You know, you can make a difference personally. Right.
3:45
Speaker 1: You know what's so interesting, Molly, and again, I cannot
3:48
Speaker 1: thank you enough for writing this book. And what it
3:51
Speaker 1: did for me is really– and I think especially because
3:54
Speaker 1: we see now in the world, unfortunately, which is kind
3:57
Speaker 1: of weird, that as there are so many advancements in
4:00
Speaker 1: the world, that people are not really appreciating the power
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Speaker 1: of the written word the way they used to, the
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Speaker 1: way Ray Troutman did, and understand the importance of it
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Speaker 1: and making sure that everyone had access to it, right?
4:14
Speaker 1: Does that surprise you that with all the advancements that
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Speaker 1: we have made since Ray Troutman went through all that
4:19
Speaker 1: he did to try to protect the written word, that
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Speaker 1: it still is under attack the way that it is?
4:26
Speaker 2: I find it really interesting where we are right now
4:29
Speaker 2: in this moment. And I think to read this history
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Speaker 2: helps us understand how strange it actually is, what we're
4:36
Speaker 2: going through in this moment.
4:38
Speaker 3: Right.
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Speaker 2: Like the idea, I mean, we have all of this
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Speaker 2: technology that's available to us and I think technology supposed to,
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Speaker 2: you know, supposedly makes our lives easier, but I think
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Speaker 2: that you cannot ever replace the need for a human
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Speaker 2: being to develop their own mind, to figure out, you know,
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Speaker 2: what you really feel about things and what, you know,
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Speaker 2: not being told what to think and not being told
5:02
Speaker 2: how to feel, but to figure out what your own
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Speaker 2: position is on things.
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Speaker 3: And, Reading really helps you do that. You know, you
5:10
Speaker 3: can read a book and it's perfectly fine to hate it.
5:14
Speaker 2: But that helps you develop, you know, well, what what
5:16
Speaker 2: made you not like it very much?
5:18
Speaker 3: You know, what did it make you uncomfortable? What what
5:21
Speaker 3: did you not like?
5:22
Speaker 2: Like it helps refine your own boundaries. It helps you
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Speaker 2: figure out yourself a bit. And then sometimes you can
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Speaker 2: read and you can have exposure to a character differently.
5:32
Speaker 2: where you just admire them. And, you know, what characteristics
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Speaker 2: did you admire? And maybe those are characteristics you want to.
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Speaker 3: Develop in yourself. I mean, reading challenges us.
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Speaker 2: It gets us to think it is a really important,
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Speaker 2: I mean, Ray Trotman would say it's a really important
5:49
Speaker 2: aspect of just life. And I hope that we never
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Speaker 2: really lose sight of that. I think anybody who's a reader,
5:56
Speaker 2: you probably had an experience with some book along the
5:59
Speaker 2: way that was resonated with you in such a powerful
6:03
Speaker 2: and meaningful way that in a way it kind of
6:06
Speaker 2: just makes you want to keep searching for the next
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Speaker 2: book that's going to do that because you know the
6:12
Speaker 2: way that that feels. And it's the most amazing feeling
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Speaker 2: when you connect with a book in a significant way.
6:21
Speaker 2: And Ray, I think, understood that. That's what books did
6:24
Speaker 2: for him. You know, he grew up in a very
6:26
Speaker 2: small town with very few books. But when he could
6:29
Speaker 2: get his hands on them, he was able to go
6:33
Speaker 2: on vacations his family would never be able to afford.
6:36
Speaker 3: And he was able.
6:37
Speaker 2: To experience parts of the world he probably would never visit.
6:40
Speaker 2: And he just loved having his eyes opened to new
6:44
Speaker 2: and different things. And he just felt like other people
6:48
Speaker 2: can benefit the same way that he did. And that's
6:50
Speaker 2: why it became his life's mission to build libraries, get
6:54
Speaker 2: people free access to books, and make sure that books
6:57
Speaker 2: would always be available to people. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I love the way that you are describing Ray and
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Speaker 1: growing up and his love of reading books like David
7:06
Speaker 1: Copperfield and others, that the way you worded it, I
7:09
Speaker 1: made a note of it, Molly, was that he was
7:12
Speaker 1: finding inspiration to reach beyond his humble origins and make
7:16
Speaker 1: the most of himself. I think, again, a great encouragement
7:20
Speaker 1: for young people, but also I think for all of
7:23
Speaker 1: us that may wonder if we are limited by our
7:26
Speaker 1: circumstances and What helped you to do that? Because you've
7:29
Speaker 1: been able to do that as well, Molly, in your
7:31
Speaker 1: life and your career as an historian as well as
7:33
Speaker 1: a best-selling author. What has helped you to reach beyond
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Speaker 1: the things you see and to want more?
7:39
Speaker 3: I think that I stay curious.
7:42
Speaker 2: I'm always– if something crosses my path– and, I mean,
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Speaker 2: this is kind of what.
7:46
Speaker 3: Happened with me discovering Ray Trotman. You know, here's this.
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Speaker 2: Guy that I had never really heard of, and yet,
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Speaker 2: you know– Some little figment.
7:56
Speaker 3: Of his life was revealed to me.
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Speaker 2: And I just thought, that is fascinating. Like, what else
8:00
Speaker 2: did he do? You know, who was this guy? What
8:03
Speaker 2: motivated him? And I think for me, like when questions
8:07
Speaker 2: keep coming, I feel a need to try.
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Speaker 3: To answer them.
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Speaker 2: And I never know what the answers are going to be.
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Speaker 2: And for me, that's part of the fun of it
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Speaker 2: is going to archives or, you know, trying to find
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Speaker 2: books that might give me some answers. But it's kind
8:22
Speaker 2: of like a massive scavenger hunt. for details about whatever
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Speaker 2: topic it is that has crossed my path and then
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Speaker 2: just kind of takes root in my mind and in
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Speaker 2: my heart. With Ray, I at first just thought this
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Speaker 2: guy did so much for books and so much for libraries,
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Speaker 2: but how on earth did he do these things? And
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Speaker 2: as I started to find answers, I mean, I just
8:48
Speaker 2: couldn't help but admire him because I mean, if you
8:51
Speaker 2: read the book, you'll see just the amount of adversity
8:54
Speaker 2: that he faced. It was not an easy path. People
8:57
Speaker 2: didn't really believe in him. He's like the ultimate underdog.
9:01
Speaker 2: And yet he always seemed to stay driven to try
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Speaker 2: to achieve whatever he was after achieving.
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Speaker 3: And he often succeeded. Sometimes he didn't.
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Speaker 2: But it's a story of just when you have a dream,
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Speaker 2: when you have something that you want to try, you know,
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Speaker 2: not to give up very easily and to expect that
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Speaker 2: there's going to be some struggles, but to stick with
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Speaker 2: it because at the end of the day, you can
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Speaker 2: see what a huge difference he made. And that was
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Speaker 2: just because he was persistent and he really believed in
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Speaker 2: this mission of his to try to get books into
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Speaker 2: the hands of as many people.
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Speaker 3: As he could.
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Speaker 1: And that is such an important thing and a great
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Speaker 1: reminder for all of us. I want to say for
9:47
Speaker 1: those who are just tuning in, welcome. You're listening to
9:50
Speaker 1: Conversations Live, both for our radio audience as well as
9:53
Speaker 1: for the podcast. We're excited to welcome best-selling author and
9:56
Speaker 1: historian Molly Guptill-Manning to our broadcast today. She's celebrating her
10:00
Speaker 1: brand-new book called A Librarian's War, The Man Who Fought
10:04
Speaker 1: World War II with Books, and brought the joy of
10:06
Speaker 1: reading to millions. You and I were talking briefly before
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Speaker 1: we went live here, Molly, and there were so many
10:10
Speaker 1: things that someone who's always had a love of books,
10:13
Speaker 1: you know, since I was a little boy. And that
10:18
Speaker 1: is something my parents were able to nurture, even though
10:21
Speaker 1: they didn't share that love of books the way that
10:25
Speaker 1: I had. They made sure I had what I wanted.
10:28
Speaker 1: What I thought was so interesting was that with Ray,
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Speaker 1: he was on the ground, right? He was right there
10:36
Speaker 1: with these guys, and he got to know them. He
10:39
Speaker 1: knew what would work for them And he, you're talking
10:41
Speaker 1: about the challenges. One of the challenges he had that
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Speaker 1: I picked up on, as someone who's in this world
10:47
Speaker 1: now working with publishers and connecting readers, is, you know,
10:51
Speaker 1: the publishers trying to decide for themselves what would be best, right,
10:56
Speaker 1: for those on the battlefield, those that are around Ray,
10:59
Speaker 1: and Ray being able to say, no, this is what
11:02
Speaker 1: they want. They want this. What was that like for
11:04
Speaker 1: you to discover? His not only just You know, except,
11:08
Speaker 1: of course, we would take whatever, right? I mean, if
11:11
Speaker 1: we knew that it was available. But he knew what
11:14
Speaker 1: would really help these individuals. What was that like for
11:16
Speaker 1: you to discover?
11:19
Speaker 2: I mean, first of all, it reveals a lot about
11:22
Speaker 2: his character. Like, he ended up being an officer in
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Speaker 2: the Army. Usually officers just hang out with other officers,
11:29
Speaker 2: but not Ray. Ray wanted to go meet the enlisted,
11:33
Speaker 2: you know, low-ranking troops.
11:35
Speaker 3: Who were stuck.
11:37
Speaker 2: In foxholes, who were just roasting in the Pacific, who
11:44
Speaker 2: were stuck up in the mountains in Italy. He wanted
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Speaker 2: to know what were their lives like and what types
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Speaker 2: of books did they want most.
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Speaker 3: And the only way to do that was to talk
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Speaker 3: with him.
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Speaker 2: And then they ended up writing letters to him to
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Speaker 2: give him more feedback once his book work became more
12:06
Speaker 2: once they knew more about him and his book work.
12:09
Speaker 2: But he wanted to understand his readers because he wanted
12:12
Speaker 2: to give them exactly what they wanted to read. And
12:14
Speaker 2: what they wanted was fiction. They wanted short stories. They
12:18
Speaker 2: wanted like really stuff that was kind of escapist. And he, Ray,
12:25
Speaker 2: tried to make sure that every month when books were
12:27
Speaker 2: going to all different American positions around the world, there
12:31
Speaker 2: was going to be a good selection because he wanted
12:32
Speaker 2: to make sure that Every single person would find a
12:35
Speaker 2: book that they wanted. And so the publishers who he
12:40
Speaker 2: was working with to create books for troops and to
12:43
Speaker 2: send them overseas, the publishers had ideas about what books the.
12:47
Speaker 3: Troops should read.
12:49
Speaker 2: And that did not always align with what troops wanted
12:52
Speaker 2: to read. And the publishers, they weren't going to battlefields.
12:58
Speaker 2: They weren't going around the world to American positions to
13:01
Speaker 2: see what conditions the troops were facing in And they
13:04
Speaker 2: weren't talking to troops directly to find out what they
13:06
Speaker 2: really wanted. And so Ray really went head-to-head.
13:11
Speaker 3: With the publishers, insisting.
13:13
Speaker 2: That the books that needed to go over weren't the
13:17
Speaker 2: ones that were the most sophisticated, that were the densest,
13:21
Speaker 2: maybe historically wonderful books. But those were not the books
13:26
Speaker 2: that troops wanted to read. And he tried really hard
13:29
Speaker 2: to convince the publishers to send Tarzan, send the adventures
13:33
Speaker 2: of Superman, send, you know, short stories because sometimes troops
13:37
Speaker 2: didn't have enough time to read a full length book.
13:40
Speaker 2: And so short stories suited.
13:41
Speaker 3: Their reality a lot better.
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Speaker 2: And, you know, Ray was able to point to letters
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Speaker 2: and to point to anecdotes that he experienced to really demonstrate.
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Speaker 3: To the publishers.
13:52
Speaker 2: Those were the books that had to go over and,
13:54
Speaker 2: And the publishers backed off, and they really let Ray
13:57
Speaker 2: help select the books that went to Troops, because I
14:02
Speaker 2: think they realized that in this case, Ray was a
14:04
Speaker 2: lot more of an expert on what Troops wanted to
14:07
Speaker 2: read than the publishers were. Exactly.
14:10
Speaker 1: And I think, too, to hear that appreciation, this is
14:15
Speaker 1: one part in the book, in Chapter 12, Molly finding
14:18
Speaker 1: his way where you wrote this about Ray and his
14:23
Speaker 1: work with Omnibook. You say this, that Omnibook, it was
14:28
Speaker 1: rare to receive a letter during his years in the Army.
14:32
Speaker 1: Each day brought a multitude of heartfelt letters from troops
14:35
Speaker 1: wishing to share their excitement about a book or magazine.
14:38
Speaker 1: I think, you know, it is, of course, we do
14:41
Speaker 1: what we do because we love it, but it has
14:43
Speaker 1: to feel good when that work is rewarded. And then
14:46
Speaker 1: I found another parallel with you. I want to ask you,
14:49
Speaker 1: What has it been like for you, Molly, to think
14:51
Speaker 1: about the people who now you're helping, the people who
14:55
Speaker 1: are reaching out to you? As I know, I've heard
14:57
Speaker 1: a couple of interviews you've done, you know, who have said,
14:59
Speaker 1: you know, I'm so glad that you wrote this book
15:01
Speaker 1: or brought this up. Or, you know, even I think
15:04
Speaker 1: I heard in one interview you did recently where even
15:07
Speaker 1: before this book, of course, being able to connect with
15:10
Speaker 1: raised family and being able to have that connection. What
15:14
Speaker 1: has that been like for you to know that something
15:15
Speaker 1: that you wrote is impacting people?
15:19
Speaker 2: That is the most rewarding thing. Anytime I get an
15:23
Speaker 2: email message or someone contacts me and just tells me
15:28
Speaker 2: what a book that I wrote meant to them, to me,
15:31
Speaker 2: that is probably the most rewarding thing that happens. For
15:36
Speaker 2: Ray's family to reach out to me, that was so special.
15:42
Speaker 2: And I've actually heard from a few of Ray Trotman's students,
15:46
Speaker 2: because Ray Trotman ended up teaching... librarianship in the 60s
15:51
Speaker 2: and the 70s. And some of his former students have
15:53
Speaker 2: actually reached out saying, you know, he was the best
15:56
Speaker 2: professor I ever had. And I'm so excited that there's
15:58
Speaker 2: going to be a book about his life and the
16:01
Speaker 2: work he did, because the energy, the enthusiasm, like how
16:05
Speaker 2: much he loved books, it was just contagious. And he
16:08
Speaker 2: really deserves to be remembered.
16:11
Speaker 3: And so those little– they're.
16:13
Speaker 2: Like little nudges that make me feel like this is
16:15
Speaker 2: going in the right direction. And the work that I'm doing,
16:18
Speaker 2: it's very rewarding to know that it matters.
16:20
Speaker 3: To anybody because I know it matters a lot to me.
16:23
Speaker 2: But it would be great for other people to get
16:26
Speaker 2: something out of it too.
16:28
Speaker 1: I keep bringing up these parallels, Molly, because I was
16:31
Speaker 1: curious as I was reading the book and thinking about
16:34
Speaker 1: you and the course, being able to discover more about
16:36
Speaker 1: you as I was prepping for this segment– Did that
16:40
Speaker 1: kind of enhance your connection to Ray as you were
16:42
Speaker 1: writing the book and discovering him and deciding what you
16:45
Speaker 1: wanted to share about his remarkable life and experiences?
16:52
Speaker 2: I think in writing the book, I really entered it
16:57
Speaker 2: just thinking I want to try to figure out all
17:00
Speaker 2: the different things that he did in his life. I
17:02
Speaker 2: don't know what records are going to exist. I'm hoping
17:05
Speaker 2: to find as much as I possibly can.
17:08
Speaker 3: But I mean, the more.
17:09
Speaker 2: That I learned about him, I just couldn't help but
17:12
Speaker 2: admire him. And I think, you know, there's some parallels
17:15
Speaker 2: that I think there are between me and him. And
17:18
Speaker 2: I think it's probably true that a lot of readers
17:20
Speaker 2: will feel the same way.
17:23
Speaker 3: He's a very relatable guy.
17:24
Speaker 2: I mean, he has had he had to work so
17:27
Speaker 2: hard for everything that he wanted to do, like going
17:30
Speaker 2: to college was extraordinarily difficult. And he had to just
17:34
Speaker 2: figure out a way to pay for it. And he
17:36
Speaker 2: had to work throughout his time in college, all of
17:39
Speaker 2: the setbacks that he had, um, you know, to me,
17:43
Speaker 2: I think that's a useful reminder that things are not
17:45
Speaker 2: always going to go smoothly and that's okay.
17:47
Speaker 3: It's part of the process.
17:49
Speaker 2: Um, I think that it's just, you know, and he
17:54
Speaker 2: is kind of an underdog and I think a lot.
17:56
Speaker 3: Of people can feel that way sometimes. Um, And yet,
18:00
Speaker 3: you know, he.
18:01
Speaker 2: Never really got credit for all the things he did
18:03
Speaker 2: during his lifetime, except for maybe those letters we talked about,
18:06
Speaker 2: you know, just knowing.
18:08
Speaker 3: Troops really appreciated what he did.
18:11
Speaker 2: But, you know, it meant a lot to me, I think,
18:13
Speaker 2: to write.
18:14
Speaker 3: This book, because I feel.
18:17
Speaker 2: What he did and what he accomplished is really important
18:20
Speaker 2: for us to remember. And then also, you know, he
18:22
Speaker 2: fought book bans. He really believed in the freedom to read.
18:27
Speaker 2: he worked so hard to try to make sure that,
18:29
Speaker 2: especially like rural libraries, that libraries would exist in areas
18:34
Speaker 2: that maybe didn't have the highest population, but he thought
18:37
Speaker 2: everyone deserves to have a library and everyone deserves to
18:40
Speaker 2: have free access to books. And I think these are
18:44
Speaker 2: really important things for us to remember today. So I
18:47
Speaker 2: think part of what fueled me throughout writing it is
18:50
Speaker 2: just seeing some of these themes and just knowing where
18:53
Speaker 2: we are today in our history, you know, and, thinking
18:57
Speaker 2: that we need to remember this not-so-distant time period and
19:03
Speaker 2: what people were saying and thinking and feeling about books
19:06
Speaker 2: and libraries, because they are really important to our democracy, and.
19:10
Speaker 3: They're important to just our overall quality.
19:13
Speaker 2: Of life, I think.
19:15
Speaker 1: So true. And even the quality of life for people
19:18
Speaker 1: who may have been forgotten in Chapter 15, the forgotten readers,
19:22
Speaker 1: you'd even talk about what he did When it came
19:25
Speaker 1: to the library in Auburn State Prison, Molly, something, again,
19:30
Speaker 1: I knew nothing about. But you wrote about him something
19:33
Speaker 1: that I think is so interesting, which really goes to
19:37
Speaker 1: his passion in being hands-on. You wrote, Troutman from childhood
19:41
Speaker 1: had embraced the adage, the footstep of the farmer is
19:43
Speaker 1: the best fertilizer, only by observing the conditions himself and
19:47
Speaker 1: understanding the needs and people being served could he formulate
19:51
Speaker 1: a plan and response. And again, that goes to such
19:56
Speaker 1: an important thing, I think, about him and about how
19:58
Speaker 1: he saw people as people. And I think it goes to, again,
20:03
Speaker 1: thinking about today, how all of us being individuals are
20:06
Speaker 1: What is your hope now, Molly, now that you have
20:08
Speaker 1: shared Ray now with the world and more people are
20:12
Speaker 1: discovering him or even rediscovering him and what he was
20:15
Speaker 1: able to achieve in the example he set? What do
20:18
Speaker 1: you hope we all realize about our own role in
20:20
Speaker 1: the world and what we can do as individuals?
20:24
Speaker 2: I really hope that people walk away from the book
20:26
Speaker 2: feeling inspired. And maybe even if your thing is not
20:31
Speaker 2: reading books or sharing books or being a librarian, You know,
20:35
Speaker 2: whatever it is in your life that you just feel
20:39
Speaker 2: driven to do, I think Ray shows that you should
20:43
Speaker 2: chase after that thing because there's a tremendous amount of
20:46
Speaker 2: good that people can do when they find their life's mission, really,
20:51
Speaker 2: and they devote themselves to it.
20:53
Speaker 3: And then as for libraries and.
20:54
Speaker 2: Books, I sincerely hope that people get a new understanding about,
20:59
Speaker 2: you know, the history behind not banning books in the
21:03
Speaker 2: United States and how important you know, just the freedom
21:06
Speaker 2: to read is, because we never know, like you might
21:09
Speaker 2: read a book and not like it or be offended
21:11
Speaker 2: by it, but someone else might read it. And whatever
21:13
Speaker 2: was offensive to you, they might not even really pay
21:16
Speaker 2: much attention to that part, but there could be another
21:19
Speaker 2: aspect of the book that helps them through a tough
21:21
Speaker 2: time or that, you know, gives them hope to get
21:25
Speaker 2: through something that.
21:27
Speaker 3: Feels really difficult for them. And I think that's the...
21:33
Speaker 3: Examples I give of that in the.
21:34
Speaker 2: Book really illustrate how just keeping all the books on
21:38
Speaker 2: the shelves, making sure that libraries get the funding that
21:41
Speaker 2: they need, trusting librarians to use their expertise and choose
21:46
Speaker 2: books that belong on shelves. These are just things that
21:49
Speaker 2: we've always done as a country, and I'm not sure
21:52
Speaker 2: why we're kind of getting off the rails right now,
21:55
Speaker 2: but I hope this book gets us back on track.
21:57
Speaker 3: Yeah.
21:59
Speaker 1: Well, it's an important book, and Ray's example is an
22:02
Speaker 1: important one for us to know about. I want to
22:04
Speaker 1: thank you for making sure that more people get to
22:06
Speaker 1: do just that, Molly. Again, everyone, Molly Guptill-Manning has been
22:09
Speaker 1: our guest. The new book that's out now is The
22:11
Speaker 1: Librarian's War, The Man Who Fought World War II with
22:14
Speaker 1: Books and Brought the Joy of Reading to Millions. You
22:16
Speaker 1: can get it through our friends at Amazon.com or, of course,
22:19
Speaker 1: through your favorite local bookstore if they don't have it.
22:22
Speaker 1: I know they'd be more than happy to order it
22:23
Speaker 1: for you. Molly, thank you so much for spending part
22:25
Speaker 1: of your pub day with us. I really do appreciate that.
22:28
Speaker 1: How can our audience stay connected with you?
22:31
Speaker 2: Well, they can find me on Instagram, and I love emails.
22:35
Speaker 2: So if you read a librarian's war, you know, share
22:38
Speaker 2: what you think about it with me. I'd be happy
22:40
Speaker 2: to hear from you, and I'll write you back.
22:43
Speaker 1: All right. Well, Molly, congratulations to you again. Looking forward
22:45
Speaker 1: to our next conversation together.
22:48
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, Cyrus. I hope you have a great day.
22:50
Speaker 1: Thanks to you as well. And we thank your audience
22:52
Speaker 1: for tuning in to another great segment of Conversations Live.
22:55
Speaker 1: Until next time, I'm your host, Cyrus Webster. As always,
22:58
Speaker 1: enjoy your day, enjoy your life, enjoy your world. Thank
23:01
Speaker 1: you for being with us here at Conversations Live. Let's
23:03
Speaker 1: go make today amazing. Take care.