“By the time poor Clyde got home, the library was in full swing,” says Loyde. “He never did get his workshop back.” An iron shingle was hung out front, and that one-room shed served as the only town library from 1950 to 1987, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 5:00 p.m., and Decie Pittman served as librarian for the first 22 years. “My brother and I lived in Aunt Decie’s library,” says Loyde. “We probably read every book multiple times. There was one table in the middle to sit and read, but most of us preferred reading outside.” “The summertime was the best because the library got new books,” says Ann Pittman Hatcher, granddaughter of Decie Pittman. “There was a summer reading program with a party at the end with cookies and Kool-Aid, and each kid got a certificate for completing their summer reading. That was a big deal to us back then.” Like scores of other Folsom kids, architect Freddie Boothe, Jr., has fond memories of walking with his class single file the quarter mile from Folsom Elementary to Aunt Decie’s library. In fact, the 73-year-old gets choked up just talking about it. “You can’t imagine how many kids walked there to get a book, and how much it meant to us,” he says. “For many of us, that was the only access to reading we had. Aunt Decie kept the place spotless, too. It was right in her backyard, and she treated it like an extension of her home and all us kids like we were her own. Every kid—every person— was welcome in Aunt Decie’s library.” Because of chronic health issues, Boothe says more than once he made the trek from school to the library and back with a cast from his hip to his toes. But for him, it was worth it. Those fond memories were at the forefront of his mind when he was asked to design the new Folsom library, which was built in 1987. “My original idea was to include the old library inside of the new one and make it the children’s section, to give the elementary-school kids their own place they could grow to love,” says Boothe. “The Pittman family agreed to let me have it and move it there. But the woman who was in charge of the library board at the time shot down the idea. They wanted a ‘new’ library and >>
These are among the titles checked out by contributors to this story in the early days of this special library. November-December 2020 45
