On this episode of The Rambling Boy, Lonn Taylor tells the story of Luther Evans, a man from Sayersville, a rural community in Bastrop County, who overcame poverty and adversity by the sheer force of intelligence. From a one-room elementary school in rural Texas (where he graduated first in his class of seven students), to the Library of Congress, Evans' journey is riddled with interesting experiences that took him all around the country and the world. When his predecessor resigned and he became the Librarian of Congress, Harry Truman, who appointed Evans, told him that he wanted the Library to be not only the Library of Congress but “the Library of the United States.” Evans wholeheartedly agreed and worked towards this goal, expanded the Library’s services to America’s public libraries and especially to small rural libraries. He also stepped up the Library's collection of both americana and foreign materials, almost singlehandedly bringing the library to the people and into the future.
The Texas Farm Boy Who Became The Librarian of Congress
