Celebrating Austin High's 125 Years (published 2007) 125 Years (pp 1-24) | Page 20

Our Library
Of course, books were a part of the Austin High story from an early time. Teachers brought books for use at school, and students
would purchase textbooks. Free textbooks didn't come along until the Gilmer-Aiken bill of 1949. So one old myth about the school
is probably false. Since students had purchased their books for school, it's not likely that they brought them to the Austin High loca-
tion at 11 th and Rio Grande to throw on the colossal fire on September 30, 1899.
But there was probably a set of the first Encyclopedia Britannica. And the library still has the mag-
nificent 1894 Webster's International Dictionary, a gift of the new principal, 1. E. Pearce. Reference
books by American greats such as Charles A. Beard and Herbert G. Bolton graced the shelves.
One of the problems was that there just wasn't much space for a library. The "Big Red" campus at
9 th and Trinity had some space, and books began to be stored "behind the stage". Finally, in 1912,
after ten more classrooms were added to the campus, the school board authorized the employment of
Miss Alice Harrison as Librarian. She became the first school librarian in town, and until the 1920s,
she was the ONLY librarian. The school board began to include a "few hundred dollars" each year
for books in the library.
One of the most charming stories about Miss Harrison - and there are several - is that she regularly took "boxes of books" and put
them in her Model T Ford. She took them around to the junior high schools (Allan School, 1915), (Fulmore, 1907), (Baker, 1910)
and elementary schools on a regular basis. Miss Harrison's Model T became Austin's first "bookmobile".
Miss Harrison was a librarian of the old school. You were
expected to take care of your library business. You did not
talk, chew gum, drink beverages, or snack. You put your
chair under the table when you were ready to leave and you
AL WAYS had a permit signed by your teacher. She was
strict and protective of her precious books.
Rio Grande Campus Library
1934
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