Sherry Davis, the 2003 National Teacher of the Year, changes the lives of young people every single day in her science classes at the Tupelo Middle School.

Who were her mentors? Who influenced and inspired her?

In the following essay, she writes about the essential importance of reading and the difference that the Lee County Library has made in her life:

READING

It is at this time of year, the long hot end of summer, that fond memories from my childhood always seem to resurface. I can remember summers, which were hot and very lonely, and seemed to last forever. Where are those summers now? Being the only four-year-old girl on the block, left very little for me to do on James Drive back in 1970. Once Sesame Street was over, there were few choices on the television – “The Dating Game”, “Let’s Make A Deal” or one of a multitude of soap operas. My older two brothers spent most of their time outside – climbing trees, playing G.I. Joe, catching crawdads and turtles in the ditch, or instigating a dirt clod war with the other boys on the block. I would have been a willing participant in all their activities, but my feminine presence was not wanted. I would return home to my mother in tears feeling rejected.

I can remember waiting for the mailman. It was the highlight of my day. I would look for him out my front window and run to greet him as he pulled up to our mailbox. Sometimes he would give me a stick of juicy fruit gum. Better than the gum, however, were the brown parcels he would bring to me. Each parcel contained two books. I would scurry back into the house to receive help from my mother in unpackaging them. There were always moments of great anticipation building up to a crescendo until the cardboard was removed to reveal the titles of my new books. Would it be another Little Bear? Or could it be another Danny the Dinosaur? Or even better would it be a book on turtles? I believe I these early divertissements from my mother were the seeds for my love of learning and reading.

Summers always seemed to be hotter back then. Even in comparison to today’s global warming and new high temps each year. Schools did not have air conditioning. I can still remember the smell of Pierce Street Elementary on those first weeks of school. There is a certain eau de toilet that hot textbooks seem to give off. The air was so thick and humid; you could barely draw it in through your nostrils. Mrs.
Sarah Femester was my second grade teacher. I can still remember her as if it were yesterday. She knew how to control a classroom. I can still remember her words, they were like music to my ears - “If everyone is good today and finishes their work, I will read to you after lunch.” It was always so hot after lunch, and we were so miserable after eating, that even the kids who weren’t crazy about listening would be good in order to earn a reprieve during the hottest part of the day. I can still remember the first book Mrs. Femester read to us. It was a story of The Boxcar Children. I listened intently and hung on to each of her words, which seemed to resonate through the hot air of our classroom. I can remember anxiously asking Mrs. Feemster after class one day were she had managed to find the Boxcar Children books that she read to us. They had not come from our school library. I had already checked. She informed me that they had come from the Lee County Library.

In my mind, I can remember the first day that I met Mrs. Betty Cagle. She was the children’s librarian at the Lee County Library. Mrs. Cagle was always soft spoken and helpful. She always ended every sentence with a smile. Exactly what a timid child of seven thrives on. When I still see her in the library today, I cannot help but think back about how nice she always was to me as a child. She urged me to sign-up for the summer reading program that the library hosts each summer. She helped me look-up the Boxcar Children books in the card catalog. I memorized their place on the shelf and I returned to it each visit that summer until I had read each and every one. I was a little intimidated by the length of the books at first, but I checked them out anyway. I was addicted. Their size was not enough to scare me off.

Soon after second grade, I began taking piano lessons, first from Mary Beers. Mrs. Beers’ husband was transferred my second year of lessons, and she suggested Mrs. Mc Atee, the grand dame of piano teachers in Tupelo. I was fearful of Mrs. Mc Atee at first; her reputation preceded her. I had heard how she rapped student’s knuckles as they misplayed while her little white poodle, Sheree, sat on her lap. Mrs. Mc Atee would fall asleep while you played, but one erroneous note would arouse her from her slumber and the berating was instantaneous. One of the best things about taking piano from Mrs. McAtee, however, was the location of her house. She lived in the little mint green house on the corner of Jefferson and Madison, adjacent to the Lee County Library. Coincidently enough, Mrs. McAtee’s sister Martha Means was a librarian there. Mrs. Means was always helpful, and I spent many afternoons at the library after finishing piano lessons. It gave my mother more time than my thirty-minute piano lessons to run her errands, and I made a second home at the library. The library staff came to know me by name. Mrs. Opal Duncan was always working on the records. Mrs. Cathy Richardson Blanchard always smiled and asked me how I was doing. She made polite conversation about what I was reading or how many books I was checking out. Mrs. Martha Lanphere worked the return desk, and she always seemed to have a colorful story about her monkey, her parrot, or one of weenie dogs.

I kept returning to the library as I continued to grow. I would walk from Milam with a saxophone in my right hand, a violin in my left hand, and my arms crossing my chest to carry my multitude of books. I must have been quite a sight for those motoring down Jefferson Street. What I wouldn’t have gave for one of those large book bags that kids use now, those that purportedly ruin your spine. I believe my arms are two inches longer than they should be from carrying my load of musical instruments and books. I stopped every fifty feet or so and put down my instruments and readjusted my books. Then I would struggle to squat down and pick-up both my instruments again crossing my arms back to carry my books. Sometimes, I would be accompanied to the library by Clark Leake, Paul Goodman, Lee Ballard and/or Mike Scribner (I was a tomboy and used to keeping the company of boys, having been raised with three brothers). We would meet under the guise of studying and completing our homework. Sometimes Lee would corrupt us even further by urging us to accompany him to T & S Pharmacy for a milkshake or sandwich. I will have to give Lee credit though, without his undue influence, I would never have had fond remembrances of that fine Tupelo establishment. Mrs. Doxey-Tate, now you know why I never did finish that portfolio on the 50 states in 7th grade! The boys and I were having way too much fun at the library!

I returned to the library throughout high school and junior college. It has always been there for me as an essential resource. Helping make the grade. My children now participate in the summer reading program and I always beam with pride as they receive their reading certificates. I still enjoy roaming through the stacks of books, waiting for a title to jump off the shelf at me. I also enjoy the library’s small yet varied depository of books on tape and videos.

I have many rich memories of learning to read and checking out books from the library.
I was fortunate in my childhood to have many positive experiences when I was learning to read, and I had a great set of mentors at the Lee County Library. What will be your child’s remembrances about reading? Children learn by what is modeled for them. Do you read to your children at home? Does your child see you reading other materials on your own? Have you carried your child to the library?

Reading is essential for the learner. It is at the core of every academic subject. Even math has its reading problems. If a student is not successfully reading by third grade, his or her chances of being successfully in school are dramatically reduced. Start reading to your child now; it can never be too early and it can never be too late to develop a love of reading.


Sherry Davis