This My Alabama Library story is in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries, which is hosting its 2026 conference in Montgomery, AL, this September. To learn more about ARSL and their annual conference, visit https://www.arsl.org
Annie (78) and Bobby Shackleford (81) didn’t have a library to go to while they were growing up. When they were raising their two kids in the small community of Town Creek, Alabama, there still wasn’t a library close enough to take their children to. In a lot of ways, they were on their own.
Town Creek is a one-traffic-light community with a population of about 1,000 residents. The poverty rate for the county is 27.9%—nearly triple the national rate of 10.6%. At the local Hazlewood Elementary School, 85% of the students qualify for free lunch.
But of course, a community is a lot more than a few census numbers. Town Creek is made up of people and families who go out of their way to help each other. In 2011, the town created a big way to help every community member: it opened its very first public library.
“The Best Summer That Ever Happened to Us”
Earlier this month, I visited the Town Creek Public Library to meet with Annie and Bobby Shackleford, along with Andy, their 49-year-old special-needs son that they care for.
When I first asked whether they went to libraries growing up, Annie immediately answered:
“Well, really we didn’t have a library, so thank God for this one.”
When the Shacklefords learned that a library had opened a few minutes from their home, it was a turning point for their family.
“That was the best summer that ever happened to us,” said Bobby.
But how could a small library—with one full-time employee and one part-time—make this big of a difference?
“I use (the library) for Xeroxing. I also come in when I have forms to fill out—insurance papers or important pages,” said Annie. “I’ll tell Sharon (the library director), ‘I don’t know nothing about this,’ and she’ll read it and tell me exactly what it is. It’s amazing that we have this.”
These may sound like simple tasks. But for senior citizens like the Shacklefords, they can be insurmountable without help. Annie and Bobby know a lot of Town Creek residents, including some who can’t read or write, who depend on the library to handle their basic business. That help includes online check-ins for doctor’s appointments, filling out insurance forms, understanding banking documents, and more.
“Everything has moved online now,” said Sharon Green, the Town Creek Public Library’s director. “There’s no option to handle things without the internet.”
Like many people in their 70s and 80s, Annie and Bobby don’t know how to send texts, manage an email account, or use the internet. However, because of the Town Creek Library, they’re able to keep up with important forms and paperwork.
“We have a lot of elderly people who don’t know computers, the internet, or how to text,” Annie told me. “I tell them, ‘Go to the library.’ Those two ladies will teach you and tell you what you need to do.”
The Only Place to Find Peace
When you have something that has to be done but you don’t know how to do it, it weighs on you.
You come to the library, get it taken care of, and you can go home and sleep in peace that night.
-Annie Shackleford on using the Town Creek Public Library
The library isn’t just a convenient place for seniors to get this type of help; in rural Town Creek, it’s the only place. If the Town Creek Library hadn’t opened, residents would have to drive nearly 20 miles to another town.
That not only requires a reliable vehicle, but the gas money, time, and driving ability to make that type of round trip every time you need assistance. The Shacklefords, for example, come to the library about twice a month to get Sharon’s help. Without a library in this rural community, many of its low-income and elderly citizens would be essentially stranded without anyone to assist them.
“If we didn’t have this library, I don’t know what we would do,” Annie said.
Because of the Town Creek Library, she and Bobby know that there’s always a place they can go for help.
“It makes my life so easy. When you have something that has to be done but you don’t know how to do it, it weighs on you. You come to the library, get it taken care of, and you can go home and sleep in peace that night.”
Bobby had a message for anyone who lives in a small town and hasn’t checked out their local library: “I’d tell them to go to it. Learn more about it, because libraries are important for everybody. A lot of folks don’t come, but 9 out of 10, if they start coming, it’ll mean a whole lot to them.”
“The Foundation of Learning for Everybody”
The Shacklefords also deeply appreciate all the educational opportunities that the library provides.
“The library is the foundation of learning,” Annie said. “There are so many things we don’t know. Like in February, it’s Black History Month. I don’t know a lot about it, and all I have to do is just come to the library.”
In fact, the library was prominently displaying a variety of Black History books on the day that I visited. Town Creek’s population is about 34% Black, and the percentage is higher for the younger population.
“We have a lot of children that’s growing up, and they don’t know too much about their foreparents, but that’s what the library is about. They can learn history at the library.”
Annie also emphasized that the library was important for building job skills, saying that residents can get better jobs by learning new skills at the library.
“When you come to the library, when you leave you’re not going to know everything, but you’re going to know a lot more than you did before you made it here.”
“They’re Really Too Good”
They’ve been so good to us, and I wouldn’t take nothing for them.
Every time we need something done, they don’t mind. I just love them to death.
-Bobby Shackleford on the staff at Town Creek Public Library
The moment I walked into the Town Creek Public Library, I was struck by the care evident throughout the small building.
The library collection was neatly organized, with carefully-selected displays on top of all the shorter book cases. The entire interior was decked out for Easter—Sharon stocks up on decorations at post-holiday sales at the dollar store.
The overall effect was of a library that does more than is required, and definitely more than you would expect from such a small library. Sharon, along with her part-time staff member and one volunteer make sure that the library feels like a special place for everyone.
The Shacklefords say that the staff extends that same level of care to every problem that a community member comes in with.
“They’ve been so good to us, and I wouldn’t take nothing for them. Every time we need something done, they don’t mind. I just love them to death,” said Bobby.
“They’re really too good” Annie laughed. “I know they work, work, work, but I never come up here and they’re too busy for me. There isn’t one time that I came in here that they weren’t willing to help. I don’t care what I’ve got to be done, she (Sharon) will be glad to help me. Then she’ll say ‘Would you like to have some coffee?’, and I’ll say ‘Yes, ma’am.’”
“They’re a blessing,” Bobby added.
Annie emphasized that the staff “does not have an easy job,” but that they make a special effort to help every person.
“They need an upgrade (in salary)!” Annie said. “I’m willing to say they need an upgrade because they work so hard. Dealing with people isn’t easy, but they don’t let it get on their nerves. They just shake the dust off and keep rolling.”
Sharon has become such an important person in their lives, that sometimes they’ll drive by the library just to see if Sharon’s car is there.
“We just like them. They’re just good folks,” said Annie.
Throughout our interview, Andy (the Shacklefords’ special-needs son) was quiet and reserved. He would simply nod anytime I asked him a question. He had only just met me, so he listened politely as his parents talked about their love of the library and of Sharon. Sharon had kindly lent us her office for our conversation while she continued her work out in the library.
As we wrapped up the interview, I asked if I could take a few photos of the family, and I mentioned that we could include Sharon in some of them.
I didn’t notice at first, but Andy left the office the moment I mentioned Sharon. I was still talking with Mr. and Mrs. Shackleford when Andy appeared in the door, a huge smile on his face and his arm wrapped tightly around Sharon’s shoulder.
He was eager to take photos with his favorite librarian—the person his family can always depend on.
