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
When Jewel Crutch-Satchel describes the Town Creek Public Library, the word that she mentions the most is “dedication.”
In fact, when I first talked to her on the phone, I asked if she was willing to be interviewed on camera. She said she normally wouldn’t be comfortable with that, but she was happy to do it to brag about the dedication of the ladies at the library.
“I can’t believe I’m sitting here doing this interview,” she told me as we chatted in person at the Town Creek Library, “but I’m doing it because of their dedication. I see their dedication. I observe it. I mean, look at this place. You can see the dedication here.”
Much like the Shacklefords, Jewel has received technology help from library director Sharon Green and her assistant Susan. She also regularly sees the staff help older community members with “food stamps, medical bills, or to make a phone call for them.”
In addition to this help for seniors, Jewel says that the library is a vital educational resource for local children, especially through the Summer Reading Program, which she assists with every year. It’s all part of the library’s dedication to improving the lives of the residents of Town Creek.
A Lifetime in Education
Jewel understands what dedication looks like, especially when it comes to serving others. She is a lifelong educator, having taught or served as principal at multiple Alabama schools, including Tennessee Valley Elementary in Hillsboro, East Lawrence Elementary in Trinity, and R.A. Hubbard High School in Courtland. She first retired in 2017 but was asked to return part-time. She fully retired in 2022.
Her career as an educator was heavily influenced by her maternal grandparents, who had little chance at formal schooling and wanted to see their descendants get an education. Her grandfather, born in 1895, was a farmer who was unable to attend school at all. Her grandmother had to leave school after finishing second grade to start working to help support her siblings.
“It was (my grandmother’s) desire for my mom and her siblings to go off to college, but the military interfered with that,” Jewel told me. “My mother left high school at the beginning of the 12th grade to get married to my dad because he was going off to war (World War II). But she later went back to school and got her GED. She worked in dietary services and was afforded an opportunity to go to Tuskegee Institute for training in dietary work—making special diets for patients.”
She says that education was a top priority in her family, and “it had a great deal to do with the struggles of my grandparents and them not having an opportunity to go. All of my mother’s children went to college. Being the youngest, I knew that was the direction I was going in.”
Jewel fell into education in a hilarious and serendipitous way: her college roommate was majoring in elementary and special education, but she was always out on dates. Jewel did most of her projects for her and discovered that she loved them.
“I changed my major (from chemistry to education) and became a teacher.” One boy-crazy roommate led to decades of educating, encouraging, and lifting up children.
Continuing to Teach Through the Library Summer Reading Program
If a child is not in a summer program, if the involvement is not there during the summertime, research tells us that they a tendency to drop some of their skills.
-Jewel Crutch-Satchel on the importance of the Town Creek Public Library’s Summer Reading Program
Even after a full career in education, Jewel isn’t finished pitching in. Now, she volunteers every year for the library’s Summer Reading Program (SRP).
Sharon, the library’s director, tailors their SRP to fit the needs of the small, rural town she serves. She uses partnerships, along with smart shopping, to make the program truly special for local kids.
Town Creek’s SRP events occur every Tuesday in June from 11:00 am to 2 pm. A lot of the program takes place in the outdoor pavilion that is just outside the library. The pavilion includes a Story Walk, which was partly funded through a grant from the Association for Rural & Small Libraries, our partners for this year’s My Alabama Library stories.
Through a partnership with Feeding Alabama, every child gets a nutritious lunch each day of the program. These library programs provide food cost and child care relief to families, in a town where 85% of the students at the elementary school (Hazlewood) are eligible for free lunch during the school year.
Sharon uses educational partnerships—with Alabama A&M and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES)—to provide high-quality, unforgettable educational opportunities for her SRP kids.
“Alabama A&M (in partnership with ACES) brings a nice RV,” Jewel says. “They have bicycles—well, they are like a bicycle. You have to move the pedals and ride them in order to make fruit juice, which the students just love. They have a program on healthy eating and what are the best foods for our bodies. You do a walkthrough of this big RV, and in each section, there’s an activity.“
ACES also created a small community garden in pots. Every year, the children help plan the seeds and water the seedlings during Summer Reading.
For every day of SRP, the library arranges 3-5 presenters to keep kids engaged. The presenters read books aloud or lead activities. In addition to these fun learning sessions, Sharon gives out prizes as extra incentives to participate. Throughout the year, she scours sales at local dollar stores to stock up for summer, making the most of her library’s small budget.
The hard work is worth it to keep kids learning through the summer.
Jewel emphasized how important this program is to the local children: “If a child is not in a summer program, if the involvement is not there during the summertime, research tells us that they a tendency to drop some of their skills.”
Stepping In To Help
Because she understands how vital the program is, she’s more than happy to volunteer her time every June to help out. She goes from table to table, helping children who don’t have parents or grandparents with them, and she also assists with serving food.
The library and participants benefit from Jewel’s decades of experience in working with students in an educational setting.
“I usually present the questions at the end of the sessions. I identify the students that I want to respond to the different questions. If they respond correctly, they win a special prize, so I remind the students to pay attention: ‘Now you have to pay attention if you want a prize at the end of this activity.’
“They all receive a prize at the end of the day. I think that’s precious, and they love her prizes.”
Jewel’s Turn to Learn at the Library
I told her, “Ms. Susan, I’m going to need some help.“
And she was right there with me, right there with me, showing me what I needed to do. They really do go above and beyond what is expected of them.
-Jewel Crutch-Satchel on getting technology help at the Town Creek Public Library
Jewel has seen how much the library means to the people of Town Creek through one-on-one assistance for seniors and educational programs for children.
However, the library’s impact isn’t just something she sees in other people; she also experiences the staff’s dedication first hand.
Jewel is spending a lot of time at the library these days, as she works on her recertification.
“It is so nice and quiet and peaceful. I can really focus.”
After a long career of constantly using technology, she says that “I was just more or less sick of it. So when I retired, I didn’t touch my laptop. I had to stay away from it for a while because it felt like it was overtaking all of my free time.”
That time away from her laptop backfired when she needed to use technology again. But thanks to the ladies at the library, she had help every step of the way.
“I came in here and told Ms. Susan, ‘I’ve got to do this today.’ I explained that when I retired, I was using Windows 7, but now they have Windows 11.
“I told her, ‘Ms. Susan, I’m going to need some help.’ And she was right there with me, right there with me, showing me what I needed to do and the differences between Windows 11 and Windows 7. It’s just great. They really do go above and beyond what is expected of them.”
Jewel emphasized that what makes a library special isn’t the building or even the resources inside it.
“What really makes the difference is the librarian and the lady that’s assisting her. That’s what makes this a place that will draw people when they need help, want to check out books, or use the technology they have here. It is just wonderful.
“You don’t see this everywhere in a small town. To tell you the truth, I’m one of those individuals who likes to compare. I compare her library here with other libraries, even in larger cities, and their city libraries fall short when it comes to Ms. Sharon’s library.”