Gathering the information for this page has been a fun challenge.  It compares well to assembling a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle ~ finding all the pieces and fitting them together to complete the picture.

I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation to everyone I called upon who helped provide those pieces, be it former students or former staff members.  Betty Jean Harborth provided the names of the former Navarro ISD librarians with some approximate service dates ordered chronologically and some milestone events.  The librarians themselves and their families provided some dates and more milestone events.  Former students and staff helped complete the picture with further details.

Annette Waite, a 1954 graduate of the "old" Navarro High School often volunteered in the library with Betty Harborth.  A lover of local history, she occasionally created displays which she shared in the elementary library.  In 1988, she shared a display commemorating Navarro's 100th anniversary which included two newspaper articles that provide the closest indication of any library related services on record.

To the best of our knowledge, according to a September 23,1938 Seguin Enterprise newspaper article, the "new" Navarro Elementary building had "three large rooms and a very large porch....Each room is provided with...a reference library and a reading library."

A November 19, 1920 Seguin Enterprise article heralding the latest Navarro High School doings and happening describes, an "Encyclopedia Quilt" that was being worked on "at home on Saturdays."  It invites, "Anyone desiring to have his name embroidered on a block will please send his name and ten cents which will give him a chance on this quilt....  The proceeds will go towards the purchase of an Encyclopedia Britanica."

 In the old Navarro High School (1950's) before moving to the present location, Honor Woerndell, the English teacher was probably the person who processed and maintained the small collection of books which she checked out to her students.  Community members who were students at the "old" school during that time remember a small room with some books on bookshelves along one wall where they were allowed to choose books to borrow.  Memories of a check out system are vague at best.  The consensus is that they were probably on "the honor system" or they wrote their names with the book title they wanted to borrow on a piece of paper placed in a box, then removed when they returned the book.

The class of 1954 was the last class to graduate from the "old" high school.
Apparently library services in the "new" high school continued ver;y much the same way they had previously until Inez Etheredge, wife of J. B. Etheredge, the Navarro ISD Superintendent at that time, was hired in 1967 to operate a library.  Facts for this early period in Navarro Library history are still scarce,, but Mrs. Etheredge's picture first appears in the 1968 Navarro annual.  There is no mention in earlier annuals, dating back to 1955, of any "librarian" or library.

Elementary students of the early 1960s remember looking forward to a bus trip to the Guadalupe County Library once every two weeks to check out books.  About 1975, Betty Harborth, previously a teachers aide, pulled together books from the classrooms, processed them with pockets, cards, spine labels and date due slips, and ordered them on shelves placed in a spare classroom to create the first Navarro Elementary Library.  According to Delvin Meyer, Marvin Stautzenberger also donated a numerous books.  "Elementary Librarian" appears next to her picture in the 1976 annual for the first time.

During the 1978 - 1979 school year, the Region 13 Education Service Center placed 2 certified librarians in the Navarro district to provide training and direction for the district's two libraries.  Rose Ingalls served 1/3 of the year for the first 12 weeks with Inez Etheredge at the high school, then went to Marion.  Betty Jones, served 1/3 of the year for the last 12 weeks of the school year with Betty Jean Harborth.

In 1979, students and staff moved into a new elementary school, now Navarro Middle School.  It was built with a room specifically designed to serve solely as a library which included a workroom with storage space and a sink.  Once again, Region 13 placed a certified librarian in the district.  Tina Alderson spent 3 days each week at the Navarro Elementary School library and 2 days at Prairie Lea High School library.

Carpet was added to the high school library and it was later expanded , but dates are uncertain.

The Fall of 1981 marked the beginning of a new era for the Navarro Libraries.  Jeanette Wolston, wife and "best friend" of Bill Wolston, the "new" Navarro ISD superintendent, was hired as the first full time certified librarian the district had ever enjoyed.  Her love of Beatrix Potter stories and characters (eg. Peter Rabbit) became highly contagious to young and old alike as she enthusiastically shared her vast collection of Beatrix Potter paraphernalia, the wonderful stories, and her knowledge of Beatrix Potter's poignant biography ~ the "story behind her stories".  As the district librarian, she shared her talents and expertise with the libraries in both the elementary and high school.  She was privileged to work with the two veteran library staff members, Betty Jean Harborth in the elementary and Inez Etheredge in the high school.

In November of 1982, Inez Etheredge became ill with liver cancer and passed away in February of 1983.  (Her photograph pictured above is a favorite school photo shared by her daughter, Vicki Burmeister.)

Jeanette Wolston continued to provide service to both libraries, primarily concentrating on the high school library while Betty Harborth served the elementary library, occasionally going to the high school while Jeanette went to the elementary.  While the elementary students loved Mrs. Harborth, they considered it a quite a treat when Mrs. Wolston came over and told stories to their class.  My daughter and her friends still talk about the special memories they have of going into the library after school and "helping" Mrs. Wolston.

In 1987, the Navarro community was sad to say good-bye to Jeanette and Bill Wolston, but celebrated with them a positive career move to a larger school district and new challenges.  They occasionally pop in for a surprise visit, such as the one they paid during the spring of 2001 when Jeanette unexpectedly entered the elementary library and asked if she could check out a book, followed closely behind by Bill.

Linda Joyce "Cookie" Baker, an English teacher, was then hired to run the library and teach 2 high school honors English classes to relieve Melinda Ingersoll as she stepped into the position of interim superintendent.  She served in this capacity until Emma Jean Becker was hired the following school year as Librarian and Assistant High School Principal.  With this combined responsibility, she had little time to spend with Betty Harborth at the elementary, but sings Betty's praises because she operated the elementary library so professionally with such an inviting atmosphere.

Emma Jean was promoted to the high school principal's position for the 1988 - 89 school year.  By this time, Navarro ISD  was large enough that it was required to have a certified librarian on staff.  Emma Jean, although principal, was considered to be the district's certified librarian, and hired Alissa Elley as high school library aide.

Alissa Elley served in this capacity until after she completed her library science courses at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and her master's degree.  Having proven herself as a tremendous asset, not only to the library, but to the entire district, she was officially hired as a certified librarian.  She primarily managed the high school library while Betty Jean Harborth continued to manage the elementary library. 

During Alissa's second year of service, 1991 - 1992, the library flooded during an evening torrential rainstorm.  Mid-calf to knee deep in water, several school employees and community members assisted her with the task of pumping water out of the library, removing books to another room and sorting the wet ones from the dry ones, the salvageable from the unsalvageable.

A new high school library was included in the building of the new Technology Building and was moved into in 1994 while the old was being renovated into a classroom and offices.  During the fall semester of 1993, the library operated out of the old industrial arts shop (which had no air conditioning) until construction of the new facility was completed.

In the early 1990's, as computerized library management was being perfected and becoming more prevalent, Alissa saw to it that Navarro was not to be left behind.  She researched and studied systems utilized by many libraries, consulted with librarians in other districts and library consultants who represented a number of library software vendors.  She chose Follett's Circulation/Catalog Plus DOS based program.  After she had operated it in her library and became comfortable with it, she helped Betty Harborth secure the same system for the elementary library.

By about 1992, the elementary  library had outgrown its facility, thus was expanded and opened up into an adjacent room.  The original side was designated as the Fiction side while the extension was designated as the Non-Fiction and Reference side of the library.  The library needed a circulation desk to support a circulation computer and provide a larger workspace for the librarian.  Betty visited several libraries, studied library furniture catalogs, consulted vendors, and compared expenses.  She gathered her information and designed a very functional and attractive circulation desk.  Behind the desk were constructed 3 sections of shelves from floor to near ceiling for video tape storage.

Alissa Elley and Betty Harborth are the Navarro ISD librarians who first automated the district's libraries.  The conversion from catalog cards and manual circulation was made to an Online Catalog,MARC records, and electronic circulation.  Shared TV/VCR units on AV carts became obsolete as each classroom was provided with its own television and VCR with cabling provided for reception from the building's antennae or satellite programming.

By 1997, Navarro ISD was experiencing rapid growth.  The demands upon the librarians time were increasing with the larger student population and changing paradigms.  The existing school board was very academically directed and were proponents of  strong library services that provided updated information and current resources.  The district's student population was dangerously close to necessitating 2 certified librarians for the district by TEA guidelines.  Betty Jean Harborth, who collected the first books together and initiated Navarro's  first elementary library, had served the elementary library for 22 years and was nearing retirement.  The school board agreed to the administrative proposal to hire a second certified librarian for the district to serve at the elementary campus, allowing the two libraries to share Betty Jean as an aide.

Vicki Byrd Mueck served as the elementary librarian from August of 1997 through mid summer of 2002.  Betty Jean Harborth continued to serve as the library aide for both the high school and elementary school libraries.  In 1998, Betty Jean was expecting her first grandbaby and decided to retire.  She continues to substitute for the librarians when they have to be out. 

In December of 1999, the elementary library moved into a new elementary school building.  The "old" elementary building was renovated and became the "new" Navarro Middle School.  The high school and elementary school libraries continued to serve the middle school, grades 5-8, through the 1999 - 2000 school year.

Kacy Zaleski was hired as the Navarro Middle School Librarian to begin in August 2000.  All 3 librarians were kept busy weeding collections, transferring books to appropriate levels, ordering books, and entering records.  The library was painted and some renovations were made such as the installation of new lighting, windows in doors, and more electricity and computer drops.  Kacy brilliantly tied a nautical theme into the library decor.  An open house was held for the new Navarro Middle School library during October 2000.

From 1998 through the present, several aides have served with the librarians to insure the continued growth and success of services of the Navarro libraries.  Jeanine Moltz was shared by the libraries during 1998 - 1999 and Christy Martinez served both librares during 1999 - 2000.  During Fall of 2000, Donelda Thormeyer served the elementary library part time and special ed part time, until she was needed full time for the special education department.  Deanna Holtkamp was employed part time for the library and later part time as 4th grade aide.  The middle school library aide position was shared by Cindy Dubois also who served part time as the nurse's aide and Roxanne Morales.  Heidi Smith seerved the high school library full time.

During the 2000 - 2001 school year, all 3 libraries have each employed a full time aide.  Deanna Holtkamp at the elementary school, Sheri Stevens at the middle school, and Becky Harborth Newton at the high school.

Alissa Elley enthusiastically shouldered one challenge after another, from cheerleading sponsor to technology services, until she became the district Media Services Coordinator in 1999.  Although her job as high school  librarian is still considered her chief responsibility, the technology program has placed increasing demands upon her shoulders.  Due to the knowledge of networking, server administration, computers, and software necessary to the operation of an automated library, Alissa's expertise in the field of technology has fluorished.  As her knowledge of the hardware, software, support services, server administration, fiber optics, telephone system, webmastering, grant writing, state mandates and guidelines, have increased, so have her responsibilities to the district's technology needs.

During the summer of 2001, the district had already hired a technology teacher who would take on the responsibility webmaster of the district website, but agreed to allow Alissa to hire a technology aide in addition to the high school library aide to assist her with some of her responsibilities.  Although less than the perfect solution, this would hopefully allow her to spend more time in the library and less between buildings troubleshooting technology issues.

During the summer of 2002, Alissa elley became the full time District Technology Director and District Head Librarian.  At that time, Vicki Mueck moved to the high school library.  Charles Sanford then left the Navarro Elementary classroom where he had been teaching for a number of years and  joined the team of Navarro ISD librarians by filling the post at the elementary school.

The Navarro ISD libraries and the staff who have served them can hold their heads high and be proud of their gains.  As a very small school district with library services minimal to none until the late 1960's for the high school and late 1970's for elementary, we have made tremendous gains, surpassing some large school district libraries that were considered "state of the art" in the 1950's and 1960's.