When an EF-4 tornado came through Beauregard, Alabama, in March, members of the community found themselves in a new world. Twenty-three lives were lost, and countless others were impacted. That impact is still felt throughout the community, especially with young people.
Seven-year-old Mattie Ashworth was a classmate and friend of one of the four children lost in the storm.
In the months following the storm, her grandmother and mother were helping her work through the loss of her friend. Her grandmother would take her to a local library where one day Mattie Ashworth drew a picture. The drawing gave her grandmother an idea.
“From that picture I came up with the idea to open a children’s library in honor of the children who were taken during the storm,” said Robin Ashworth, founder of the Four Childrens Library and Mattie Ashworth’s grandmother. “It just kind of went from an idea to being a blessing.”
Robin Ashworth went to her daughter — Mattie’s mom — with the idea to build a children’s library to honor the children lost in the storm while giving other children a place to remember them.
“A memorial library will be good out here, for the children,” Robin Ashworth said. “The reason I wanted to do it was not to capitalize on the death of the children but to make their lives be celebrated every day.”
From there the three generations of women got to work. They recruited other community members, including other young people and children, to serve on their board and help bring their vision to life.
Since then, the group started a Facebook page named for the library. There, head librarian Kay Atchinson posts children’s book suggestions while she and the rest of the board work to secure a brick-and-mortar library location.
The group already has many books to put into a library between daily donations and Atchinson’s stash from her teaching days.
“We’re running by the skin of our teeth and a wish and a prayer,” Atchinson said. “We have really come a long way. We’ve gotten everything legally set up, and we’re ready to go.”
The team is working with local churches and municipalities to get their non-profit status and set up a location for children and families to visit in person.
Atchinson hopes to give children a place where they can fall in love with reading. She said she hopes the children learn that reading doesn’t have to just be for school; it can be for fun too.
Robin Ashworth wants to give children a place where they can learn, play and grow with each other.
“I’d just like for it to be a place to go that’s relaxing, educational and fun,” Robin Ashworth said. “I don’t want a library that’s traditional. There’s nothing wrong with that. I just don’t want the traditional hush-hush.”
Robin Ashworth and her daughter Stacie Ashworth aren’t sure how the children have been impacted by the library yet. They do think the parents in the community have found a new sense of hope.
“Everybody has been through such a hard time lately, this has been kind of a ray of sunshine,” Stacie Ashworth said. “It’s something good that came out of the situation.”
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Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman
