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Lindsey Wilson University English Class Learns Importance of Community Connections at Adair County Public Library

'Public libraries are about choices.'

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (10/09/2026) — Lindsey Wilson University students in English professor Sara Loy's "Writing & Culture" class commemorated the American Library Association's Banned Books Week by learning how the Adair County Public Library navigates book challenges.

The good news: the library has not had to do much of that over the years because, during the last four decades, only one title has been questioned, and that was a children's book.

A big reason for that impressive record is because the library and its staff members remain closely connected to the community it serves. And as Library Director Leeann Jessee told the students, the first step for a library to be firmly connected to its community is to have a lot of conversations with patrons.

"You don't really know what a person wants until you sit down with them and have a one-on-one conversation with them about their interests," said Jessee, who recently completed her 40th year as the library's director.

Creating those connections with patrons helps forge a bond between them and the library so that people become more than a bibliophile who checks out titles -- they also become friends and supporters of the library.

"Public libraries are about choices," said Jessee. "I shouldn't tell you what your choice is. I just want you to have the choice" when you visit the library.

A changing library

Jessee told the students that the story of the Adair County Public Library is one of change and evolution. Born out of Kentucky's statewide bookmobile project in the 1950s, which revolutionized rural literacy in the commonwealth, the Adair County Public Library has evolved a great deal since its building was opened in 1979.

Jessee told the students that when she arrived at the library in the mid-1980s, its chief focus was on maintaining standards and benchmarks prescribed by professional library organizations. But as the region's factories started to shutter in the 1990s, the library's responsibility expanded to include helping area residents craft resumes and apply for jobs using the library's personal computers.

"We had to become more of a place where people could come and get another job," said Jessee, who pointed out that many of their patrons in the 1990s did not have access to a personal computer at home.

Then about 15 years ago, libraries across the country started to see a spike in titles being challenged, which Jessee said was often the result of external factors.

"Books that had been on shelves for years suddenly became weapons people could use against other people," said Jessee. "For a few minutes, we were stunned. It's one of those things you don't think a whole lot about until it happens, and then you have to protect the books."

Things were tranquil in Adair County, but book challenges became so contentious in some Kentucky communities that one -- the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library -- became the state's first designated First Amendment Sanctuary Library. Banned Books Week, which was started in 1982, is Oct. 4-10 this year.

"It's kind of calmed down a little bit," said Jessee.

An evolving library

Jessee also showed the students how the library utilizes its more than 42,100 titles to serve its patrons, who range in age from toddlers learning how to handle a book to a fan of Tom Clancy novels. More than 2,400 books were checked out in September, not including those held at the bookmobile that services the entire county. When the library's six-year-old Genealogy & History Research Center is added to the mix, the Adair County Public Library has become what Jessee calls "a real hub for our community."

Jessee pointed out several areas where the library continues to evolve, such as a growing collection of books printed in Spanish and an expanding collection of young adult literature, which has proven to be popular with adolescents, teenagers and adults.

Having an Adair County Public Library card also entitles patrons to a vast collection of electronic books and electronic audio recordings. Nearly 10,000 combined titles were checked out by Adair County patrons in 2025. But Jessee said that rather than presaging the end of the public library, as some had feared when e-books were introduced, e-books have been a boon to libraries by attracting additional patrons.

"The e-book did not destroy the library, it helped the library," said Jessee.

Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.

Media Attachments

Adair County Public Library Director Leeann Jessee, center, discusses the library’s operations with Lindsey Wilson University students in the “Writing & Culture” class taught by English professor Sara Loy, standing right, on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Adair County Public Library Director Leeann Jessee, right, shows students in Lindsey Wilson University English professor Sara Loy’s “Writing & Culture” class some of the resources available in the Genealogy & History Research Center on Thursday, Oct. 8.

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