Lena Bembery lives in Detroit. She’s never been to Downieville. But, she has an intimate relationship with our local paper. And, because of that connection to a weekly newspaper in a small California mountain community, children are being given a chance to read in her Michigan city.

Lena was born and raised in Vienna (pronounced vy-anna), Georgia. After high school and Project Upward Bound in 1968, she left Vienna to attend Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where she also worked in the library. Prior to that time, she had only been in classrooms with Black children. From there, her life has taken her to many other places, including San Francisco and New York City. She also worked with the Urban League in Lexington, Kentucky. She eventually moved to Detroit to care for her father. He was a member of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 22 in Detroit. Lena later became a UAW member of Local 600. In her work with the UAW, from which she retired in 2016, she served as an International Representative of the Technical Office Professional Department.

This current part of her story began in 2019, when she heard a report on NPR about a weekly newspaper in California that might be closing up shop because the current owner was retiring. She says that it seemed very important to her to save the paper, so she paid for a subscription. Little did she know at the time what an impact that decision would make on her life — and the lives of so many of Detroit’s children.

As Lena began reading The Mountain Messenger and became acquainted with Carl Butz through the paper, she found herself becoming motivated. She says that, intellectually, she is not the same person she was before she started getting the paper. She doesn’t ever want to miss a week’s edition and recently panicked when she thought her subscription was expiring. She also reports that the first thing she reads in the paper each week is the Downieville Library’s “On the Shelf” column. Because of that column, she has been inspired to provide reading opportunities for the children of her city.

Lena created what she calls “Reading Corner Libraries” in six Detroit locations. She says that she has provided around 1,000 books to those centers so far. She also says that because of “On the Shelf,” she learned about various categories of children’s books and the Caldecott and Newbery Awards. Now, when looking for children’s books, she makes it a priority to seek books that have won those awards. She has been funding the purchase of books and the creation of the Reading Corner Libraries through a foundation she established in the name of her late sister — the Joan Solomon Foundation. Also, last year, she held an event in Highland Park, Michigan, that enrolled children for library cards. And, when summer school starts on June 17 this year, she will be going each week to the Tindal Activity Center, the future home of the Mary Odell Settles Children’s Library, to read with the children.

Lena says that her goal goes beyond the six Reading Corner Libraries. Her dream is to have a Reading Corner in every Detroit home — and to have books become a part of each child’s life. What motivates her, she says, is giving someone something that can change their life — and gives them the ability to influence others. Just like Carl and The Mountain Messenger have done for her. When Carl saved the paper, says Lena, he probably never imagined that his actions would cause the creation of six (and counting) children’s libraries in Detroit. Well done, Carl, The Mountain Messenger — and Lena!