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With nearby library under renovation, teacher uses trunk of her car to deliver books

Tricia Frank lays out books in the community room of Woodhollow Apartments in Maryland Heights Friday. The Parkway North High School teacher is delivering books because the nearby St. Louis County Library branch is closed for renovation.
Ryan Delaney | St. Louis Public Radio
Tricia Frank lays out books in the community room of Woodhollow Apartments in Maryland Heights Friday. The Parkway North High School teacher is delivering books because the nearby St. Louis County Library branch is closed for renovation.

Tricia Frank’s car breaking down this spring was a good thing: Now she has more storage space in her new, larger vehicle.

Frank is using that new car to deliver books to four apartment complexes in the northern part of the Parkway School District in lieu of the St. Louis County Library branch, which is closed this summer for renovation.

Frank, an English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher at Parkway North High School, learned this winter the Thornhill library branch would be closed for about year.

“And then my teacher mode kicked in and I thought ‘oh my gosh, so many of kids go there after school. How will they study longer, how will they check out books that we don’t have at school?’” she said.

Parkway school teacher Tricia Frank helps a child who lives in Woodhollow Apartments in Maryland Heights find a book to borrow last week.
Credit Ryan Delaney | St. Louis Public Radio
Parkway school teacher Tricia Frank helps a child who lives in Woodhollow Apartments in Maryland Heights find a book to borrow last week.

Frank checked out more than 100 books from school librarians, boxed them up, and loaded them into her car.

“I feel like I was living the dream of my 10-year-old self because I honestly remember wanting to be the bookmobile person when I was 10,” Frank said.

She’s been visiting four apartment complexes in Maryland Heights this month, letting students who live there check out books. Participation has been a little low, which Frank said may be because of the late start getting the word out.

“But I figure if one kid gets a book that’s amazing and it’s definitely been more than one kid,” she said.

Frank will continue shuttling the books through early next month. 

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @rpatrickdelaney

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Ryan Delaney works on the Innovation Trail project - covering technology, economic development, startups and other issues relating to New York's innovation economy.
Ryan Delaney
Ryan is a reporter on the education desk at St. Louis Public Radio, covering both higher education and the many school districts in the St. Louis region. He has previously reported for public radio stations WFYI in Indianapolis and WRVO in upstate New York. He began his journalism career working part time for WAER while attending Syracuse University. He's won multiple reporting awards and his work, which has aired on NPR, The Takeaway and WGBH's Innovation Hub. Having grown up in Burlington, Vt., he often spends time being in the woods hiking, camping, and skiing.