Book collection comes home to the Larry McMurtry LC
It was book-moving day this past Saturday at the new Larry McMurtry Literary Center (LMLC) in Archer City. Student volunteers from the Midwestern State University Redwine Honors Program and workers from the high school football team joined managing directors and past participants of the Archer City Writers Workshop and other community volunteers to start the process of moving books from Larry McMurtry’s former Booked Up No.2 building across Center Street--now owned by the First Baptist Church—and into the LMLC building. The LMLC is housed in the former Booked Up No. 1.
Archer City was a flurry of activity already, with an open house at Aulds Classic Cars, The Texasville Opry at the Royal Theater, and the Kaybree Coleman Scholarship Fund Benefit at the Archer County Sheriff’s office. LMLC workers frequently stopped traffic whenever a load of books came across the city’s main thoroughfare, creating a rare traffic jam on South Cener Street.
The process began around 8:00 a.m. and continued past sundown. Johnny Bart Hudson was one of the local volunteers, coordinating student helpers and operating the forklift. Hudson estimates the crew moved about one third of the approximately 80,000 books owned by the LMLC but housed in the church’s new property.
Some workers lugged books across one box at a time or pushed several stacked boxes on a dolly. Some pushed carts once used by McMurtry to transport books back and forth to his stores.
Additionally, large piles of books were wrapped in cellophane and hauled on pallets moved by Hudson on a forklift or pushed on a pallet jack by a group of students. Local resident Ronnie Williams of USA Rock Bit donated the forklift and jacks. Archer City Growth and Development Board president Craig Cowan helped the LMLC secure pallets from Air Tractor in Olney.
In the meantime, other volunteers packed and unpacked boxes, battled dust and debris and rearranged books. Their challenge was to find places for more books in a building with 8,500 square feet already brimming with McMurtry’s collection.
On Sunday, Hudson moved even more books with students while author and urban planner Sherry Kafka Wagner of San Antonio and her teammate architect Peter Chermayeff of Boston, Ma., met with stakeholders to discuss creative ideas for the future of the LMLC. Reopening the book collection is only part of the mission. The LMLC’s founders are also committed to showcasing McMurtry’s life and making Archer City what director George Getschow calls a “literary mecca” that both incorporates community interests and draws people from around the world to his unique hometown.
“Our goal is to create a memorable and emotional experience for our visitors when they step through the doors of what Larry considered his ‘Temple of Books’,” said Getschow. “Larry cast a big shadow in the book collecting world by his audaciousness— transforming Archer City's Town Square into his version of the Welch book town, Hay-on-Way. Larry’s four bookshops, brimming with 700,000 books during Booked Up’s heyday, became a magnate for his fans and book lovers across the country and around the world. Now, by transforming Larry’s biggest bookshop into the preeminent literary center in America, we’re confident Larry’s fans and book lovers will return to Archer City to immerse themselves in Larry’s awe-inspiring collection of rare books and reexperience his epic life as a cowboy, novelist, screenwriter and book collector.”
Getschow says they will have all books moved by the end of the year. Both the LMLC and the First Baptist Church purchased the buildings from Chip and Joanna Gaines, known for their popular home improvement show Fixer Upper, the Magnolia brand and retail operations and the new Hotel 1928. The boutique hotel in Waco showcases a smaller collection of McMurtry’s books. Books not placed in the hotel collection were part of the LMLC’s purchase. More information about the LMLC is available online at lmcmurtrylitcenter.org.
