The year 2025 promises to be a historic one for the Berryville Public library and, by extension, for the town of Berryville. We broke ground on the new library in April, so the library should be finished in the spring of 2026. Preparation for the new building has made us at the Berryville Library nostalgic and reflective, not just about the library’s history but also about the town’s history. Other seminal moments in Berryville Library history occurred in 1938 and 1978, so we’ll be looking back this year on what Berryville was like then, as well as what it is like now, as we also look to the future.
For July, we’re looking at what Berryville reads, past and present.
Jackie Waller does fantastic research on local history, and she has unearthed a list of books the Berryville library had in 1907. This library was a subscription library run by Anne George, a local teacher, that had opened the previous year.
What strikes me as I’m going through the list is how many of the titles I don’t personally recognize. And that is something I have noticed any time I look at a historic library’s holdings. Most of what we read, even now, isn’t necessarily something people are going to be reading 10, 50, 100 years later.
Library collections reflect want patrons want to read, just as much in 2025 as they did in 1907. And in 1907, that included some books that we still well know today–quite a bit of Jack London and Arthur Conan Doyle is listed, as well as Rudyard Kipling, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, and George Eliot. The collection also includes multiple books by E.D.E.N. Southworth, but none of our libraries have any of her books currently. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever come across her name before. However, she was the most popular novelist of her day. We may not be clamoring to read her now, but I have no doubt readers in 1907 were, though she had passed away a few years earlier.
Another interesting facet of the 1907 catalog is how many books were in it by Theodore Roosevelt. In our current system, we have no books authored by him but plenty of books about him. But that makes sense. In 1907, Roosevelt wasn’t a distant historic figure. He was the president and had authored numerous popular books, especially about his adventures owning a North Dakota cattle ranch. Those books represent much of what was available for check out by him in Berryville 118 years ago.
By 1938, when the Berryville Public Library opened as a non-subscription library in the third floor of the courthouse, reader tastes had inevitably changed. We don’t have access to the catalog from that time, but I suspect Berryville readers were just as interested in what the rest of the country is reading as we are now.
The bestseller that year was Marjorie Kinnan Rawling’s The Yearling. That was an immensely popular book in America that year. In addition to being the top-selling book, it was a Book of the Month Club pick that April. This is a book that has definitely stood the test of time because we still have copies for check out in the system.
Another popular book released that year that we still circulate–and is a personal favorite of mine–is Daphne Du Maurier’s atmospheric gothic thriller Rebecca.
In fact, The Yearling and Rebecca were both so popular that they made the bestseller lists for both 1938 and 1939.
Other popular books that year, which we no longer circulate, include A.J. Cronin’s The Citadel, Howard Spring’s My Son, My Son!, Kenneth Roberts’s Northwest Passage, Rachel Field’s All This, and Heaven Too, Louis Bromfield’s The Rains Came, Lin Yutang’s The Importance of Living, and Margaret Halsey’s With Malice Toward Some.
The Citadel is a novel about a hardworking doctor, while My Son, My Son! is a family saga. Northwest Passage, meanwhile, is a fictional depiction of Rogers’ Rangers, a military unit during the French and Indian War. All This, and Heaven Too is a fictional retelling of a notorious French murder case. The Rains Came is also set abroad, this time in India. The last two books listed were nonfiction bestsellers that year. The Importance of Living was the work of a Chinese philosopher, expounding on his thoughts about life, while With Malice Toward Some was a snarky travel diary full of the author’s sharp, caustic observations about life in Europe right before World War II. These books may not be commonly read now, but their genres and plot descriptions definitely describe books that still resonate and circulate.
If we fast-forward to 1978, when the library was moving into its then-new location, where we currently are, the list of authors that Berryville residents were reading looks a little more familiar than 1938’s list. Again, we don’t have a catalog from that year, but it is a good bet that many of these titles were available to check out in Berryville then.
The top bestseller that year was James Michener’s Chesapeake Bay, a Maryland-set family saga that spans centuries. We have a copy of that in the system, as well as many other Michener titles still.
Herman Wouk’s War and Remembrance, a WWII novel, was also extremely popular that year.
Another popular title was Fools Die by Mario Puzo. We don’t carry this one anymore. Nowadays, when people read Puzo, they primarily read the book he’s much better known for, The Godfather.
Other popular books that year–some of which we have in the system now and some of which we don’t–were Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodlines, Judith Krantz’s Scruples, Belva Plain’s Evergreen, Robert Ludlum’s The Holecraft Covenant, Ken Follett’s Eye of the Needle, Erma Bombeck’s If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, and Christina Crawford’s Mommie Dearest. It’s a blend of sweeping historical epics, thrillers, humor, and celebrity tell-alls.
We only have a partial list of bestsellers for 2025 since we’ve only gone through half the year. But current favorites right now are Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere, Navessa Allen’s Caught Up, Carley Fortune’s One Golden Summer, Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s First Gentleman, Freida McFadden’s The Tenant, Johnny Joey Jones’s Behind the Badge, Bessel Van Der Kolk’s The Body Keeps Score, and Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation.
Other popular books earlier this year include Percival Everett’s James, Kristin Hannah’s The Women, Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods, Claire Leslie Hall’s Broken Country, John Grisham’s Framed, Ina Garten’s Be Ready When the Luck Happens, and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Sweetberry.
You can find almost all of these books in our system, though you will also have to wait your turn since many of them are already checked out.
To that end, we want to know about what you read!
You can answer the prompts at any of our collection stations at the library, the community center, and the historical society. Also feel free to email us your responses and any book-themed pictures you have from the 1930s, 1970s, and now at celebrateberryville@gmail.com.
Everyone who fills out the prompt is eligible for our prize drawing. Each month up to five lucky people will win small prizes that celebrate fun things to do, fun places to eat, fun things made–you get the idea–all in Berryville! Responses and photos are also eligible for inclusion in our commemorative book at the end of this project.
Learn more about Celebrate Berryville on our landing page!
A special thank you to Jackie Waller for allowing the library to use her research on the early days of the library.
The following sources were also especially helpful:
Annie George. “List of Books in Berryville Public Library.” The Star Progress. February 1, 1907.
Helen Hall Library Guides. NYT Best Sellers. https://helenhall.libguides.com/NYTbestsellers
Joe Hummel III. “1938 Popular Books and Bestsellers.” History in Pop Culture. https://pop-culture.us/1938-popular-books-and-bestsellers/
Joe Hummel III. “1978 Popular Books and Bestsellers.” History in Pop Culture. https://pop-culture.us/1978-popular-books-and-bestsellers/
The New York Times Best Sellers List. https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/
Berryville Book Buzz 