Libraries and books were extremely important to Silas House as he was growing up in Corbin, Kentucky. The best-selling writer said Thursday morning during Rooster Booster that the slew of information he gained from the World Book collection, Stephen King novels, and other books reminded him that knowledge is power.
In his position as Kentucky Poet Laurete, House has created a curriculum called the Listen Now Oral History Project for all school teachers in the state to opt into for the upcoming academic year.
The project aims to connect students with an elder in their family or in the community who is at least 40 years older than them. The student will conduct an interview, transcribe it, and write about the lessons they’ve learned.
“I learned so much from my elders,” House said. “They truly shaped the person I am today and gave me the knowledge that has been the most useful to me throughout my life — whether that’s been how to fish, how to handle a knife, how to choose a book, how to tell a story, and many other skills. In the curriculum, I am trying to lead them to that knowledge.”
House recalled that when he was 12 years old in 1984, he was a squeaky-voiced kid who loved basketball like every other Kentucky boy. But he secretly loved the library just as much.
His book-reading ventures began with classic novels, such as “Old Yeller” and “Where the Lillies Bloom.” With his aunt’s help, House found books that were unavailable to him from his parents.
“She bought me whatever I wanted to read at those yard sales. I sometimes chose books that were not appropriate for a boy my age, but they were really good … they widened my vocabulary a lot,” House said.
As he peeled through the Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew series in his school library, House was introduced to using the library for more than just research purposes. Until then, House had poured himself into his parents’ encyclopedias and faded the text on a book about Kentucky.
His parents’ push to learn information from a young age influenced this.
“I was so grateful, and I’m still so grateful that I had parents who knew that knowledge was important and that it was the way forward. They believed if I had information, I could make something out of myself,” House said.
Yet, he found himself in the library as the out-of-the-norm student, asking to spend time and find more books. His childhood librarian embarked on showing House a new world of literature tailored to his liking.
Walking into the library, he discovered the librarian’s key motto: “Ignorance is bliss. Bliss is boring.”
“I finally realized that it was saying that ignorance is boring and the world of excitement was found in knowledge, the opposite of ignorance. And there was nothing I hated more than being bored,” House said.
With the amalgamation of knowledge he learned at a young age and this newfound realization, House continued to read and find community in knowledge and books. As the Kentucky Poet Laureate, the author of eight novels and three plays, and with bylines in some of the nation’s highest outlets, House said he continues to fight for the world of excitement.
“We know that gaining information is important, that books are important, that community is important, and that knowledge is the key to everything,” he said. “Throughout my career, my own books have been banned, and I’ve seen many other books banned. This is a nonpartisan issue. It doesn’t matter if you’re conservative or liberal or whatever; banning happens on both sides of this. We all know that not all books are meant for children. Of course, they’re not. But that should be the decision of parents, not of governments, whether local or national. We must never stand in the way of people gaining knowledge.”
