Lewisville Library Honors Dorothy Holder

“Lewisville Library Honors Dorothy Holder” by Ruth W. Bolz in the April-June 1991 issue of Tar Heel Homemakers

Although the December 10, 1990, meeting was called a Celebration of 20 Years of the Lewisville Library, much of the meeting included tributes honoring our Lewisville 50-year Extension Homemaker Dorothy Holder.

She, along with some members of the (then) Home Demonstration Club, started a library that opened October 2, 1945. There was a library at the Lewisville School but there still was a need for one during the summer months for the children as well as for adults. The library was especially needed after the Lewisville school burned in December of 1945. Members of the club served as librarians and custodians, all volunteer, of course.

After various changes of places and procedures, the library was closed in 1953 and all the books were given to the Lewisville School.

Dorothy Holder then led a committee of citizens in Lewisville who raised funds for the new Central Public Library in Winston-Salem, which opened in 1953. It was not until December 1970 that library service again was available in Lewisville, not a branch of the Forsyth County Public Library.

This 75-year-young Extension Homemaker continues her support of the library through Friends of the Library and arranging for monthly exhibits in display cases. She is also active in the Lewisville Arts & Crafts Guild, the Craft Club, a group of her former students from several years of teaching at Forsyth Technical College. Painting is another pastime.

She is a regular Operation Santa Claus volunteer, as well as volunteering two days a week at Vienna Village, a retirement home, one day working with crafts and the other day with sing-alongs and games.

Her family is an important part of her life. Son David lives in Orlando, Florida; daughter Dinah Taylor lives in Roswell; and another daughter, Dare Reich, lives in Lewisville and coincidentally works at the Lewisville Library.

The Lewisville Extension Homemakers Club gave the library a gift of $25 at the celebration. The club often holds its meetings there and it was a way of honoring Dorothy as well as showing our appreciation to the library.