Remembering Dot Barbaree

My neighbor and friend Dot Barbaree passed away some months back. Dot was a proud and vocal 'Georgia Bulldog' and a retired educator. I recall a conversation with Dot back in 2005. "Jim, are you still on the school board?" which I replied in the affirmative. "Well, I just watched the film, 'CORRIDOR OF SHAME', have you seen it?" (I had), "I would like to collect books to take down there, I'm sure the Winthrop University Women's group has a lot of books they can donate, will you get me some information?"

I said I'd try, and then set out to get the information she requested. My first call was to the Rock Hill School District Office - their recommendation was to call the State Department of Education - where there was no recommendation. The next call was to a reporter at The State Newspaper who had written an article on the subject. The reporter recommended calling Bud Ferillo, Producer and Director of the film. Mr. Ferillo suggested a call to the Principal of Estill High School.

Now I was in business. I was able to get a list of requested books which I passed along to Dot. A few days later I got a call from Dot, "Jim, you've got to come over to my house. I've got something to show you". What she had was a garage full of books (turned out to be about 700) that she and a friend were going to drive down to the school the next day.

I'm not sure how they were able to get everything into two cars, but they did. The world is a better place because of folks like Dot.

The Springs Close Foundation and Kathy and Larry Bigham are listed as sponsors for the film.

From the Charlotte Observer:

Documentary Prompts Gift of Books
Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC (Oct. 19, 2005)

Rock Hill resident Dot Barbaree couldn't stop thinking about "Corridor of Shame," a documentary she saw this summer about rural schools along Interstate 95 in South Carolina.

"If you see it, you think, 'I've just got to do something about this,' " said Barbaree, 72.

With the help of her American Association of University Women group, Barbaree collected about 700 books - literature, science, history, reference and poetry. On Saturday, she met up with the school's librarian in Columbia to hand them off.

The Estill High library has about 7,000 books, which is a decent amount for the 400 students there, said the school's media specialist, Audrey Koudelka. But many of the books are old, she said, and the district has little money to replace them.

Barbaree said she hopes others watch the documentary.

"Maybe more groups will say, 'Hey, what can I do?' "