Trudy Harris Marshall graduated from Blackwell High School in 1967. She married and had three children. After being a stay-at-home mom, Trudy went to school to get her teaching degree. She loved teaching and helping others. In 1993, she found an article looking for English teachers to teach in post-Communist Lithuania. Taking her youngest daughter with her, she packed up and went to Lithuania to teach for a year - living just like all the other teachers, including living off the same salary as them. After that, she had a new love for traveling. Europe, China, and Mongolia are just some of the many places she traveled, but in 2001, she went and stayed in a mud home in Uganda, Africa - and that is where she left her heart.
In 2001, just before leaving for Uganda, she decided to move from the classroom to the library. The summer before she left, she received her Library Science degree and would now be a school librarian. While in Uganda, she lived with the native people and loved every minute. In her time there, she went to the schools and was amazed at what the children did not have: good clothes, shoes, toys, money or books. With a desire to help, she asked the students what she could send or bring to them, and the reply was books. Being a school librarian, it was possible to fulfill that request. That is just what she did, she brought them books.
In 2005, Trudy and a team of volunteers traveled back to Uganda and created a library full of love. That was the beginning of her heart's dream and desire, to help the beautiful people of Uganda by providing libraries in the schools. The non-profit organization, Libraries of Love, was formed. Since its creation in 2005, thirteen libraries have been planted in schools serving 21,500 students. This summer, in 2010, six more libraries serving 5,500 more students will be created. All because one lady, followed her heart! To find out more about Trudy’s passion go to www.librariesoflove.org