Carol McKinney passed away on Feb. 15 at the age of 90.

She originally served as a Logan County Public Library board member, but stepped down in September 1991 to become the Adairville branch librarian. She retired in January 2012.

Her obituary said she was the branch manager, which was not an official title, but it does fit her. 

As an avid reader, this was an ideal job for her. She especially enjoyed ordering books for her library. She looked out for her patrons, making certain they got the books they wanted, even if it meant fighting with the rest of us.

People might think she was a life-long resident of Adairville, but she was originally from Wayne County, Ky. She moved here with her husband, Ray, when he took the job of a pharmacist here in the 1950s.  They quickly adapted to the new town. 

She lived in the old People’s Bank building on the square. From her balcony she could get a bird’s eye view of the town, which was especially enjoyed during parades. It was next door to the library, so she didn’t have far to walk to work. 

When asked by the short-lived Rooted and Grounded newspaper what Adairville meant to her she answered, “It’s home, it’s friends, it’s church.”

She was a valuable source for information concerning the history of Adairville. She knew the location of the office of Dr. Green Simmons, who allegedly saved Jesse James’ life from an attempted suicide, and where the old train depot was located. 

She was a humorous person, with a great laugh. You would laugh along as long as you were not on the receiving end of her barbs. She made her feelings well known on many subjects, and she did not suffer fools.

When one person moved to Adairville from Russellville who she felt would do a lot of harm, she asked me why Russellvillians didn’t take this person back.  I responded that the people of Russellville didn’t want this person back.

Her husband, Ray, made the mistake once of running for city council. He was once elected mayor of Adairville. It wasn’t his choice. Back then, citizens could submit any name they wanted for the office and whatever name got the most votes won the position. 

Because of pharmacy work, McKinney couldn’t attend an important meeting regarding the sewer plant.  Ray McKinney stepped down so that someone else could dedicate more time to the job as mayor. He literally was mayor for a day. 

When he ran for city council, Carol thought this was a terrible idea and had cards printed up. She passed them around to people. They said, “Don’t vote for Ray McKinney.”  It didn’t work because he served on the council. He passed away in 2008.

Carol McKinney stayed active even after she retired. She especially enjoyed the freedom of going out for lunch every day. She also called into Feedback regularly, giving her insight into the history of the county.

We will miss her phone calls here to the library, as she gave us commentary on the events of Adairville. We’ll miss hearing her on Feedback. We know most of the people of Adairville will miss her, too, and probably some of the people she irritated. 

There was no one like her at the library.

Mark Griffin is the Local History/Reference Specialist at Logan County Public Library. His At Your Library program can be heard each Monday at 8:25 a.m. on WRUS.