Posted on 07/25/2004 12:32:38 PM PDT by BluegrassScholar
INVERNESS - When workers at the Harvest Select fisheries located southeast of Inverness pick up there oxygen monitoring devices, they also don headphones and grab small silver electronic devices.
No, they're not using some sort of new-fangled electronic device to communicate with headquarters.
Nor are they listening to music.
For more than five years, workers at the Inverness fishery which primarily is in the business of raising fingerlings, are listening to literature in the form of taped books checked out from the Sunflower County Library System.
Alberta Wilson, 55, has lived in Inverness for all of her life. She said that when she started working at Harvest Select she thought she would learn about the catfish industry.
"I never dreamed that I would be expanding my mind in more ways than learning my job," said Wilson.
Roger Yant, manager of the company, said that anything to do with catfish farming can be monotonous and lonely. "When you are out there checking oxygen, feeding fish or 'running birds,' it can be very boring," said Yant. "Running birds" is chasing off the birds that prey on the catfish.
"I was thinking of ways to enhance the working environment and of course thought of music, and then it occurred to me that books on tapes would be a perfect solution," Yant said. "I never dreamed that the workers would take to it so readily. When they get through with one book, they want more.
"These aren't just "fluff" type books," he continued. "They devour books like Dickens' 'Tale of Two Cities,' Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales,' and of course, the best sellers."
Wilson was quick to answer when asked about her favorite books on tapes.
"Grisham," she said. "I find his writing so stimulating and interesting."
She said that she has listened to every John Grisham book on tape that she can get her hands on. Wilson said that she also enjoys Mary Clark Higgins' mysteries and has even listened to a history of World War II.
"My daughter who is in the 11th grade has to do a lot of required reading," she said. "She is surprised when I tell her that I have already listened to that and it is a great book.
"I absolutely love to listen to the books. I feel that my mind is continuing to expand and I find that I am wanting to learn more even at 55. I believe that this keeps your mind young," she said.
Martha Smith, 43, of Inverness has worked at Harvest Select for more than six years.
"I do a little of it all, work in the hatchery, feed fish, run birds, whatever is needed," said Smith, who for most of her career at the fishery has enjoyed the book tapes.
She agreed with Wilson wholeheartedly on the tremendous impact of listening to books on tape while working. "This is a wonderful thing, when I get through with one I am ready for the next. I don't want to be without a book to listen to," said Smith.
Smith said that the children in her family are all "Harry Potter" fans.
"They talked so much about that little magician from England that I wanted to see for myself, so I started listening and just fell in love with all the Harry Potter books. They are wonderful," she said.
"I like all types of books," she said. "I guess I have listened to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" two or three times. The wonderful thing aboutl istening to these books is that you want to know more - it makes you want to learn more about this world we live in."
Alice Shands, director of the Sunflower County Library System said that Roger Yant's quest to improve working conditions at his plant has been a boon to the library. "After some weeks of Roger coming to the library and checking out books on tape from Shakespeare to world history, we began to ask a few questions," she said. "We were absolutely intrigued when we found that the books on tape were going to a workplace."
Shands said that she hopes that other businesses with similar working conditions will pick up on Yant's idea. "My only regret is that we don't have more to choose from," she said. "Our budget is so very tight and we realize that the economy is not what we would like in the Delta, so we can not buy what we would like."
Debbie Cochran of Isola, secretary at Harvest Select, indicated the book on tapes idea is just one of several activities at the business that helps make working there more than a work-a-day chore.
"We are one big happy family out here," she said. "We just had a party at lunch celebrating completing one phase of our work. We take time out from work to enjoy being together and I think that helps a lot."
"I think that listening to books on tape makes the work time go by faster, is entertaining and makes for a more satisfied employee," Yant said.
Both Wilson and Smith said they would like to try reading some of horror author Stephen King's more recent works sometime soon, but only while working on the day shift at the plant located in a relatively isolated area in southeast Sunflower County.
"Not me! Not that man's books at night way out here," said Wilson while shaking her head with a smile. "No, sir."
I am not a cigar smoker but my husband is. In the literature about cigar manufacturing is a story about the factories.
Women actually made the cigars, they rolled the leaves on their thighs. The work was pretty monotonous and boring. The factory kept them entertained and productive by use of a reader. Because of better projection, it was usually a man reading the classics.
Books on tape is just technology applied to an old practice.
Correct. There is an old tradition of readers at the cigar factories of Tampa.
"The wonderful thing about listening to these books is that you want to know more - it makes you want to learn more about this world we live in."
I will often read a piece of fiction, and then go to the library for nonfiction books about some aspect of the story.
There are so many fascinating people, places, cultures, religions, etc., in the world (not even including history!), that I can't imagine wasting time on "reality" TV shows! (Even the "reality" of my own life often just seems like something that gets in the way of my reading ...) If you're going to watch TV, at least watch documentaries; we've seen some marvelous stuff on the Travel Channel.
MS Ping
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