James Farra VAN METER

                   Lexington Herald-Leader (KY), October 13, 1997, Section: Main News, Edition: Final, Page: A1

HARRIET DRURY VAN METER
Jennifer Hewlett, Herald-Leader Staff Writer

Harriet Drury Van Meter, 86, who touched millions of lives around the world through the International Book Project, which she founded in 1966, died yesterday at home after a lengthy illness. Mrs. Van Meter, sometimes referred to as the "Book Lady" , started the Lexington-based, non-profit International Book Project to help people in countries where books and journals were in short supply.
By 1984, about eight million people had access to book project books and journals. When Mrs. Van Meter stepped down as executive director of the organization on Jan. 1, 1986, the project had about 17,000 worldwide volunteers. Mrs. Van Meter's work in the book project brought her a nomination for the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize. She received the Kiwanis International World Service Medal, an award that also has been given to former First Lady Nancy Reagan and Church of England envoy Terry Waite .
"She and Jacques Cousteau were finalists for that award, and she was selected to receive that award," said Ted Osborn, former president of the book project board. "Millions of books, free of charge, were sent to Third World countries. Millions of books. That's just unbelievable," Osborn said. The University of Baguio and the Bicol Christian College of Medicine, both in the Philippines, named libraries for Mrs. Van Meter. She also was inducted into the Kentucky Women's Hall of Fame. "This has been by far the most rewarding experience of my life, something I'll always remember," she said of the book project in 1985. It started in Madras. The idea for an international book project first came to Mrs. Van Meter during her U.S. State Department-sponsored trip to India in 1965. "In Madras, the university had 70,000 students and only 4,500 books. None could be checked out. Students stood in line to read," she told the Courier-Journal in 1981. She'd already seen the need in other countries. In 1960, on a visit to Brazil she heard of the need for professional journals in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science . After she returned home, she collected journals and sent them to Brazil.

The International Book Project was Mrs. Van Meter's largest undertaking, but not her only one.
In 1940, she led a group of women to found the Manchester Center in Lexington to provide educational and social services to residents of Irishtown. She also taught at Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church nursery school for many years and was volunteer director of Lexington's Sayre School from 1947 to 1949.

For years, Mrs. Van Meter and her husband Dr. James Farra Van Meter invited University of Kentucky foreign students and American students who wanted to meet them to their home for dinner. A s many as 70 would show up. In 1960, UK presented Mrs. Van Meter with its Sullivan Medallion in recognition of her work with international students.

Mrs. Van Meter, was born Dec. 27, 1910, in Fulton, Ill., the daughter of Walter Carroll Drury, a candy manufacturer who was credited with inventing the lemon drop , and Belle Snyder Drury. Shortly after enrolling at UK, she became very ill with an intestinal obstruction. She fell in love with her doctor, James Farra Van Meter, who was more than 11 years her senior. The two married, she was 20 and he was 31, and they had three children. The oldest, Jimmy, was disabled by a birth injury. Son Richard died at age three of dysentery . Daughter Nancy Kasanof lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. James Farra Van Meter had served on the old Lexington City Commission and was a member of the first Urban County Council. He died in 1978. Mrs. Van Meter raised her children; graduated magna cum laude from UK in 1957 with a bachelor's degree in family studies ; and received a master's degree in sociology from UK in 1961.

In 1949, a group of nine German students arrived on the UK campus, followed the next year by 40 students from Japan. "There was a great deal of resistance to the idea of foreign students in those days," she said in a 1977 interview. "Many people wouldn't rent to them or even speak to them." Mrs. Van Meter helped many of those students and in 1965 her efforts attracted the attention of the State Department, which asked her to spend several weeks in India. The book shortage in India shocked her, and led to her organizing the International Book Project. All books and postage expenses were donated. The project's headquarters for many years was Mrs. Van Meter's basement at her Mentelle Park home. "Our whole basement was wall to wall books," daughter Nancy Kasanof said. The project was criticized for sending books out of the U.S. "Every state in this nation has a department of libraries with mobile units. Anyone in this country who wants to read a book can find a book," she told the Courier-Journal in 1981. In 1985, Mrs. Van Meter was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Former U.S. Rep. Larry Hopkins filed the papers with the Nobel Committee nominating her.

Private services. In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Van Meter is survived by her son James Farra Van Meter Jr. of Frankfort; two brothers; and two grandchildren. W.R. Milward Mortuary on North Broadway is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are private. The family of Mrs. Van Meter invites those who knew or worked with her to an Oct. 28 memorial service at 2 p.m. at Pisgah Presbyterian Church. Donations can be made to the International Book Project Inc., 1440 Delaware Ave., Lexington, Ky. 40505.

Herald-Leader news researcher Linda Minch and staff writer Amy Baldwin contributed to this report.

Gary Landers/Associated Press