He had a dream: one book at a time, James Roland fulfilled a lifelong goal.

• Author: Cutler, Debbie
• Position: From the Editor

James Roland, an Alaskan since 1964 and one of eight children, had a dream. For the last 40 years it has been his goal and desire to create the Jane Roland Memorial Library in Dale, Texas, at St. John Colony 28 miles south of Austin. This project is to honor his great-great-grandmother who was a slave, born in 1809, and freed about 130 years ago when Texas slaves received their independence. He said she was an inspiration, raising seven children, teaching all to be successful, a trait that passed down through four generations.

"She was such a great lady," said Roland.

He bought 30 acres from his cousin 20 years ago at $800 an acre to house the J.R. Library. In the meantime, he has searched all across Alaska for high-quality books and gathered about 80,000 of them. And then he thought of how to ship them.

One day, while working at the Aspen Hotel to raise money to see his dream fulfilled, he was approached by George A Swift, current owner of Western Steel Inc. in Washington state. Swift, at the time, was owner of the hotel.

"George called me into is office and said, 'James what are your plans for your future?' I thought, what's wrong with this man. I was damn near 70 years old. But I told him I planned to build a library and that I hoped to earn enough to buy books."

Swift sat down beside him, said to call when he had all of his books purchased and then he would give him $10,000 for shipment.

In November 2008, Roland realized that dream. With the help of Swift and...