James D. Roberts was the earliest known African American male librarian to work in the state of Indiana. Although not formally trained, Mr. Roberts served as the first librarian of the Mt. Pleasant Library in Rush County from 1842 until 1843. In operation from 1842 until 1867, the library was located inside the Mt. Pleasant A.M.E. Church and served the citizens of Rush County’s Beech Settlement. The Beech Settlement was a community settled by free African Americans who came North to Indiana from the southern United States.