Posts by Cari

In two weeks, the Pryor Library will close on Graham Ave, pack up and move to our temporary location in the Graham Community Building (GCB). CMS Willowbrook, our construction management company, worked really hard to keep us open, but there’s no cost-effective way to keep staff and patrons safe while they demolish ceilings and install a sprinkler system.

When we reopen in the GCB on March 1st, we’ll have new hours and be a much smaller operation than anyone is used to. The plan is still to take eight shelving units and fill them with the most-likely-to-be-needed items from each part of our collection. We will continue to order and process new materials while we’re at the GCB, so there will be new things to check out while we’re there.

Because our collection will be so much smaller during this time, we will likely lower the number of items you can have on your card from 20 to about 5. (The Board will make that decision later this month.) Otherwise no other policies will change. We’ll have internet/wifi and printing services available as well as our microfilm collection for genealogy research. We’re also increasing our ebook and digital audiobook ordering through Overdrive/Libby.

The move to and operations from a smaller location will be frustrating for everyone, but it will have been worth it when we get back into our newly remodeled and expanded library sometime this fall. I am so incredibly grateful for the staff at the Library and at City Hall who are making my job so much easier.

This is a daunting project that has more moving parts than I can count, but the Library staff has taken ownership of the planning and packing in their areas of expertise while still completing their normal tasks. I could not have asked for a better group of people to make this move with.

Our Friends of the Pryor Creek Library group has two main missions as an organization: 1) to support the Pryor Public Library and 2) to support literacy in Mayes County. They accomplish mission one by giving of their time to promote the Library, help with major Library projects and events, and giving financial support where appropriate (they helped fund our visit from Bestselling Author Jon Jefferson). Their second mission is accomplished through mission one and by sponsoring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library for children under 5 years of age in Mayes County.

Increasing a community’s literacy levels makes getting print materials into children’s homes vital. The Friends group has done an amazing job getting children enrolled in the Imagination Library program since its beginning in 2017. That first Imagination Library order sent books to 8 children. This month, the order will reach 217 children!

After receiving the introductory book (“The Little Engine That Could”) each book is chosen specifically for the child’s age and developmental stage. The books are fairly current, of good quality, and contain tips for caregivers to help teach children the early literacy skills.

In 2021, the Friends Group’s sponsorship paid for 2,432 books to be mailed to Mayes County children (an average of 203 per month). While the books are free for all children signed up, the sponsoring organization pays about $25 per year, per child. Considering the normal cost of books, this is quite a deal!

If you know a child living in Mayes County who is under 5 years old who would like a free book each month, come to the Library to get an application or visit imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability for an online form. If you’d like to sponsor a child (or two) for the program, donations are tax deductible.

Do I have news for you this week! The details will change as things develop and we learn more, but the main thing is that we’re closing our current building at the end of February and reopening in the Graham Community Center (GCC) on March 1st. We will be in the GCC until the end of August.

While we’re in the GCC, construction teams will demo out ceilings, install a sprinkler system, and remodel the staff office area.

Our current building is just over 10,000 square feet. The GCC room is just under 3,900 square feet. We’re going to try to pack as much of your library into that small space as possible. We’ve got some limitations beyond space – lack of electrical outlets being a primary one – but I think we’ll be successful in scaling down our operation enough to fit and still be able to serve our community.

We can only take eight of our shelving units to the GCC and our access to the collection we leave behind will be minimal. This means, we may not have access to the material you are looking for in our physical collection. We will still offer inter-library loans and full access to our digital collections.

We will have internet access and wifi as well as a copier/printer for public use. We will also have some genealogy resources like our microfilm and reader.

Several other organizations reserved the GCC before we knew we were going to need it. We are in the process of contacting those groups to see how we can best accommodate their reservation with the library in the same room.

We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us preparing to move, protecting what we leave behind, and figuring out how to get people to come see us in the GCC. Please be patient with us as we make this transition. It will be frustrating for everyone involved, but once the building is complete, it will have been worth it!

The Books & Brews Club picked our next round of books at our last meeting. Here’s what we’ve got lined up:  (You can also find this list on our website, pryorlibrary.org).

February: “Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford” by Clint Hill

March: “The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Flight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear” by Kate Moore

April: “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

May: “The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula Le Guin

June: “The Guncle” by Steven Rowley

July: “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles

August: “Tales From the Ant World” by Edward Wilson

September: “The Flight Attendant” by Chris Bohjalian

October: “Facing the Mountain” by Daniel James Brown

November: “The Book of Lost Names” by Kristin Harmel

December: No book, but we will meet to discuss our favorite books from 2022

January, 2023: “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman

February, 2023: “Dead Wake” by Erik Larson

All the books are available at the library, via Libby/Overdrive, or for purchase at the Book Exchange.

If you’ve never been to a Books & Brews Club meeting, I encourage you to try it out. We’re a relaxed book club that’s more about community and fellowship than serious literary discussions. Our meetings are from 1 – 3 on the first Saturday of each month. The first hour is reserved for chatting and eating. We do not discuss the book until 2, so feel free to come whether you’ve read the book or not. At the very least, you should try Fat Toad’s food menu. My standard order is a side salad and a pretzel with double the cheese. It’s amazing! (The pizza isn’t bad either!)

In other news, this is volume 200 of “Read On!” That’s almost four years! I hope you’re having as much fun reading as I am writing.