Read On! Library Card Sign-Up Month

In the middle of the Library’s board meeting last month my daughter, who just turned four, came in to ask, “Mommy, can I get a library card?” It was a heart-melting moment for this librarian.

In our house, we’ve decided our kids will get cards when they’re old enough to write their names on the back. I remember getting my first library card (at the Vinita Public Library) and I’d like my kids to have similar memories. Of course, many families have made different choices for their children. For the Library, a person simply has to be born to be old enough to get their own library card.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month on the American Library Association’s calendar. This means we’re making a concerted effort to encourage everyone who doesn’t yet have a library card to get one this month. You can do some incredible things with a Pryor Public Library card. Even from home in your pajamas!

To get a library card, you’ll need to come into the library with a photo ID and a piece of mail with your current mailing address on it. There’s a short form to fill out, then you’re all set! If you live in Mayes County, your library card is free. If you live outside Mayes County there’s a one-time $5 non-resident fee.

With a library card from the Pryor Public Library, you’ll have access to all our online resources (including ebooks and downloadable audiobooks), easier access to our computers and internet, and you’ll be able to take home up to 20 items at a time from our physical collection. We’re kind of the best deal in town.

With or without a library card, don’t forget to join us on Thursday, September 13th at 7 PM as we bring back our monthly adult classes and events. Jacinda will walk everyone through how to make bird marionettes. And who doesn’t want to craft your own marionette?

Read On! Annual Report

Last week, libraries across Oklahoma submitted their annual reports to the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. It’s a good time to get a snapshot of the past year and to start making future plans and goals.

In the annual report, I get to tell the state how we spent our money, how many items we have available to our community, and how many community members we served in various ways.

In our physical collection, we have 33,789 bound books; 1,371 audiobooks and music CDs; and 1,460 DVDs. This means our building currently holds 36,620 items.

In our digital collection, we have 42,927 ebooks; 10,937 audiobooks; and 682 videos. This makes our complete collection an impressive 91,166 items available to our community.

I’m proud to say we had 50,024 items checked out of our physical library. When we add the number of items checked out of our digital library, that number goes up to 77,715 checkouts. That’s a lot! You guys were busy!

Speaking of you guys, we’ve got 12,182 active library users. In a town of less than 10,000 and a county of just over 40,000, I’m quite pleased with that number. And I’m even more excited every month when I look at how many more people get new library cards — almost 70 a month!

Last but not least, my two favorite statistics to watch: We had 63,886 visitors through our doors (over 200 each day) and we answered 21,187 questions! We love answering your questions, so keep them coming!

Thank you so much for using your Pryor Public Library so often and so well. We are truly having a wonderful time serving our community. And if you haven’t been to the library in a while, come check us out!

If you’d like to let us know how we can serve you better, come to our focus group meetings on Aug. 27th and 30th from 6 – 7 PM in our meeting room. We’ll have cookies.  

 

Read On! Libraries Make Connections

Recently, Forbes published an article suggesting libraries should be replaced by Amazon. As a librarian I find a lot wrong with that idea. More importantly, the article signifies that the author doesn’t understand what libraries do.

Simply put, libraries make connections.

Libraries make connections for the members of our community in four basic areas: Information needs, Literacy, Culture & Cultural Conversations, and Community.

Our information needs connection encompasses everything from crossword help to providing a robust nonfiction collection for lifelong learners. We also provide free internet services, which are used for job searches, at-home businesses, research, and more.

When we make literacy connections, we do so by providing and recommending books, teaching early literacy skills to the toddlers and preschoolers in our storytimes, offering online resources for basic adult education, and partnering with our Friends of the Library group for English language tutoring.

Culture and cultural conversation connections come through offering cultural classes and events like Robert Lewis’ Cherokee storytelling. We also make these connections by providing bestselling books and movies for checkout. Having access to the internet helps our community stay abreast of the latest meme craze as well.

Finally, we make community connections by offering classes and events where our community can gather. We house information our community needs. (Want to read the charter language that we’ll vote on in August? We’ve got it.) And through our internet services, we enable those without internet the ability to connect to a larger, world community.

Libraries do a lot. And we’re far more than just a service for books.