Posts by Cari
Read On! Representation matters
Growing up, I was always the tallest kid in my class by quite a lot. It wasn’t a hardship, but it made me feel different and set apart from my classmates. In the mid-to-late 1980s Hasbro released fashion dolls based on the cartoon “Jem and the Holograms.” Jem and her companion dolls were 12” tall (a full inch taller than their Barbie counterparts) and had big, flat feet. I remember getting my first Jem doll and truly feeling Seen. Suddenly, I had a doll who was similarly set apart from her peers and it was such a relief to know I wasn’t alone.
In early high school, I checked out “The Haunting of Frances Rain” by Margaret Buffie from the school’s library. Again, I found myself in my media. The main character was dealing with so many of the same family issues I had that I read it multiple times. The book became so precious to me that I snuck into the teachers’ workroom at school to copy each and every page so I could keep it forever. (I have since made amends to the keepers of copyright)
That feeling of discovering yourself in toys or media was so powerful for me that I have a Jem doll on my desk at work and the Buffie book on my bookshelf at home. I’m not alone in this feeling. It’s an important and sometimes life-changing moment for anyone who feels different from their peers.
One of the things we strive to do at your Library is make sure we have a variety of materials in our collection so members of our community can find themselves like I did growing up. Growing up is hard and feeling different makes it that much harder. The Library hopes to make Life easier for everyone through the simple act of providing a good, well-rounded collection that is free for anyone to access. If you haven’t found yourself in our collection yet, let us know. We’ll figure out how to fix that.
Read On! Free meals
This summer, the Library’s services are a lot different from what we were able to do in previous summers. I know I’ve written similar sentences before. I’m still in the process of grieving that change and it’s often at the forefront of my mind. I’m not alone in that grief process. Recently, a librarian in the Chicago area was interviewed by the New York Times and said libraries want to be the “community living room” where people “stay and get comfortable,” but we’re now having to build service models that contradict that goal. It’s a difficult, though necessary, adjustment. I’m not sure any of the Library staff is used to it yet.
One of the things I’m pleased we can offer again this summer is free food for kids and teens. In fact, because the USDA relaxed their guidelines, we can offer more food options and service days this summer than we were able to last summer.
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday the Pryor Library is serving a grab-and-go breakfast and lunch from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Any child or teen is eligible to get meals and parents are welcome to pick up meals for their kids. The meals are shelf-stable and come with a carton of shelf-stable Hershey’s milk.
The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma provides all of the meals we distribute. They are just as passionate about making sure everyone has enough to eat as we are. Families have the option to come each service day to pick up meals or to grab multiple days’ worth of meals at one visit. We’ve got everything behind the main checkout desk.
While you’re in the library, don’t forget to register for our Summer Reading Program. Everyone who registers gets an at-home activity sheet and is entered into a grand prize drawing. The Summer Reading Program is a great way to make sure everyone reads all summer long.
Read On! Video games
My kids are always a little dismayed when I’m good at video games (and a lot distraught when I beat them at video games). Apparently, to them, I’m a crusty old lady who never saw a video game until my kids did me the favor of discovering the world of PlayStation and Nintendo. Little do they know, I grew up playing “Burgertime,” “Tekken,” “Sonic,” “Kingdom Hearts,” and every Mario game I could find.
“Super Mario Bros. 3” remains one of my all-time favorites. I logged hours and hours on our old cabinet TV making cheat sheets for the White Mushroom House puzzles and collecting every Warp Whistle in the game. Now, I spend a lot less time playing video games (though I am pretty good at “Pokemon Go,” “Minecraft,” and “Fortnite” thankyouverymuch), but they haven’t lost their relevance to me or within our culture.
References to video games appear in countless movies and playing them has spawned their own genre of YouTube “walkthrough” videos that kids seem glued to. There are even college scholarships for gamers!
During the most isolating parts of the COVID-19 shutdown, my son’s primary means for communicating with his friends was through “Fortnite.” Playing that game and being connected to his peers became an integral part of how he coped with not being able to see his friends in school every day.
Our friends at FTW here in Pryor understand that video games have become a vital part of our society and have decided to help give our community easier access to them. They donated more than 50 games for PS3, Xbox, and Wii to the library for anyone to check out for 4 weeks. Now, we have games like “Epic Mickey,” “Need For Speed,” and “Fallout” to loan to families in our community for free.
Search “video game” in our catalog to find a list or come check them out near our DVD collection.
Read On! Privacy
Libraries take protecting your privacy seriously. We believe what you read, what you research, and your use of the library’s resources is no one’s business but your own.
We obviously have to keep some records in order to operate. Mostly those records are patron contact information, current checkouts, historical checkouts linked to fines/fees, and some information to allow us to count how many people use our computers and wifi. We keep those records only for as long as they’re needed before they are deleted forever and are bound by law to keep them private while we have them (unless we receive a subpoena from law enforcement).
Additionally, our ethics and training dictate that staff do not discuss patron information with anyone outside the library. Even within the library we only discuss patron information when other staff members need to know that information.
Unfortunately, when you live in a small town (or even a big town) there may be some things you feel uncomfortable about your very ethical, non-judgemental library staff knowing you’re checking out. The good news is, we now have a self-checkout machine in the lobby! As long as you have your library card on you, you can use self-checkout to avoid any awkwardness about the materials you are taking home and to continue safety precautions for COVID-19. It’s really simple to use and we’re happy to walk you through if you need help.
Another avenue you can use to control what information the Library has about you is your checkout history. When you log into your account on our catalog, go to “My Account” then “History” to decide how long you want us to keep a record of your checkouts. Staff can do this for you too.
If you ever have questions about your privacy in the library, please ask us!