Posts by Cari
Read On: Art in the Library
Last weekend, we went to the Gilcrease Museum to see the Pulitzer Prize photograph exhibit. I needed more than one tissue to get through it, but I’m glad we went. It was room after room of powerful and heartwrenching pieces of our history.
While we were there, we took the time to explore some of the other galleries in the building. We are lucky to have such exemplary art museums in our area. If you haven’t been in a while, the Gilcrease and the Philbrook are worth the trip to Tulsa.
Both the Gilcrease and Philbrook Museums feature a variety of Native American art in their collections that remind me of the amazing art we house here in the Pryor Library. All of our art has been donated through the years and we try to display and care for each piece the way the donors would want.
We recently transferred some pieces to City Hall, the Parks Department, and the Pryor Area Arts and Humanities Council because we weren’t able to accomplish the goal of displaying and caring for each piece respectfully. Now, we have more room for pieces here and the pieces we transferred are being given proper wall space.
When you visit next, be sure find our bust of Lincoln by Willard Stone (donated by the Epsilon Sigma Alpha sorority in 1961), our bronzes by Frederick Remington (donated by Bill and Karen Rabbit in 1993), and the twenty or so other pieces around the building. We’re working on relabeling all of our art, so if you can’t find title and artist information nearby, ask us and we’ll find out for you.
Don’t miss this week’s Summer Reading events!
Monday: Sumi-E painting with Sula Robertson at 6:30 PM (for adults)
Tuesday: Asteroid Hunt at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM (for ages 5-11)
Wednesday: Storytime Class at 10:30 AM (for ages 0-4)
Thursday: PJ Movie Night at 6:30 PM (for ages 12-18)
Read On! Mayes County Libraries
One of the squares on the Adult Summer Reading Bingo sheet this year is “visit another Mayes County library.” I write about the Pryor Library because it is what I know best, but I am always impressed by what the other libraries in Mayes County offer our communities.
Pryor’s library is, by far, the largest library in the county. We have a bigger population base, a bigger budget, and a bigger building than the rest, but that doesn’t mean we have a bigger mission or a bigger drive to serve our patrons. The Chouteau, Langley, Locust Grove, and Salina Public Libraries work just a diligently to provide resources to our communities and our entire county (sometimes more than our county) as the Pryor Library does.
They offer storytime classes, STEM workshops, guest speakers, book collections, online resources, and amazing staff. If you live in Pryor, it’s worth the drive to one of our neighboring towns to visit. If you live in a community lucky enough to have a public library, go check it out. You’ll be as impressed as I am.
Chouteau Public Library
307 W. Main St.
Chouteau, OK
918-476-4445
Open Mon-Fri 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Langley Public Library
325 W. Osage
Langley, OK
918-782-4461
Open Mon 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM; Tues – Fri 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Locust Grove Public Library
715 Harold Andrews Blvd.
Locust Grove, OK
918-479-6585
Open Tue. Noon to 7:00 PM; Wed – Fri 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Salina Public Library
420 E. Ferry St.
Salina, OK
918-434-8001
Open Tues Noon to 7:00 PM; Wed Noon to 5:00 PM; Thurs & Fri 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Don’t miss our Summer Reading events this week!
Monday: Intro to DNA: Finding your Origins Part 1 at 6:30 PM (for adults)
Tuesday: Fun with STEAM at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM (for ages 5-11)
Wednesday: Storytime at 10:30 AM (for ages 0-4)
Thursday: Destroy the Tech! At 6:30 PM (for ages 12-18)
Read On! Our Strategic Plan Begins
Last Monday, July 1st, was the first day of our new fiscal year. Like most people do at the traditional New Year, we’ve made some lofty goals for our new fiscal year. We are now, officially, working the Strategic Plan that we put together.
Our Strategic Plan gives us a lot of goals to accomplish during its three years. This year, we’re working on roughly 14 new or newly refocused activities! These 14 things can be divided into four broad categories: ideas for improvement that we will study and evaluate in order to decide if we can begin and sustain them, actions we definitely will take, documentation we will create, and activities we have done in the past that will now have a renewed or different focus.
Some hi-lights of what we will accomplish in the next year:
We will begin evaluating whether to include obituary information from all newspapers we own (past and present) in our online catalog. We will also begin evaluating whether storytime classes at area daycares and/or schools is something our staff has time for and the community needs.
We will formally select and purchase the curriculum we will use for our English Language Learning and Adult Literacy tutoring. We will review and update the Library Board of Trustees’ by-laws.
We will create a new Technology Plan. We will document our IT procedures.
We will continue to offer staff continuing education in a variety of ways and require that all staff working more than 20 hours per week have at least one continuing education credit per fiscal year.
Don’t miss this week’s Summer Reading events!
Monday: Legal Aid: Free advice & where to get more @ 6:30 PM (adults)
Tuesday: Planetary Painting with Jenna @ 10:00 AM & 2:00 PM (ages 5-11)
Wednesday: Storytime @ 10:30 AM (ages 0-4)
Thursday: Eating in Space @ 6:30 PM (ages 12-18)
Read On! Good Omens
Some of your Pryor Library staff have been eagerly discussing the new Amazon Prime show “Good Omens” and how it compares to the book of the same name.
We agree: both the book and the show are delightful.
The book, published in 1990, effortlessly combines the talents of its authors, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Independently, these two award-winning authors offer readers enthralling and entertaining journeys through the worlds they create. Together in “Good Omens,” they have created a narrative full of whimsy and insight into human nature. Their characters are real and complex with inter-weaving relationships that shape the course of the story’s events.
Reading the book, it’s clear the authors had an amazing time writing it. Their enjoyment seeps through the pages and makes reading (or listening to) “Good Omens” a light-hearted adventure despite the fact that it details the end of the world.
The show “Good Omens” was written by Neil Gaiman (Terry Pratchett passed away in 2015), which means the joy and whimsy are also present in the show. The casting of Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale and David Tennant as the demon Crowly is nothing short of brilliant. Their embodiment of the two main characters in “Good Omens” makes this one of the best adaptations we’ve ever watched. We highly recommend both formats!
Whichever format you choose, you can cross off BINGO squares in the Adult Summer Reading Program with this gem!
Don’t miss this week’s Summer Reading events:
Monday: Wine Cork Projects at 6:30 PM (adults)
Tuesday: Astronaut Training Camp at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM (ages 5-11)
Wednesday: Storytime at 10:30 AM (ages 0-4)
Thursday: Closed for Independence Day
Saturday: Books & Brews Club at Fat Toad Brewing at 1:00 PM. We’ll be discussing “In a Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson.