Library

When my husband and I were dating, I found a giant spider in his apartment while he was at work. Like anyone would, I put a cup over the spider and left it where I found it. When Phil got home, I told him, “I don’t know if you read the fine print of dating me, but it clearly states you get to deal with anything that has more than two legs. There’s one upstairs.”

Now, many years later, when we find a spider in the house, we carefully identify it and relocate anything that’s not dangerous to humans. I’ve come a long way and it has taken some deliberate time and effort. Mostly, my journey took the path of deciding to research and learn about the object of my fear.

Learning about spiders inspired my family and me to happily work our way through the Pryor Library’s wildlife books (found in the 500s in nonfiction). We’ve learned about spiders, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, insects, trees, and wildflowers. We’re even citizen scientists now and record bird sightings with the Cornell Lab’s “Merlin” app.

All this information doesn’t keep us from being cautious around (or even freaked out by) dangerous things – wasps will always be treated like the stinging jerks they are – but our habit of researching and learning about things we encounter in our world has changed our initial reaction to things from outright terror to cautious curiosity. Each member of my family feels more confident when we encounter something strange and potentially scary because we know that the more we learn about it, the less scary it becomes (wasps notwithstanding).

If you’d like to learn more about something in your world, let us know. We’re happy to help! Call us, email me (reratc@pryorlibrary.org), or come by. We’ll help you find good, trustworthy information or get you in touch with experts who can.

I always loved the beginning of the new school year when I was younger. It was like the January New Year in a way – a fresh start. I’d set goals, color code my classes with notebooks, and vow not to procrastinate on my assignments. Much like New Year’s resolutions, about halfway through the first semester, I’d abandon all goals, codes, and vows to wing it the rest of the year.

I got through school fairly well, so it must not have been too bad of a system. Of course, now that my kids are in school, I’m trying to teach them better habits. If our progress continues at this rate, we’ll have some really organized students from my family line in a few generations.

The Library is getting into the Back to School spirit by planning for our Fall block of programming that begins in Sept. Covid makes things complicated, so everything you’re about to read may change as the situation with Covid changes.

As of this writing, our plan is to offer one in-person storytime each month and one in-person teen night each month. We’re planning to host everything outside and do everything we can to make the events as safe as possible (like having masks available for those who want them). Events for adults are being discussed, but nothing is set in stone yet. Again, Covid makes things tricky.

What is set in stone is that our perpetual book sale is coming back! Look for it later this month in the vestibule on the South (Graham Ave.) side of the building. We’ve been saving books up all summer, so you’ll want to come check it out. Paperbacks are $0.10; Hardbacks are $0.25; DVDs and other media are $0.25.

The money we get from book sales goes back to the Library to pay for events, new books, and other Library needs.

In Staff news: Be sure to congratulate Jordan on his latest step to becoming a pilot!

Now that Summer Reading is over, conference season begins. I’ve been to a number of library conferences in my time as a librarian. Library conferences are great ways to learn about new trends in library service, ways to improve existing processes, and meet others library staff.

In-person conferences all work basically the same way: days or weeks before the conference, attendees get a list of all available sessions/classes to begin the process of planning what they will learn and when. There is always time built into the schedule for attendees to go to the vendor hall so vendors can network with libraries, sell their wares, and give away the coveted library swag (free books and tote bags are super popular in Libraryland).

In the age of COVID-19, in-person conferences are more complicated. Last September, I attended my first virtual multi-day conference. I had no idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. Because all the sessions and classes were pre-recorded, I was able to “attend” more than I would have if the conference had been face-to-face. Because I got to stay in Pryor, it was also a lot less expensive than a face-to-face conference would have been.

The downside, of course, was that I didn’t get to truly meet anyone at the conference. When my family and I went to Florida this summer, I was reminded how much I love talking to other librarians about what they’re doing in their communities, what challenges they face, etc. when we visited the downtown Tampa library. Face-to-face interactions are incredibly valuable and I miss them.

The cost-effectiveness of online conferences is hard to beat, so I’m torn between wanting to meet and learn from other librarians in person and wanting to save our library money. I’m hopeful the post-COVID era will find a balance.

Pryor is not the only public library to house a permanent art collection. In fact, enough libraries have museum-quality collections that there are associations and publications dedicated to educating and serving library staff working with art collections.

Now that the Pryor Library will officially feature a museum room for art as part of the expansion and remodeling project, I am eager to learn more from the professionals who work with library art collections. The potential we are creating with this room and the rest of our expansion project is exciting for Pryor and Mayes County.

Our current art collection contains just over 30 pieces – paintings and sculptures – throughout the building. Once the new room is complete, our art collection will grow and will need more care and attention. I am very excited about partnering with Traci Rabbit and local organizations like the Pryor Area Arts and Humanities Council to help curate our collection and display it well. I am also hopeful to partner with and learn from larger organizations like the Gilcrease and Philbrook museums in Tulsa.

This project is one our community will be proud of for generations to come. Of course, you don’t have to wait for construction on the museum room to be complete to enjoy our art collection. Next time you’re in, be sure to look around at what we have now. My favorite pieces are the bust of Lincoln by Willard Stone (donated by the Epsilon Sigma Alpha sorority in 1961) that’s in our Computer Lab and the painting “Shaman” by Mike Daniel (donated by Bill and Karen Rabbit in 1993) that’s hanging around the corner from the Adult Checkout Desk.

We’re wrapping up our Summer Reading Program this week! Don’t miss our ending celebration on Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in the green space across from the library.