News
Weekly Children’s Programs at the Library
Raise Readers Early Literacy come and go activities
Tuesdays from 10 AM – 1 PM
Visit the library and explore different Early Literacy and Sensory Centers!
The program is free, and geared towards children five and younger and their caregivers. We welcome you to come learn and play together as they explore each center.
Preschool Storytime
Every Wednesday morning 10:00 am
Preschool Storytime is for children ages 5 and younger and their caregivers.
Children must be accompanied by an adult for these programs.
For additional information, please call 405-222-6075
Let’s Talk About It – Arc of Justice (October 6, 2022)
The third Let’s Talk About It program will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Library’s meeting room. Several copies of the book are available for checkout. Below is some information about the book and the speaker for September.
About the Book
In 1925, Detroit was a smoky swirl of jazz and speakeasies, assembly lines and fistfights. The advent of automobiles had brought workers from around the globe to compete for manufacturing jobs, and tensions often flared with the KKK in ascendance and violence rising. Ossian Sweet, a proud Negro doctor-grandson of a slave-had made the long climb from the ghetto to a home of his own in a previously all-white neighborhood. Yet just after his arrival, a mob gathered outside his house; suddenly, shots rang out: Sweet, or one of his defenders, had accidentally killed one of the whites threatening their lives and homes. And so it began-a chain of events that brought America’s greatest attorney, Clarence Darrow, into the fray and transformed Sweet into a controversial symbol of equality. Historian Kevin Boyle weaves the police investigation and courtroom drama of Sweet’s murder trial into an unforgettable tapestry of narrative history that documents the volatile America of the 1920s and movingly re-creates the Sweet family’s journey from slavery through the Great Migration to the middle class. Ossian Sweet’s story, so richly and poignantly captured here, is an epic tale of one man trapped by the battles of his era’s changing times. Arc of Justice is the winner of the 2004 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
(Summary from amazon.com).
About the Speaker
Teaching has been the passion of Professor Lloyd K. Musselman, who, after receiving his Ph.D. degree, came to Oklahoma City University in 1969 and has taught there ever since. An historian by trade, Professor Musselman has inspired students in all majors to seek the full development of their interests. In recognition of his teaching skills, Dr. Musselman was appointed the Darbeth-Whitten Professor of American History in 1978, presented the Sears Roebuck Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence in 1990, and named the school’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year in 2002. As part of a survey Oklahoma City University made of its past graduates, responders consistently named Dr. Musselman as one of the teachers who inspired them, including a former national social studies teacher of the year. Lloyd Musselman has also served as Department Chair, the Director of the Robert A. Taft Institute of Government, and the Acting Dean of the Petree College of Arts and Sciences. He has been notable for enriching the cultural life of the state by his participation in the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the Let’s Talk About It program sponsored by the Oklahoma Libraries Association.
Coming Soon: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
This fall, the Friends of the Chickasha Public Library will begin enrolling children residing in Grady County into Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program. This program is designed for children from birth to age five and will provide a new, free, age-appropriate book monthly to the enrolled child. Books are mailed directly to the child’s home until their fifth birthday.
“We are pleased to be able to initiate this program for young children to help foster a love of books and reading,” stated Jana Dabney, a former reading teacher. Dr. Jeanne Mather, a former professor of Education at USAO reports, “We are focused on improving the educational reading experience of all Grady County children.”
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation has mailed well over 186 million free books in Australia, Canada, The Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to registered children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring them to dream. The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com
More details on the official launch of this program and enrollment will be coming soon.
Friends of the Chickasha Public Library
Press Contact: Susan Gearhart
Why Libraries Matter: Essential Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services recently created an infographic titled How Public Libraries Adapted to Serve Their Communities at the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Here are some highlights.
- 93% continued to provide services to the public even while their buildings were closed.
- 88% of libraries provided “outside” service for checking out physical materials (e.g., books, DVDs) while buildings were closed to the public.
- 65% increased the electronic materials available to the public (e.g., e-books, downloadable audiobooks).
- 68% offered electronic library cards, more than twice as many as before the pandemic.
The Chickasha Public Library adapted and expanded many services during COVID-19, including all of those listed above.
Additionally, the Chickasha Public Library continues to offer virtual cards to Grady County residents. These allow access to the library’s virtual services, databases, and ebooks through the Oklahoma Virtual Library. Curbside service is also still available. To receive curbside service, park in the designated spot and then call the library and let staff know what you need (pick up holds, have a document notarized, print a document that was sent to the library’s printing email address, etc.).
In other library news, here are two stories about national library organizations providing technology access to rural and underserved communities:
FCC and IMLS Sign Agreement to Promote Broadband Access
PLA awards $1.1 million to 160 public libraries to conduct digital literacy workshops
This is important because internet access is needed for so many life tasks – job applications, finances, communication, and more – and libraries provide that access to everyone. In addition, digital literacy is becoming more important because of the vast amounts of information available online. Libraries help to connect people with information in its many and ever-changing formats.
Working with JobNow
Are you looking for employment, wanting to change careers, or need to write a resume? The Chickasha Public Library has a database that can help with a variety of job searching needs! Brainfuse JobNow is dedicated to all things job related. The Resume section includes several templates, resources, and an option to submit your resume and receive expert feedback. The Job Interview section includes tips, online resources, and a live interview coach. The Career section has several general options, including applying for unemployment assistance, job searching resources, career and skill assessments, and a live job coach that can help you navigate the process. These options can help to make the job searching experience less intimidating by providing help and feedback with specific areas.
Also, just as a reminder if you are looking for continuing education credits or to gain new job skills, the library also offers Universal Class, with over 500 free courses on various academic subjects, technology, and more. Certificates are provided at the end of each course that can demonstrate competency in that area to an employer or organization.
JobNow is brought to you by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and can be found by visiting the E-Resources page on the Chickasha Public Library website.
Let’s Talk About It – Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (September 1, 2022)
The second Let’s Talk About It program will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2022, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Library’s meeting room. Several copies of the book are available for checkout. Below is some information about the book and the speaker for September.
About the Book
Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for poetry and former U.S. Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey’s elegiac Native Guard is a deeply personal volume that brings together two legacies of the Deep South.
The title of the collection refers to the Mississippi Native Guards, a black regiment whose role in the Civil War has been largely overlooked by history. As a child in Gulfport, Mississippi, in the 1960s, Trethewey could gaze across the water to the fort on Ship Island where Confederate captives once were guarded by black soldiers serving the Union cause. The racial legacy of the South touched Trethewey’s life on a much more immediate level, too. Many of the poems in Native Guard pay loving tribute to her mother, whose marriage to a white man was illegal in her native Mississippi in the 1960s. Years after her mother’s tragic death, Trethewey reclaims her memory, just as she reclaims the voices of the black soldiers whose service has been all but forgotten. (Summary from amazon.com).
Some questions to think about while reading:
- Do the themes of historical erasure and amnesia recall Edward Jones’ The Known World? The series theme of civil rights and equality?
- Did you like this book? Think of your experience of reading it and reflecting about it.
- In any book some subjects or situations must be left out, intentionally or otherwise. Which ones did you find yourself wanting to know about in Native Guard?
About the Speaker
Dr. Harbour Winn was involved with the “Let’s Talk About It” program as the state humanities scholar on the original committee that wrote the grant for the funding to begin the program in Oklahoma. He has been a scholar in more than 330 of these programs across the state of Oklahoma. For seventeen years, Dr. Harbour Winn taught as a Montessori teacher at Westminster School and at Oklahoma City University in the Master of Liberal Arts Program and the Montessori Early Childhood Program. In 2013 he received the Oklahoma Humanities Council’s State Public Humanities Award; was chosen a DaVinci Fellow, DaVinci Institute, in 2012; and received the 2011 Award for Distinguished Service from the Oklahoma Film & Video Studies Society State Film Consortium.
Why Libraries Matter: Healthy Living
What do public libraries do?
There are countless examples of innovative library programs and services that help to support local communities while addressing specific needs. Many libraries expand far beyond what many people think of as traditional library services and find new ways to give people access to information and resources. Each month, this article will highlight some of the many ways in which public libraries are essential to maintaining their communities’ well-being while also providing for the greater good.
Public health has been a focus for many people and organizations over the past few years, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. Public libraries around the country encourage healthy living by giving people the knowledge and tools they need to do so, including meals, exercise classes, mental health awareness and resources, and more. The following are just a few examples of public libraries’ health initiatives that are improving the health of individuals and communities.
The Chicago Public Library has a comprehensive Eat Smart, Live Strong class series that covers the importance of physical activity, how to exercise safely, how to save money on food, and eating more fruits and vegetables. In 2020, the Queens Public Library in New York City partnered with local hospitals to provide free virtual programs about healthy living, recipes, and COVID-related information.
Many libraries offer exercise classes such as yoga and tai chi to give people opportunities and space for physical activity. StoryWalks, such as the one in Chickasha, have become a popular way to combine reading with walking. The Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma offers a class in Yoga Fusion, described as “a trend that blends yoga poses with other fitness regimens, such as Pilates, strength training, [and] dance,” as well as yoga and tai chi classes. The Metropolitan Library System offers yoga classes for both adults and children.
Navigating the complexities of health insurance can also be overwhelming for many people, so the Dallas Public Library has the Health Care Navigators/Health Insurance Enrollment Assistance program, where “trained health care navigators will assist you with selecting and enrolling in a health insurance program through the health insurance marketplace.”
Finally, mental health is an important area in which libraries are actively working to address and improve. Many state and national library organizations have lists of mental health resources and ideas for implementing services. One example from Texas is Libraries for Health, an initiative that “employs trained and culturally competent lay people with support from mental health clinicians to help identify and address mental health concerns where there is limited access to clinical mental health care.” Seymour Library in Auburn, New York, has created mental health kits to help children identify and understand emotion, along with curated lists of books (both print and digital) for all ages about a variety of mental health issues. Many larger libraries and library systems have added social workers and mental health professionals to their staff to provide evaluations and treatment options for people.
Libraries can connect people with the resources to improve their health, access care, and learn many useful skills for healthy living. Besides providing print and digital information about mental and physical health (health books can be found in NF 600-620 at Chickasha Public Library), there are many unique possibilities for expanding library services to include programs and services for public health improvement and education.
Learning with HelpNow
The Chickasha Public Library now has access to HelpNow, a Brainfuse database with a variety of helpful learning tools for the new school year. HelpNow is divided into three broad sections, Expert Help, Study, and Collaborate. Expert Help includes live tutoring, a writing lab, language learning help, and you can receive answers to specific questions. For those who want general education enrichment, the Skill Surfer tab on Expert Help has lessons in reading, math, social studies, and science by grade level from kindergarten through high school. Skill Surfer also has a section with college entrance exams, lessons about the college application process, and academic skills to prepare for college. For parents and guardians who would like resources on ways in which they can be actively involved with their children’s learning, there is a Parent Corner and El rincón de los padres with articles and information.
The Study section has summer learning, flashcards, and a place to explore college majors and career interests. The Collaborate section allows people to schedule virtual study sessions with others and share ideas. This can be a useful way to complete group projects or simply to learn from and with others.
Whether you are a student getting ready to start the school year, parent or guardian of a child, or an adult learner who wants to increase their knowledge of specific areas, there is something for everyone to explore. HelpNow is brought to you by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and can be found by visiting the E-Resources page on the Chickasha Public Library website.
Genealogy Workshop: Using the Chickasha Newspapers Online
The Chickasha Public Library will be hosting a genealogy workshop at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, in the library’s meeting room. The topic for this workshop is Using the Chickasha Newspapers Online.
The library’s microfilm newspaper collection was recently digitized through an Oklahoma Historical Preservation Grant from the Oklahoma Historical Society, along with a contribution from the Friends of the Library. All the Chickasha newspapers from 1892-2019 are now freely accessible on the Gateway to Oklahoma History and can be accessed on any internet-capable device. The library also provides public access computers that can be used for exploring the newspaper collection.
Participants in this workshop will discover how to navigate the Gateway to Oklahoma History, search strategies to help with finding obituaries and articles for family history research, and using keywords and time frames to find information about specific people or events. Participants are welcome to bring their laptops or other devices if they wish so that they can access the collection during the workshop. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and to receive help with individual searches at the end.
Registration is encouraged as space is limited. To register, call the library at 405-222-6075, email library@chickasha.org, or talk to staff in person at the front desk.
Brainfuse databases are now available!
Brainfuse HelpNow, JobNow, and VetNow are all now available for free on the Chickasha Public Library website! These databases offer online tutoring, career assistance, job and academic assistance for veterans transitioning to civilian life, and more. There are resources to help with many different facets of both academic and career goals.
In addition, they have information about creating resumes, developing and improving writing skills, and practice tests. HelpNow, JobNow, and VetNow are brought to you by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and can be found by visiting the E-Resources page.