Posts by Lillie H
Exchange Food for Overdue Fines this December at the Chickasha Public Library
December is the Chickasha Public Library’s 21st annual Food for Fines month, when overdue library fines may be paid with a donation of non-perishable food.
“The donations will be given to the Chickasha Emergency Food Pantry,” said Lillie Huckaby, Library Director. “Even if you do not owe a fine, please come to the Library and make a donation. Together, we can bring in more food than ever before to help our neighbors this holiday season.”
According to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, 6,900 people in Grady County live with hunger, including 2,550 children who are food insecure. The donations from the Food for Fines food drive will be given to the Chickasha Emergency Food Pantry, located at the First Presbyterian Church.
The value of the donated food does not have to equal the amount of the fine; any donation covers any fine.
“In addition to much-needed food, many overdue books also return home to the library during Food for Fines, usually about 100 of them,” Huckaby said. “Not having to repurchase popular titles means the Library can purchase more new books. This also gives patrons who have accrued fines a way to make a fresh start and be able to check out books again. ” If a book has been lost, the overdue fine will be waived, however, the replacement cost of the book must be paid.
The Food for Fines food drive will run through December 31st. For more details, call the Chickasha Public Library at 222-6075.
Chickasha Public Library presents Using Art to Build Resiliency with Virginia Savage, LCSW
Join Virginia Savage, LCSW, with over thirty years of experience in the field of mental health on Saturday, June 19th from 10:00-11:30am at Chickasha Public Library located at 527 W. Iowa Ave. for a community conversation about the state of our mental health. The event is free. We do ask that you pre-register due to limited seating, call the library at 405-222-6075 to reserve your seat. This program is geared toward adults and older teens. “We’ve all been through so many struggles this past year and a half. Now is a good time to reflect on our strengths and challenges to assess how we’ve done and how we might do better”, said Savage. We all need to learn healthy ways to successfully roll with Life’s ups and downs. Being resilient helps us have peace of mind. During the presentation we will flesh out the meaning of mental health, talking about what contributes to and detracts from it. We will use some expressive arts exercises that will help us with our ability to be resilient. Join us.
Chickasha Public Library has been focusing on mental health in their Health Literacy Program this year. This program, Using Art to Build Resiliency, is brought to you by the Chickasha Public Library through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Chickasha Public Library’s National Library Week Report
In April we celebrated National Library Week. On April 5th Mayor Mosley signed a proclamation declaring April 4th – 10th, 2021 National Library Week in Chickasha Oklahoma. The proclamation reminds us of the many services libraries across the nation provide including here in Chickasha. Here is a link to it. On April 6th you said thank you to our library workers. Some people brought flowers, some brought fruit, some brought chocolate. The Friends of the Library and the Library Board came and showed their appreciation for our library workers. The staff says a great big thank you. On April 7th it was outreach day. Our maiden voyage in our ‘bookmobile’ occurred (Lillie’s van). It visited Shannon Springs park and Washita Valley park. It was extremely windy that day. We wanted to demonstrate that the library is not just within these four walls. We want to get and about to serve our customers. We hope to be able to voyage again to other places, maybe even other towns. On April 8th we encouraged people to investigate our virtual services; website, Facebook, Instagram, and Beanstack. On April 9th the library staff showed their appreciation to our support groups – the Friends of the Library and the Library Board, and to our volunteers. The most fun of all for us was April 10th customer appreciation day. We had several outdoor activities culminating in a drawing for several baskets and the opportunity to select titles to be painted on a panel on the exterior of the library. Thank you for being patrons, customers, and friends to the Chickasha Public Library.