Communities Matter @ Your Library by Stacy

Attending a volunteer fiesta were (back row from left) Olen Thomas, Gwen Piersall, Nicole Sump-Crethar, Misty Smith, Martha Dean, Debby Houk, Sheryl Shutt, Michael Shaw, Pam Brown, Barbara Adams and Linda Tinney. (Front row from left) Theo Yoast, Arlene Smith, Rose Edwards, Dorothy Carmain, Patsy Bostick and Robin Cornwell.

Last week we had a celebration to recognize the volunteers at our library and all the hard work they do.  Right now, we have thirteen long-term volunteers who altogether donate 50-55 hours of work each week doing tasks like shelving, processing books, preparing displays, blogging, teaching computer classes, assisting in genealogy and much more.  Eight of our volunteer earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award for working 150 hours or more each throughout the year.  In addition, we recognized our amazing volunteers on the library board, trust board and Friends of the Library. 

Our library could not run without these volunteers, but it also couldn’t run as well without many of our supporters and partners in the community.  The theme of National Library Week two weeks ago was “Communities Matter @ Your Library.”  There are many ways to interpret that phrase, but in OUR community it means that many, many people and groups lend a hand to make sure we have the best library possible.  This is a great time to thank them!

Thank you to the Boy Scouts who do a ton of work helping us set up the book sale and recycle books after the sale.

Thank you Oklahoma Quality Printing which provides us with thousands of free bookmarks throughout the year.

Thank you to Stillwater Schools for providing volunteer help and partnerships with local children and teens.

Thank you to all of the area’s media outlets, including Stillwater NewsPress that help keep the community informed about our news and events.

Thank you OSU Arts and Sciences Outreach, Meridian Technology Center, OSU Payne County Extension and Oklahoma Workforce for providing excellent programs for us.

A big thank you to OSU’s Edmon Low Library for years of wonderful partnerships and mentoring.

And a really big thanks to our fellow city departments for helping us with everything from providing barricades for events to publicity to recycling bins and a great deal more.

But the biggest thanks goes out to our library users for making our jobs wonderful!  Thank you Stillwater!