| Chickasha
Public Library |
| Contributed
by Joetta Cotton. |
1903 |
The
efforts of the federated clubs of Chickasha, Sorosis, New Century
and Chautauqua, and ably seconded by a fine city government,
obtained from Andrew Carnegie the gift of $10,000 with which
to build this first free Public Library in Indian Territory.
The site of the building was purchased by the businessmen and
club women of Chickasha. |
| 1905 |
Dedication
of the Carnegie Library was held on March 23rd. Colors of the
federated clubs of Chickasha decorated the rooms of the new
Carnegie Library. The first 330 volumes were purchased by the
businessmen and club women. They and their friends donated more
books to bring the collection up to 750 volumes. Mrs. J. A.
Thompson was the first librarian. |
| 1923 |
The Carnegie
Library of Chickasha was renovated and the upstairs was
redecorated and made available for use by clubs and other organizations
as a meeting place. The Federation of Women’s Clubs, which
never lost interest in the library since it opened, furnished
the assembly room and landscaped the lawn. |
| 1926 |
Mrs. J.
A. Thompson organized a colored branch of the library in the
Lincoln School. Under the direction of Mrs. Grace Dorsey, the
English teacher, who gave her time without pay during vacations
to keep the library open and to give a story hour twice a week.
The collection was very small with only 1366 volumes in 1936.
It served not only the school but all 1600 colored people in
Chickasha. Patrons of the library during the vacation months
are mostly small children who read books in the building and
enjoy story hour. |
| 1962 |
Grady and
Caddo Counties voted on a multi-county library proposal
funded with a two mill levy. The proposal was defeated. |
| 1963 |
The Carnegie
Library of Chickasha was condemned in October of 1963.
Chickasha voters approved a bond issue for a new structure,
which was erected on the same site after the original building
was razed. |
| 1964 |
In December
the 13,000 sq.ft. Chickasha Public Library was completed
using $175,000 in local funds and $114,850 in matching funds.
In accordance with modern library services elsewhere, the building
would include reading rooms equipped with shelving which could
be moved to divide the area into smaller sections and adult
and children’s sectors. In addition, a limited access
room with books on specialized subjects, a private room for
book repair and processing, a private office for the librarian,
a personal lounge for conferences and similar meetings and an
auditorium for larger scale meetings. The building would also
include a record library with two listening rooms, a film and
microfilm library. |
| 1980 |
A 75th
anniversary celebration of library service in Chickasha was
held on
Sunday, March 23rd. The public reception was held in the Chickasha
Public Library. A program by The Loving Touch, a quartet from
the Sweet Adelines, an exhibit of old cars, short films for
children and an exhibit of interesting pictures, books and documents. |
| 1985 |
In November
the first computer system was purchased by the City of
Chickasha for the library. It included three dumb terminals
and a printer. It was connected by a telephone line. Texas Instruments
wrote the program. The program was written by persons who did
not understand libraries and it was very inadequate. Information
was very limited with room for one very brief subject heading.
Checking materials in and out and an overdue program was provided.
When any department of the city went down, all had to go down. |
| 1986 |
The library
received its first PC computer with a state grant. The IBM PC
AT was purchased to do online database searching. The library
used DataTimes and Dialog. The computer was also used to do
other tasks in the library. |
| 1993 |
In April
the library obtained a new computer circulation system. This
system featured Winnebago software, two online catalog stations,
two checkout stations, plus two staff workstations. This system
also included full MARC record capabilities and a hookup for
the old IBM PC which was upgraded. |
| 1998 |
A new computer
system was purchased with a Technology Enhancement
Matching Grant. The city also purchased a new telephone system. |
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