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For immediate release
April 24, 2007

A Chickasha program that provides children with food for both their bodies and their minds has won the Ruth Brown Memorial Award.

The award recognizes library programs addressing social issues from the Oklahoma Library Association.

“Food & Fun” provides free meals, snacks, and books to hundreds of Chickasha children through a collaboration of the Chickasha Public Library and the First Presbyterian Church of Chickasha.

The Ruth Brown Memorial Award was presented April 2 at the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) annual meeting. Presenting the award was Linda Jordan of the OLA Social Responsibilities Round Table, award sponsors. Accepting the award were Catharine Cook, Director of the Chickasha Public Library, and Lillie Huckaby, Children’s Librarian at the Chickasha Public Library.

The award commemorates Ruth Brown, a legendary Oklahoma librarian who fought to improve conditions for African Americans, which led to her firing as a librarian in Bartlesville in 1950.

“Food & Fun was recognized because it represents the values that Ruth Brown espoused,” SRRT member Linda Jordan said. “This program also fills an obvious need and is one that could be easily duplicated in other communities.”

The Ruth Brown Memorial Award includes a plaque and a copy “The dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown: Civil rights, censorship and the American library,” a biography by Louise Robbins.

In Chickasha, librarians coordinate library activities with the summertime “Food and Fun” program, started in 1996 at the Presbyterian Church across the street, library director Cook said.

The library’s Summer Reading Program meets at 10 a.m. Thursdays, and, when finished, the participants can go to the neighboring church at 11 a.m. for their “Food & Fun” kits. Each child receives a warm hot dog, an apple or orange, a carrot or celery stick, a bag of chips, a bag of cookies, a fruit drink, 20 nutritious snacks for the rest of the week, and a book of the child’s choice.

“The Chickasha Public Library is located in a lower income residential neighborhood, and many of the children who participate walk here from their homes,” Cook said. “This program provides the children convenient literary activity and nutritious lunch at the same basic location.”

Cook said that statistics have long shown that children who have access to books are more successful in school and life, and that those who have books in their home do better than those who have limited access to books.

“This shows the importance of providing books for children to own themselves,” Cook said. “One book – and sometimes more when supplies allow – every week for 12 weeks, every year for several years, is a good foundation to help children learn to read, improve in reading, and develop a respect for knowledge and fun that can be gained from reading.”

Food & Fun co-director Crystal Walker said some children have participated for almost 10 years, since they were preschoolers. Last year, more than 650 children received the weekly kits.

The donated books come mostly from the Chickasha Public Library, either as donations to the Friends of the Library or as books withdrawn from the collection.

Food & Fun was founded by school teacher Becky Walker, who is among the almost 25 volunteers who still work in the program today. Co-directing with Walker is Melissa Blodgett. Chickasha Library became involved under the direction of the previous Children’s Librarian, Terri Sharp.

More information is available from SRRT representative Phillip Fitzsimmons at 325-1758 (work) or pfitzsimmons@ou.edu