A group of small children crowded around a picnic table in Tilghman Park, their eyes wide as they listened to Lincoln County Game Warden Jacob Harriet explain how to tell the difference between a girl deer and a boy deer, using animal skulls as references.
At another table, laden with empty Pringles cans, tents, marshmallows, and other supplies, Librarian Carla Hale quickly readied the next activity. Camping Day, she explained, was an extension of the books the kids read at the last event.
It was the latest in the Chandler Public Library’s summer reading program. If things go as Hale plans, it will only grow.
“We have multiple goals. One of them is that most of our programs are free,” she said. She added that they plan to expand into middle school and high school.
Hale said these programs are important to get kids reading and to help them socialize, though the bigger goal is community building. The library serves as a distribution point for a children’s food program, and they are expanding their collection to include items like games, microscopes, and telescopes. She joked that she’d like to add a coffee shop as well.
More than that, Hale said the library provides a vital service to the community. It’s a safe place to gather and a place of inclusiveness, where all that matters is that visitors are people who like to read.
Lisa Hoover, librarian at Stroud Public Library, said that small rural libraries are important because they provide access to information, services and technology, whether it’s a computer to type on or for internet access for job searches.
“Sometimes, we are the only local place to find a given service,” she said, adding that they help support literacy and the arts.
Stroud offers various programs, including a toddler reading program and a summer reading program in June. It is also part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and kids can get free tickets to the OKC Zoo through the Read for Adventure Program.
Hoover said the library has adapted to the times. They have access to EBSCO and Brainfuse, an online education service for homework and job search help. They also participate in Oklahoma Virtual Library, which allows library users to borrow e-books virtually 24/7, no matter their location, through an easy-touse app.
Serving as a primary hub for literacy and skill development is a major part of the public library at the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, according to Regina Riley, the higher education director for the tribe. The library, which is open to tribal members and residents of Lincoln and Payne counties, has been under the higher education department since 2019.
The library strives to offer meaningful resources, materials, and help for literacy, education, employment and wellness for the Iowa Tribe and its com-munity, Riley said. They have approximately 4,600 printed items, including special collections of Iowa Tribe materials and Oklahoma tribes, and focus on books written by Indigenous authors. Their online services assist with early literacy skills, reading advancement, online tutoring, resume building, career planning and lifelong learning. Riley also hosts a variety of events at the library for tribal members and library card holders.
“Libraries provide learning resources for all ages and support learners in their quest for knowledge by offering professional guidance and access to free resources,” Riley said. “Our library program is fluid that grows with the needs of our tribal members and community, which is an important investment within the tribe.”
She added that serving a rural, at times underrepresented population, they operate to address gaps in resources and ease of access to resources.
“Interacting with patrons, meeting the needs of the community, and sharing in life achievements and milestones made possible by library resources gives me the most satisfaction,” Riley said.
The Wellston Community Libary may be small, but it is mighty. It’s completely volunteer-based, according to Treasurer Sharon Miller, who has volunteered there since it opened in 2010. She said two years ago, they received a grant from the Department of Libraries in Oklahoma that allowed them to purchase new books and other items in order to start an early childhood reading program, which they still continue. She said they’d like to do others, but they don’t currently have the manpower. Miller encouraged anyone interested in volunteering to contact the library.
She added that she feels the library is a muchneeded part of the community. People come in because they need to make copies, or they might want to know something about the community.
“We try to either help them with what we know or refer them to others who can help them,” Miller said. “We just like to be there for the people of the community, and that’s why it was established 14 years ago.”