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Watonga Main Street's November 'Business of the
Month' is the Watonga Public Library
The Watonga Public Library has a
long and rich history. The library was started in 1906 through the
efforts of Mrs. T. B. Ferguson, wife of Oklahoma’s 6th
Territorial Governor and a small group of concerned women including
Mrs. A. W. Sunderland, Mrs. E. E. McCord, Mrs. Isabelle Piper and
others and contained about 1,100 books.
By 1929, Watonga became a city
and by 1930 the library had grown enough to move to the basement of
City Hall. In a newspaper article dated 1931, the library reported
total books in the library as 2,059.
In August of 1961, the library
moved into the converted building which was formerly the building
which housed the 1st and 2nd grade
classrooms. In 1973 the building was remodeled and enlarged to hold
the increasing volume of books. A meeting room, entry area, and ADA
accessible restrooms were completed in 2004 due to a Library
Services and Technology grant written by Librarian Crawford. The
$70,875 grant was matched 50/50 by the City of Watonga. The current
facility is 1475 square feet. The addition of dedicated program
space has allowed the library to expand programming in the
community. A dedication ceremony was held on July 17, 2004 with 109
attending.
Today the library holds more than
32,000 items including books for adults and children, audio books on
cassette and cd, microfilm, and movies in both vhs and dvd format.
The library also provides information on a broad range of topics in
areas of interest to the community. Databases are available which
provide full text articles from thousands of magazines and
newspapers.
In addition to library materials,
the library offers Internet access on 6 public computers, wireless
access available 24/7 and can provide photocopies, faxes,
laminating, and scanning.
Programs for children and adults
are planned on a regular basis including Summer Reading Progeram,
Preschool story time, Parachute Playgroup (cooperative with the
Health Department), back-to-school reading project, Let’s Talk About
It, Oklahoma and various projects through the Oklahoma Arts Council
and the Oklahoma Humanities Council.
The library staff consists of
Head Librarian/Director Terri Crawford, Assistant Librarian Sharon
Barnes, Children’s Librarian Brenda Stein, and part-time Genealogy
Specialist Carol Wray and part-time program coordinator Karen
Gilliland.
The library attempts to maintain
hours which are convenient to the public including 7 hours after
traditional working hours.
Modifications have been made to
bring the library in compliance with ADA Handicap Access Standards.
The Watonga Public Library will
provide free public access to books and other materials which will
enhance informal self-education, formal educational research, and
quality of life for the community of Watonga. The library will
serve as a bridge providing access to information and services not
available at the local level through Interlibrary Loan and Internet
access.
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