To the Library and Beyond We hope that everyone is preparing for the Library’s first open house this year, on Tuesday, celebrating 40 years of “good books,” “simple words,” and dynamic friendships! Bring your family, join the fun. Enjoy the creative talents of area students! There will be refreshments, random door prizes, drawings and more. Frances has brought to fruition a colorful, celebratory banner at the Library door! Please like us on Facebook. Take advantage of the Saturday hours – 10 AM till 3 PM – while you still can. Compliments of Frances Conklin: “Library news from forty years ago. “May 1985. At this board of directors meeting, Emmett Wilson stood in front of boxes of books stacked nearly six feet tall that had been donated by the Idaho Department of Corrections to help supply the fledgling community library with books. That many donations necessitated a cataloging bee, held in the Community Hall basement. Although the bee wasn’t successful in fully getting through all the boxes, volunteers and library board members were able to get two hundred books ready for the shelves in one day. The rest were finished later and the library was on a great path for a planned summer opening.” Joan has reviewed the 1974 book, Hunters Of the Whale, which received the New York Academy of Sciences Children’s Science book award. Authored by Ruth Kirk and Washington State University Professor Richard D. Daugherty, the book details many significant prehistoric artifacts including artwork, whale memorabilia, and a large house. In the 1960s, Professor Daugherty discovered and conducted, with his grad students, archaeological excavation of historic remains of a Makah Native American site on the Olympic peninsula of Washington state. The whale-hunting livelihood of the Natives is illustrated throughout their artwork; in all, more than 20,000 items were retrieved from the site. May is Older Americans Month, celebrating the accomplishments, experience, and wisdom of our elder citizens. Sunday 11 is Mother's Day, Tuesday 13 is the first-of-four fortieth anniversary events for the Library, and Saturday 17 is Armed Forces Day. Our Library’s most impressive statistic thus far is the 1,745 items loaned in 2024 for an average of 291 items loaned per month; in one day – on Tuesday 29 October 2024, Colleen checked-out 85 items to Library patrons. “Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action.” The volunteers who manage and operate Prairie Community Library aspire to maintain an on-going conversation about the organization’s direction and priorities. Send your volunteer message to cottonwoodlib@gmail.com. “Volunteering provides us with a sense of purpose and helps enhance emotional well-being.” Please recommend improvements to the Library’s direction, priorities, and customer service. Thank you all! | COTTONWOOD
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