Tag Archives: Library Friends

Library People, ODL News

Honors for a Lover of Country, History, and Libraries

Major Helen Freudenberger Holmes, the first WAAC from Oklahoma, pursued a love of history and libraries following her service during World War II. She was also a local political leader who served as Mayor of Guthrie, Oklahoma from 1979 to 1981.

Twenty-two years after leaving this life, Helen Loretta Freudenberger Holmes is being remembered and honored with two posthumous hall of fame inductions this year.

On March 6, she was inducted into the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C. On April 26, she’ll be inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame.

Many in Oklahoma’s library community celebrate her for another reason. Holmes was a founder and first president of the Friends of the Guthrie Public Library. She also served as a delegate from Guthrie to the 1978 Oklahoma Governor’s Conference on Libraries (which led to creation of the statewide friends group, Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma) and a delegate from Oklahoma to the 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services.

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Oklahoma Public Libraries

Cushing Public Library Suffers Earthquake Damage

cushing-damageLocal Library Friends Group Welcomes Financial Donations

The 5.0 quake that hit the Cushing area the evening of Sunday, November 6, damaged dozens of buildings in the city’s downtown area, including the Cushing Public Library.

The area was closed off for a couple of days, and ODL was unable to get through via phone before Veterans Day arrived, when state government offices were closed. So, we didn’t get a chance to check in with library director La Dawn Conner until Monday, November 14.

“On the whole, we’re very blessed,” Conner said. “It’s just the building we’re worried about. This is a 1939 building, so we’re very concerned about the air quality.”

From the photos the library shared (at left), you can see cracks in the library’s walls, masonry, and floor. Debris rained down from the ceiling and walls. Office furniture and bookshelves were knocked over.

Conner said an insurance adjuster had been in to look at the damage, but engineers have not made it to the building yet.

“We’ve been a low priority because the city had so many infrastructure problems that had to be taken care of first. This weekend, everybody began getting back to normal and have started to ask about the library.”

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