Michelle Skinner spoke about the free resources made available to the public at the Chickasha Public Library.The Rotary Club of Chickasha met April 11, 2024. Rotarian Mitch Williams led the club in singing "I Went to the Library".
President Jim Cowan notified the club of a new applicant for membership, Rodney Johnson, who will be sponsored by Chris Mosley.
The Rotarian of the Day was Trina Southard. Trina introduced the speaker, Michelle Skinner. Skinner is a reference librarian at the Chickasha Public Library.
Skinner has been with CPL since 2012 and wrote a book on the institution's history— A History of the Chickasha Public Library, 1905-2020: The First 115 Years. CPL was actually the first public library established in Indian Territory. It was made possible by the coordinated effort of community volunteers. Their work was rewarded with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, and the Carnegie Library opened at the current location on Iowa Avenue. The original building was torn down, and the modern Chickasha Public Library was built in its place.
Skinner stressed that the library is about more than just traditional physical media. The library makes a number of electronic resources available at no charge. These include geneological resources such as Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest, local historical sources, including a database of Chickasha newspapers from 1920 through 2021, data and business tools such as ValueLine and Data Axle, and educational resources such as EPSCO and UniversalClass. All of these resources require only a library card. A traditional card grants access to both physical and digital resources, but residents can apply for a digital-only card if desired. The digital access includes access to ebooks through the Oklahoma Virtual Library.
Libraries are important, Skinner stressed, because they are purely spaces where "the community can come together". It can serve as an information hub and a social hangout, and is still incredibly important to many people.
Lunch was provided by Rock Island Grill.