Communities Matter @the Olean Public Library

Communities matter @ your library: celebrate National Library Week April 14-20

(OLEAN, NY) –This week, the Olean Public Library  joins libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating National Library Week, a time to highlight the value of libraries, librarians and library workers.

Libraries today are more than repositories for books and other resources. Often the heart of their communities, campuses or schools, libraries are deeply committed to the places where their patrons live, work and study.  Libraries are trusted places where everyone in the community can gather to reconnect and reengage with each other to enrich and shape the community and address local issues.

Librarians work with elected officials, small business owners, students and the public at large to discover what their communities needs are and meet them.  Whether through offering e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers or those to support early literacy, librarians listen to the community they serve, and they respond.

“Service to the community has always been the focus of the library,” said Lance Chaffee, Director. “While this aspect has never changed, libraries have grown and evolved in how they provide for the needs of every member of their community.”

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

The photos below highlight some of the ways that the library supports the community.

Author Talk With Gail Black April 9th at 6:30pm.

Gail L. Black will speak about her first book, “Asses and Angels: A Journey from Abuse to Achievement.” Signed copies of the book will be available for $10 at the presentation.

Gail Black is living proof that success and failure in life are interwoven like the tangled brambles in a thicket of wild berries. Asses and Angels shares the moving story of her personal path through life as it wove through tangled fields of good and evil. She learned to hope and survive on her journey from abuse to achievement.

Born just as World War II intensified, Gail grew into a spirited little girl and then into a woman who never forgot that each day was a new opportunity with the possibility of success and happiness. Family health challenges compelled her to mature early. Religious control, physical abuse, and financial manipulation caused her to experience divorce, widowhood, and annulment. Learn how she prevailed in male-dominated business ventures and environmental battles as she farmed her land. Her grit, sense of humor, work ethic, and love for her farm helped insure her entrepreneurial success in the business of making fruit syrups with her grandmother’s recipe.

Lego Bricks Wanted!!

We are looking for permanent donations of new or gently-used LEGO bricks. Old sets, new sets, mismatched jumbles, wheels, people, specialty sets, Duplo – we’ll be thrilled to accept all the LEGO bricks you can find!

Please bring donations to the Olean Public Library’s Information Desk.
We will happily provide a receipt for your donation.

Watch for LEGO Club coming this summer @ the library…