Pioneer Library System

“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” ~Sherry Anderson

Pioneer Library System is well aware of how priceless their volunteers are. This last year more than 400 volunteers gave 18,412 hours of their lives to their hometown libraries, according to Susan Gregory of the Pioneer Development office. That’s 9.2 full time employees based on 40 hours a week for 50 weeks. The week of April 18-24 is National Volunteer Appreciation Week

According to Independent Sector and based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the estimated dollar value of volunteer time in Oklahoma is $16.19.* Our volunteers have donated $298,103.23 worth of their time this year.

Each of the nine branch libraries in PLS had book sales this year, in total these sales brought in more than $81,000. If you add that to the work hours contributed, you see just how grand their total contribution is. (By the way that total is more than $379,103.23).

“The Boy Who Cried Wolf or “The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf” is one of Aesop’s most well known fables. Many of us know the basic plot in which a boy falsely claims to see a wolf several times and then when a wolf really comes, the town people do not believe him and do not come to help. This basic plotline has even been the inspiration for episodes on some well known television shows. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the Cardassian Garak interpretes the moral as "Never tell the same lie twice". On the Simpsons, Bart attempts to avoid a test with several lies. And on Sesame Street, Cookie Monster enjoys some cookies after no one believes a little boy who cried “Monster” one too many times.

Below, staff at the Moore Public Library have retold the story of the shepherd boy and the wolf for your enjoyment in both English and Spanish.

As the economy continues its slump, libraries nationwide continue to play an important role in communities everywhere, as people turn to them for free entertainment, to connect to the Internet and look for jobs. This spring, the Pioneer Library System, the American Library Association (ALA) and Woman’s Day magazine want to hear your thoughts on why the library is important to your community. 

Regional and national literary scholars are joining in the discussions on The Maltese Falcon taking place in the hometown public libraries of the Pioneer Library System as part of The Big Read. All the discussions are free and open to the public.

Bill Hagen, English professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, will join book discussions at the Purcell Public Library, 919 N. Ninth, on Tuesday, March 30 at 11:30 a.m., and a movie discussion at the Shawnee Public Library, 101 N. Philadelphia, on Thursday, April 29, at 6:30 p.m.

John Springer, professor of film studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, will lend his expertise as a film historian and theorist to film noir screenings and book discussions in three area libraries. The Noble Public Library, 204 N. Fifth, explores the Thin Man movie series (based upon novels by Hammett) with Springer on at 7 p.m. Friday, March 19. The Norman Public Library, 225 N. Webster, features Springer in a Dinner and a Movie program that beings at 6 p.m. Friday, April 9.