Food for Fines

       Library Fines Bringing You Down?

                                       

                                                             Image by Southwest Public Libraries via Pinterest

Sick of Spoilers Ruining Your Favorite Shows, Because You’re Blocked from Checking Out the Next Season??

GIF by Summer in Westeros via Tumblr

We understand.

That’s why we created Food for Fines almost 9 years ago. Since then, we’ve been able to waive over $7,500 worth of fines and donated just as many non-perishables to Oldsmar Cares—a volunteer led organization that has helped hundred of Oldsmar residents through life’s sometimes bleak realities. Forrest Williams, one of the volunteers at Oldsmar Cares and an active member of the Friends of the Library, explains that:

“There’s a lot of need in Oldsmar. But it’s hidden. Most people who walk through the doors are just down on their luck. Family emergency. Car wreck. A new move, and they can’t afford the deposit . . . They just need a bit of help. The most rewarding thing is when you see someone down the line who once needed assistance and is now working as a manager of a local business.”

       Photo Credit: Oldsmar Cares

The organization is primarily for Oldsmar residents, providing the following services:

Food Pantry

Clothes Closet

Rent and Utility Assistance

Weekend Food 4 Kids

Children’s Dental Care

PatchWork Grants

Education Grants

OldsmarWorks Career Counseling

All right, so we know what you’re thinking—this is CRAZY!

I can get out of debt and help the people of my community!!

All in time for the holidays!!!

                                          Photo by FlatIron Books via Barnes and Noble

So, here’s the low-down:

Bring in your canned or boxed non-perishable food items. You know, that extra can of chowder you snagged during the Publix Bogo? Just make sure the expiration’s good, and it hasn’t sat in the back of your pantry for too long to be growing anything that looks like it came from the Upside-Down . . .

                                              Photo by Netflix via The Wrap

High Demand Food Items for Oldsmar Cares Include:

• Spaghetti Sauce
• Hearty Soup
• Chili
• Canned Fruit
• Canned Vegetables
• Pasta
• Baked Beans
• Canned Fish
• Dry Beans
• Canned Meat

For every can or box you bring—we’ll waive $1 off your fines!!! Only fines though. I’m afraid that incident with the new puppy will remain in infamy on your account.

  

      Photo by Marcy Elementary School via Whitesboro Central School District

And also, to save yourself and your friendly librarians a massive headache, please don’t bring in individual bags of Ramen from the pack to try and count towards your total . . . ☹

 Photo Credit: Loiter

So, what are you waiting for?! Come in from now till December 22 and take advantage of the season of giving and receiving! We’ve already received tons of donations.
What will you bring to feed your community?

Psst! By the way . . .

Even if you’ve been a good girl or boy this year and managed to stay fine-free, you can still bring in food or clothing donations to our Oldsmar Cares box that always sits near the front doors of the library!
And oh, while you’re at it—why don’t you go ahead and have yourself a good one of these as well...

Image by NBC via The Network and TV Show

               ImageFully via Pinterest                                                                                           

Photo by Timfly via Love This Pic

Image via Imgflip via Warner Bros

Happy Holidays from the Oldsmar Public Library

Celebrating our Friends

It's time to celebrate our fantastic Friends!

Image by NBC via ScoopWhoop

No, not those friends.

Our Friends have been kickin it since the ‘90s as well, volunteering their time and raising money to help make awesome stuff like this happen:

Oldsmar Public Library Zombie Night 2018. Image Courtesy of Forrest Williams.

Throughout history, public libraries have always depended upon the generosity of their volunteers. In fact, Oldsmar Library was founded by volunteers back in 1919 and run that way for over fifty years. Today, the Friends of the Library are still rock stars, providing such sweetness as:

•   Goodies for Summer Reading Kickoff and the End of the Summer Shindig.  
• Makeup for our Gruesome Zombies and Food to Revive their Spirits.
• A Nintendo Switch and Wii for our Monthly Teen Game Night.
• $3500 for Playaway Tablets to Enchance our Children's Learning.
• Furniture for the Children's Department.
• The Little Lending Libraries throughout Oldsmar for Reciprocal Donations.
• And Finally Cakes, for Staff Birthdays to Boost Morale! YAY CAKE!!!

Image by Sarah Mirabile via Pinterest

Forrest Williams, who’s been volunteering at the Oldsmar Library for over a decade now, explains how important the Friends really are:

“A lot of people don’t realize what we do, in terms of the money we receive,” he says. “Especially from our book sales. It’s all 100% volunteer led, and there are no plaques. Nobody knows. We do it for the library.”

                                                                                             Image by Hallmark via Facebook

In addition to the financial support, the Friends give freely of their time, hosting various author events, helping with children’s and teen programs, and more recently planning their first Community Craft Fair, happening on Saturday, November 10, which features hand-made crafts from local residents as well as several large ticket raffles and craft activities for kids. At the end of the day, the Friends’ primary drive is to create and support events that enhance learning and enrich the cultural interaction for residents of Oldsmar.

“It’s the expression on the kid’s faces,” member Steven Lavelle explains, when asked why he continues to volunteer his time as a Friend. “The sheer joy of the seniors at our events. That’s why I do it.” 

Image by Nickelodeon via Tenor

So, I know what you’re thinking. These people are like, totes awesome, right? How can I possibly get involved with such a fab organization?!

Well, in addition to purchasing from our Used Book Sale and making a tax-deductible donation, YOU, that’s right YOU can join these awesome people!

Becoming a Friend to Oldsmar Public Library gets you such perks as:

• Invitations to exclusive Friend’s soirees and volunteer appreciation events.
• The opportunity to brainstorm fundraisers and programs for the library, then deciding how to handle the funds afterward.
• Making a genuine difference in the day-to-day functioning of the library and its programs by volunteering at our various events.

Yearly Membership Dues are marked at the low, low price of only $8  ($5 if you’re a senior and $12 for a family).

Or you can play high roller for this 501c3 tax-deductible organization and donate $50 for a leaf on our tree of donors or $100 for a life-time membership with the Friends.

You can even make a donation in honor of a loved one or request a specific book be purchased for the library with your contribution. We’ll add a name plate so we can remember your awesome generosity for decades to come.

So really, at this point, there’s only one question left to ask . . .

                                                               Image by April HalloWensel via Twitter

Written by Brittany Baum

Banned Books Week at the Library!

"Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association"

“He act like he can’t stand me no more. Say I’m evil an always up to no good. He took my other little baby, a boy this time. But I don’t think he kilt it. I think he sold it to a man an his wife over Monticello. I got breasts full of milk running down myself. He say Why don’t you look decent? Put on something. But what I’m sposed to put on? I don’t have nothing."

—Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Do you find the above passage shocking?

Are you feeling outraged?

Indignant?

We’ll give you a moment . . .

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is one of the most heart-wrenching and celebrated novels in literature. And thanks to “offensive” passages like the one above—it also one of the most challenged.

On September 23, Oldsmar Public Library will join libraries and schools across the nation to celebrate “Banned Books Week,” a week-long ode to our first amendment rights to free speech and the expression of ideas—even those sometimes considered “unpopular” with the masses.

From the 24-29, the Circulation Desk will host a “Banned Books” display where patrons are encouraged to “get caught” reading a banned book and take a mug shot celebrating their own fight against censorship.

All the titles featured have been challenged, restricted, banned, and even burned since their initial publication. In fact, in 1978, an instructor at Freemont High School in St. Anthony was even terminated for advocating One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to his students. According to Judith Krug of the American Library Association (ALA) in an interview with NPR: “They’re not afraid of the book; they’re afraid of the ideas.”

A great majority of the books finding themselves on “banned books” lists every year are also hailed as classics of literature—many having won awards or considered to be an integral part of the American canon. One such book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, has gotten quite cozy in its banned notoriety, finding itself a “marked” book for over fifty years now.

According to Business Insider, Lee herself once famously responded to a proposed ban of her novel in 1966, writing a letter to the editor of the Richmond News Leader, that, “Recently I have received echoes down this way of the Hanover County School Board’s activities, and what I’ve heard makes me wonder if any of its members can read.”

Her charge, as it turns out, isn’t so far off the money. According to Marshall University, one parent admitted during a meeting discussing the ban of Toni Morrison’s Beloved—to not having read the entire book!

Thankfully, due to the efforts of librarians, schoolteachers, booksellers, and patrons like you, those voices in the fight for intellectual freedom have far out-cried any seeking to suppress. Perhaps summing it up best, is a statement found on ABA (American Booksellers Association) released from the Kid’s Right to Read Project (KRRP) during a challenge of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower:

“(He) has every right to feel this way about how he seeks to raise his own children. But the relevant law prevents school administrators from granting one parent control over the education of other children, or from privileging the moral values of some parents over others.”

So this upcoming week at Oldsmar Public Library, come celebrate your Constitutional rights to read and the freedom to think for yourself!

Come check out a banned book! Go on . . .

We dare you.

Image by: Simon & Schuster Via BuzzFeed

*If your organization is currently undergoing a challenge or ban against a particular work of literature, you can seek confidential support from the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom by reporting online at http://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/report or calling 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4226.

Written by Brittany Baum