The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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March 27, 2006

Alva Public Library ‘grows up’ to serve the community

By Ruth Ann Replogle

ALVA — Alva Public Library was born in a church, grew up in city hall and in the hospital and finally moved out on its own when it was 59 years old. It celebrated its 100th birthday in December and is still expanding.

Be sure not to confuse age with aging. The technology and the resources at Alva Public Library are better than ever.

“Automation has been the biggest change,” said library director Larry Thorne. The process has sped up documenting for the card catalog.

“How time consuming that was,” Thorne said.

With every electronic advancement, “it has opened up the world,” he said. “You can be rural, but have access to the whole world. It’s an exciting time for libraries.”

In 1905, members of First Congregational Church (now Friends Church) hosted a “book shower” so people could donate books for the town’s first public library, which was located within the church walls.

By 1912, the library was growing and needed more space. It was relocated to a room on the third floor of city hall. “It had a banister railing. People would slide down it,” Thorne said.

When Alva’s hospital moved to the west side of town (in the building that now serves as Cherokee Strip Museum) in 1942, the library moved into the hospital’s old location downtown. It occupied the entire bottom floor, Thorne said.

But it wasn’t enough. The library needed a space to call its own.

Share Trust gave $320,000 to build an actual library, complete with a basement and balcony, just west of downtown.

“This was the first building using funds from Share Trust,” Thorne said. “Share Trust said ‘We’ll build the building, but you must furnish it.’” Donors furnished the bookcases, tables, etc. The library was dedicated in 1963 and opened to the public in 1964.

Thorne joined the staff in 1967 as a cataloging and reference librarian. He was promoted to director in 1977.

“When I came here, we had a budget of $12,500. Today it is $149,600,” he said. The budget covers salaries, books and operating expenses.

He said when he joined the staff, the library’s entire selection of books fit into one area — the south wing where the hardback fiction, videos and DVDs, books on tape, computers and Oklahoma section are today.

“We gradually expanded,” Thorne said. The children’s section (also called youth section) was in the north wing and Cherokee Strip Museum was in the basement.

“The children’s section moved down there when the museum moved to the old hospital site,” Thorne said. The north wing is now home to the reference section and genealogy.

The balcony is host to magazines, paperbacks, biographies and non-fiction as well as a private library for Cherokee Strip Outlet chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.

Alva Public Library also has a conference room on the ground floor and an auditorium in the basement that is used for fund-raisers and club or organization meetings.

The library’s current location was built with a book capacity of up to 60,000 volumes.

In 2006, “we’re nearing capacity,” Thorne said. He said he intends to retire in three years and it will be up to the next director to draw up expansion plans.

“We are a city library, but we check out to the county,” he said. Thorne said the board has toyed with the idea of renaming the library Public Library of Alva and Woods County.

At present there are over 6,000 card holders, including people who live in Alva, in Woods County and outside of the county. Northwestern Oklahoma State University students also are given public library privileges.

“We’ve enjoyed good support from the city. People get behind us and support the library,” Thorne said.

Alva Public Library will continue to celebrate its 100-year mark with special events this year.

For more information about events, library hours and materials available, call (580) 237-1833.

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