Jacqulyn Owens
I am Jacqulyn Owens. I live in the Texas Panhandle where I am employed as the library director for Memphis Public Library.
I received my undergraduate degree in 1977 in Home Economics Education from Texas Woman’s University. I taught Home Economics for four years. The next 20 years I spent as the manager of one of the two retail stores my husband and I owned. I received my MLS from TWU in 2009 as a part of the Professional Education for Librarians in Small Communities (PELSC) Cohort which was funded by the Institute of Libraries and Museums and the Tocker Foundation.
I am a fellow in the Transforming Life After 50 an IMLS Western Regional Fellowship http://transforminglifeafter50.org
On a personal note, I have been married to Richard for 30 years. We have two sons. I volunteer within our community serving on the AgriLife Board. I served as a trustee for our school district for nine years. I have worked on many community projects.
I was selected to receive the PEARL project scholarship in 2010. It has been an interesting beginning. I have developed friendships and a working relationship with 4 librarians in small communities and will mentor others as the project progresses. Rural libraries are the heartbeat of a community. We need to strengthen libraries presence and outreach in every community and strengthen relationships among the librarians who serve these communities.
Contact Information
Email: jacqulynhorton {at} hotmail.com
Blog post by Marcel LaFlamme" Morality and Cake pans" in his blog "Daily Yonder Keeping it Rural"
I enjoyed reading a review of by Marcel LaFlamme of
Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956
By Wayne A. Wiegand
244 pp., University of Iowa Press, 2011, $25.95
The picture of the rural library in Atkinson, Nebraska's collection of cake pans is worth sharing.
The link to the blog and the review is:
http://www.dailyyonder.com/main-street-public-library/2012/01/11/3678
Enjoy!
Jacqulyn Owens
Bedford Public Library
Recently, I was in Bedford, TX and stubbled upon Bedford's Public Library. It is a beautiful building that opened in February. I had a nice visit with Jeanne Green, the community services supervisor who told me a little of the story of Bedford's library. It was closed in March 2005 because of lack of funding. The community came together to reestablish their library. It is a testament to the power a community has when energized. The new building is an old Food Lion grocery that was totally remodeled. It is beautiful. Bedford should be very proud of what they have accomplished. The website for Bedford Public Library is http://www.bedfordlibrary.org/index.html
Medicare Prescription Part D
Each year as a service to the community, Memphis Public Library provides help with Medicare Prescription Part D. Many of our senior citizens do not have the skills to access the Internet. The http://www.medicare.gov website is the best tool for a person to select the Medicare Prescription Part D that is right for them. Each year medicare recepients need to check to see if their medications are covered and the premium cost is the best for them.
The http://www.medicare.gov website sorts through the different plans using the person's personal information to select the best plan for them. It is not good to select a plan because of an advertisement seen on television or received in the mail; the best plan is the one that covers the person's medication. This year the deadline to change your provider is December 7. In 2010, Memphis helped 78 people access the medicare website, already we have had 20 people come in in 2011. I suggest each person bring a list from the pharmacy of the medications they take and their medicare card to receive this service.
Rural Library professional development survey deadline December 9
I received the following email from Wendy Clark at TSLAC, she had forwarded this email which is from Angela Baker.
The San Jacinto (Tex.) College District, a NASA partner, is developing a grant proposal that would involve professional development for rural librarians to prepare them to present STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs in libraries. The project will also examine how informal science learning takes place in rural libraries and will help rural librarians gain the skills to create informal science events that capture the interests of the communities and regions they serve.
Librarians at libraries that serve populations of 25,000 and under and are not located near a major metropolitan area are invited to complete a survey to aid the proposal process. The deadline for completing the survey is Friday, December 9.