A book about the desegregation of Clinton schools won the Tennessee History Book Award for 2023.
The book is “A Most Tolerant Little Town: The Explosive Beginning of School Desegregation.” It was written by Rachel Louise Martin, a historian and writer, a press release said.
The award was announced by the Tennessee Historical Commission and the Tennessee Historical Society. The award prize includes $2,000.
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The City of Oak Ridge has named Erin Elizabeth Smith as its first honorary poet laureate. Smith will serve in this role for a two-year period, a press release said.
“In this role, she will inspire and promote literacy and literature to the residents of the city at things like cultural events and city celebrations,” the press release said. “With Oak Ridge being a unique community as the first and primary Manhattan Project site, it places a high value on literacy as foundation to our other values of education, science, technology, and environmental stewardship.”
In the fall of 2021, Oak Ridge City Council was approached about the concept of establishing the honorary position of poet laureate for the city. City Council was in concurrence, the Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Committee was created, and a nomination and selection process took place, the press release said.
Smith was selected after a detailed review of three nominees and was formally designated to the role at the February 14 City Council meeting.
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A book sale organized by Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library continues this weekend through Sunday.
The FOL Winter Book Sale is at the Oak Ridge Public Library.
Saturday, February 5, is Half-Price Sale Day from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, February 6, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., is Buy-A-Bag-of-Books Sale with each bag provided by FOL priced at $3.
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge Public Library is supporting an initiative to select and name a poet laureate for the City of Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Committee is seeking a poet of excellence, who has lived in Oak Ridge for at least one year and is inspired to represent the city and all it strives to be, a press release said.
“Anyone can nominate someone they believe is best fit for the role and self-nominations are accepted as long as they can continue to live in the city throughout the appointment,” the press release said. “They must have significant publication history including books (excluding self-published and vanity presses), and in a variety of journals, and/or media. They must have received recognition in the field and have demonstrated literary excellence.”
[Read more…]The Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library Spring 2021 Book Sale is returning after more than a year.
The Book Sale is Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22. It will be a smaller sale at a different location because the Oak Ridge Public Library is not yet fully open to the public, a press release said.
“But we are ready to have a sale to share with you the many items we have received since our last sale in March 2020,” the press release said.
The sale will be held in two rooms on the lower level of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore building in Grove Center. The entrance is on Robertsville Road.
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The 2021 Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, featuring three world renowned storytellers, is scheduled for Saturday, June 5.
The festival will offer an evening performance recorded in front of a live audience, three live online interactive workshops, and a live online after-party, a press release said.
The annual event is led by volunteers from the three Rotary Clubs in Oak Ridge. Due to concerns about COVID-19, this year’s event will be online.
The featured storytellers are three acclaimed performers: Andy Offutt Irwin, Bil Lepp, and Kim Weitkamp. They are known to audiences nationwide for their wit, wisdom, and abilities to make audiences laugh, cry, and reminisce, the press release said. The three storytellers have achieved national recognition and appear regularly at festivals, including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
On Saturday, June 5, the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival will present the art and magic of storytelling with a virtual performance at 8 p.m. The three tellers will record a live show that will be performed before a small audience exclusively for Flatwater Tales. This performance will include an unrehearsed improvisation segment, hosted by emcee Paula Gordon Lepp, a new feature in the storytelling world, the press release said.
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Darren Osborne (Submitted photo)
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Oak Ridge Wildcats football players and head coach Joe Gaddis recently took part in a virtual reading project in partnership with The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools Preschool. Here is how the project began, a press release said.
The Oak Ridge Schools Preschool had a need for additional books and supplies. They also needed volunteers to read to their students. The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge learned about the need and devised a plan to help. Rotary members purchased age-appropriate books and additional supplies for the school. Because of COVID-19, they were unable to visit the Preschool to read with the students, so club members videoed themselves reading those books to share with students, the press release said. Then, the Club decided to present the opportunity to the ORHS Wildcats football team. They eagerly accepted. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library will have new hours beginning Monday, November 2.
The Main Library will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Main Library will also be open from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Thursday mornings for patrons at high risk of COVID complications only.
The Children’s Room will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
[Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library started curbside pickup of library materials on Monday, May 18. The library will have its roof replaced this summer, and there is no re-opening date yet.
Here’s how the curbside pickup works:
[Read more…]Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library has a book sale this weekend.
The Winter 2020 Book Sale is from Thursday evening, March 5, to Sunday, March 8. It is in the Library Auditorium.
Besides books, jigsaw puzzles, music compact discs, and other items will also be available, a press release said. Most titles will still be 50 cents or $1 each, the press release said. Withdrawn library titles will be half price Thursday through Saturday.
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There was a members-only sale Thursday evening.
Grace Writers of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge is featuring its second annual writing contest in memory of two members: Carol Oen and Cleva Marrow, both Oak Ridge writers.
Carol Oen wrote poetry, freelance articles for magazines, and a senior romance novel, “Songs That Remember,” about Alzheimer’s and caregivers. She taught memoir writing for the Oak Ridge Institute of Continued Learning. Cleva Marrow freelanced for The Oak Ridger and The Knoxville News Sentinel.
The contest will consist of three awards:
[Read more…]A creative writing director at the University of Tennessee will speak at Lunch 4 Literacy in Oak Ridge in March.
The popular annual event is co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and the Altrusa International Club of Oak Ridge. It will be held at Oak Ridge High School at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 24.
This year, the award-winning speaker is Margaret Lazarus Dean, an associate professor and director of creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]
