The Oak Ridge Public Library has announced a change in operating hours that is set to begin Tuesday, September 3.
Starting then, the main library will be open on the following schedule:
The Oak Ridge Public Library will host a lunch and learn program next week called “You Have the Power to Outsmart the Scammers” as part of World Wise Wednesdays. The presentation is scheduled for August 21 from noon until 1 p.m.
The discussion will focus on incidents of fraud and some of the complex tactics used by scammers, a press release said. A local financial adviser will lead the presentation and outline steps everyone can take to protect themselves and their loved ones from fraudulent activity, the release said.
[Read more…]
Filmmaker Keith McDaniel has completed a nine-year project to document the oral histories of about 400 current and former Oak Ridge residents, including those connected to the Manhattan Project during World War II.
The life stories were used to build a digital collection for the Oak Ridge Public Library’s Center for Oak Ridge Oral History, or COROH. McDaniel was part of the group that made plans for the COROH and, following the city’s receipt of an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, took the contract for the documentary work.
“A lot of original Oak Ridgers were dying and getting older,” McDaniel said in a press release from Carson-Newman University. “We felt it was really important to collect their memories, to collect their stories.”
The one-on-one filmed interviews gave those connected to the Manhattan Project, and later to the city at large, the opportunity to share their life stories, the press release said.
[Read more…]
Julie Forkner
The Kiwanis Club will hear about the Oak Ridge Public Library on Tuesday, April 9.
At noon meeting will include a program by Julie Forkner, who is director of the Oak Ridge Public Library. She will describe library facilities and services. Included are the Oak Ridge Room, Center for Oak Ridge Oral History (COROH), the Library’s Organizations Index of Non Profit Groups, and the help that can be given to the Library through the Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library (FOL).
Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge meets at the Golden Oak Buffet in Oak Ridge. There is an optional luncheon at 11:40 a.m., and the program will start at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be held in the small meeting room at the Golden Oak Buffet on the right side of the entrance door. The restaurant is located on 401 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge, near the stores in the Main Street Oak Ridge shopping center. [Read more…]
As part of the “World Wise Wednesdays” series of programs, the Oak Ridge Public Library will host a Memoir Writing Class on Wednesday, March 20, beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the library auditorium.
Bonny Millard will lead the session. Millard is a writing coach, project development editor, and educator who worked for more than 15 years as a print journalist and freelance writer, a press release said.
Her journalism career and fiction writing has led her to help other writers explore the depths of their stories, the press release said. Millard also teaches composition at Pellissippi State Community College, and she has a master’s degree in creative writing. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.
Friends of the Oak Ridge Library will have its Winter 2018 Book Sale from February 14-17 in the Oak Ridge Public Library Auditorium.
The sale includes print and other media, most for sale for 50 cents or $1.00.
The sale will be open Thursday, February 14, from 5-7:30 p.m. for members only ($5.00 individual and $10.00 family may be bought at the door); Friday, February 15, 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Facebook promotion; Saturday, February 16, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; 1/2 price sale; Sunday, February 17, 2:30-5:30 p.m., $3.00/bag; and Silent Auction, Thursday-Saturday. [Read more…]
Friends of the Oak Ridge Library will hold its Fall 2018 Book Sale from Thursday to Sunday in the Oak Ridge Public Library Auditorium.
“Plan to come to the Thursday evening Members Sale, then come Friday to purchase the titles you thought about buying but didn’t on Thursday,” a press release said. “Come Saturday to find half-price bargains and to place your winning bid on the Silent Auction items you want to take home. Return on Sunday to fill a bag with titles for your friends and family and the many Free Libraries scattered about town. Every day you will find a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction books and nonprint media with most titles 50 cents or $1 each.”
The Book Sale will be open to members only on Thursday evening, October 25, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Memberships ($5 for individuals, $10 for families) can be bought that evening. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library expects to be closed on five separate occasions between October 15 and November 23 to allow for planned work to the rooftop air conditioning and heating system as well as staff work days, a press release said.
“During this six-week time period, patrons should expect increased noise and a high level of construction activity in and around the library,” the press release said.
The planned library closure dates are as follows: [Read more…]
Julie Forkner
The City of Oak Ridge has named Julie Forkner as director of the Oak Ridge Public Library. Forkner was hired in 2016 as manager of library operations. She has served as acting library director for the last six months.
“Please join us in congratulating Julie on her new position,” a press release said.
Forkner is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, receiving her master’s degree in library and information science in 2012. Prior to this, she obtained a master’s degree in English rhetoric and composition from UT-Chattanooga and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.
The Oak Ridge Public Library is seeking new interviews as part of the Center for Oak Ridge Oral History project. More than 800 oral history entries have already been logged, but additional stories are needed from those who experienced Oak Ridge as children.
COROH’s main focus has been the Manhattan Project era of Oak Ridge’s history, from late 1942 to the end of World War II in August 1945. Interviewees are asked about what it was like to live in the “Secret City.” As the project continues, staff and volunteers will be looking to the second generation of Oak Ridgers in order to record their memories as well. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library will host a writing workshop on Saturday, July 14, from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. Author Michael C. Miles is the special guest for the workshop, which will focus on how to become a published author, a press release said.
Miles is from Bristol, Tennessee, and he now lives in Knoxville. His first novel, “Dominion,” was published two years ago. His second book, “The Dying Lesson,” was recently published and is being adapted for a short film. The film is expected to be shot in the Tri-Cities/Knoxville area. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge City Council members Jim Dodson, left, and Kelly Callison, second from left, read a proclamation for Kathy McNeilly, right, during her retirement celebration at Oak Ridge Public Library on Friday, June 15, 2018. Also pictured is Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
Kathy McNeilly is retiring after serving as director of the Oak Ridge Public Library for 19 years—and working for the City of Oak Ridge for more than 47 years.
Friends, family, and City of Oak Ridge staff celebrated McNeilly’s “amazing career” in a ceremony in the library auditorium on Friday, June 15, a city press release said.
McNeilly received a master’s degree in library science from the University of Tennessee. She was hired by the City of Oak Ridge in 1971 as a reference assistant, just a few months after the library’s new location opened its doors in the Oak Ridge Civic Center, the press release said. Since then, she has served as head of the Reference Department, head of Technical Services, and as assistant library director before taking on her role as director nearly 20 years ago.
“In her time with the library, McNeilly has watched services change from print-based to computer, and she was instrumental in guiding the library through many technological changes,” the press release said. “Most recently, she helmed the library’s inclusion of e-books and streaming video. McNeilly is perhaps most proud, however, of the library’s work with COROH (Center for Oak Ridge Oral History). Under her guidance, the library has been able to collect, bind, and make available online the oral histories of more than 800 Oak Ridgers whose lives and work helped create the Oak Ridge of today.” [Read more…]
