Eufaula Memorial Library – Staedtler Art Pens – 8″ x 10″

“There is often in people to whom “the worst” has happened an almost transcendent freedom, for they have faced “the worst” and survived it.”
–Carol Pearson

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Eufaula Memorial Library – Staedtler Art Pens – 8″ x 10″

This is the ink drawing for the library.  I’m working on a private home right now that I want to finish before I paint the library.  Stay tuned. 

Here’s a little excerpt on the building’s history, from Margaret Collins, Branch Manager (from  http://199.164.253.25/centennial/libbio/eufaula.html ):

Eufaula Public Library was squeezed in between a laundry (later a beauty shop) and the McIntosh County Abstract office.

 The building sold in 1981 and the library relocated to the National Guard Armory for three months while a new location was found. The new site was a doublewide trailer located at 272 Broadway, purchased by State National Bank, Farmers & Merchants Bank, and Victor Savings and Loan. For four years at that location, the number of library users continued to grow, and a new library building became a necessity.

 The campaign for a new library then began. Matching grants came from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Kerr Foundation and a $100,000 bequest was received from the late Charles L. Follansbee, a Eufaula attorney, specifically to build a library. A $100,000 club was formed to match Mr. Follansbee’s donation; then when the goal was reached, another $100,000 was matched.

 Funds were raised by a variety of activities – everything from a Bike-A-Thon to dances and raffles – and library supporters were honored for their efforts by winning the prestigious John Cotton Dana Award from the American Library Association in 1984. This honor recognized the unique fundraising efforts that citizens made in such a short period of time to raise money to build their new library.
 In 1985, Eufaula Public Library became Eufaula Memorial Library and moved into the new building created with funds raised by area citizens.

Carol S. Pearson, Ph.D., is President of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. She is an internationally recognized scholar and well-known author of numerous books, among them the bestselling The Hero Within, Awakening the Heroes Within, the Hero and the Outlaw, and Magic at Work. Her newest book is The Transforming Leader, an edited collection of cutting edge essays on the challenges facing leaders in the 21st century that grew out of the Fetzer Institute’s Leadership for Transformation Project, for which she was principal investigator. Dr. Pearson has been a senior administrator and professor at higher education institutions including the University of Colorado, the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, and Goucher College; a consultant for multinational corporations and government agencies; and a popular public speaker and workshop leader.