Welcome to the public libraries of Lake County, Oregon!
  • Home
  • About
    • COVID-19
    • About Us
    • Buy A Brick
    • Hours & Locations
    • Employment & Volunteering
    • Friends of the Library
    • Library Endowment Fund
    • Policies
    • Solar Power
  • Online Resources
    • Library2Go
    • Students >
      • Elementary Students
      • Middle School Students
      • High School Students
      • College Students
    • Business & Professional
    • Health
    • History
    • Home & Garden
    • Newspapers & Magazines
  • Services
    • Early Learning
    • For Kids
    • For Teens
    • Library Cards
    • Meeting Room
    • Programs
  • Library News

Price Family Donates Sculpture

9/16/2016

 
Picture
Picture
The Price family recently donated a beautiful bronze sculpture to the Main Library in Lakeview in honor of long-time librarian Verna Price. At right, Dave Price (son), Susan Robertson Price (daughter), and Ernie Price (husband) show off the sculpture in its new home.

​Verna graduated from Oregon State University in 1945 with a Bachelor’s degree, and then taught high school science for several years.  In 1950, she married Ernie Price, a professional forester, and raised a family of five children. The family moved to Lakeview in 1968.  In 1969, she was hired as the Lake County Librarian.  After taking the job, she enrolled in a library administration program at the University of Oregon.  To complete the program, she commuted between Lakeview and Eugene for about a year.  She also worked with the Klamath County librarian to help develop her library management and supervisory skills. 
 
During her tenue at the library, she helped Paisley get its first library building.  Mrs. Price along with a local library group found a surplus Forest Service trailer and persuaded the Lake County commissioners to acquire it 
for the library building.  Previously, the county library had been housed in a closet at Paisley High School.  She then worked with citizens of Silver Lake to get a library building for that community.  Silver Lake’s first stand-alone library building was donated by the ZX Ranch and moved to a site in the center of town by the local Lions Club.  Later, she worked with Christmas Valley citizens to acquire a large trailer to serve as a library building for that community.  The trailer replaced a small alcove at the Christmas Valley golf course that had been used as a county library station.  She also remodeled and expanded the main library in Lakeview and upgraded the library lighting to make reading easier in the evening.
 
As county librarian, Mrs. Price was the “Google” of the pre-information age.  She and her staff knew all the day-readers by name.  These were the people who spent long hours at the library quietly reading everything from newspapers to novels.  She also got to know generations of junior high students who came to the library in the evening to do their homework.  She even got to know the prisoners in the county jail as they were allowed to come to the library to check out books.  However, her favorite library activity was children’s story hour.  During those periods, she often dressed up as a book character to make the stories come alive for the kids.
 
For over seventeen years, Mrs. Price managed the main library in Lakeview along with the branch libraries in Paisley, Silver Lake, and Christmas Valley plus several library stations located in other communities around the county.  As a result, she knew many people from all over the county.  She always made sure readers got the book they wanted, even if it had to be ordered from the state library in Salem.  Because community libraries were important to county residents, she always got outstanding support from the library board and Lake County’s commissioners.
 
Mrs. Price was very proud of her service to Lake County.  She passed away in 2003.  The Price family presented the sculpture to the library to recognize her service and to thank county residents for their support of the library over the years.
​

Comments are closed.

    Library News

    Read all about library news, upcoming programs, and more!

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    October 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All
    Kids
    Summer Reading
    Teens

    RSS Feed

Search the library website

Proudly powered by Weebly