Oklahoma Center for the Book

09/30/2026

📚 Learn more about the man who helped launch the Center for the Book.

Daniel J. Boorstin, the 12th Librarian of Congress, founded the Center for the Book in 1977. Today, that network includes 56 affiliate centers—including the Oklahoma Center for the Book!

On October 21, the Library of Congress will explore Boorstin’s life and legacy during “The American: The Hidden History of Daniel J. Boorstin and His Twentieth Century.”

The program will feature Boorstin’s son, Jon Boorstin, author of The American, and will be available to watch live online.

📅 October 21, 2026
⏰ 3 p.m. Central
💻 Watch live via Zoom

Register to watch: loc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_HNITX4leQoyLQ4D3L-ATwg #/registration

09/25/2026

📚 Have you seen the Library of Congress Card Catalog at Sapulpa Public Library? 📚

The traveling Library of Congress Card Catalog is making its way around Oklahoma over the next two years, and Sapulpa is honored to be the SECOND stop on this statewide journey! 🎉

But time is running out to see it here! The LAST DAY to visit the kiosk at Sapulpa Public Library is Tuesday, September 29, 2026. After that, it will travel on to Bristow Public Library for its October stop.

This isn’t just something to look at—it’s interactive! Visitors can scan QR codes with their phones to explore different aspects of the Library of Congress, learn more about the history of the card catalog, and discover programs, collections, and resources offered by the Library of Congress. 📖🔎📱

If you haven’t stopped by yet, be sure to swing by the library before September 29 and check it out!

A special thank-you to the Oklahoma Center for the Book for organizing this wonderful traveling program in partnership with The Library of Congress and bringing a little piece of library history to communities across Oklahoma. ❤️📚

Pictured: Sapulpan Debbie Stout exploring the Library of Congress Card Catalog during its stop at Sapulpa Public Library.

Don’t miss your chance to see it before it heads down the road to its next Oklahoma stop! 🗺️📚

Sapulpa Public Library
Sapulpa Genealogy Library
City of Sapulpa Gov.

09/24/2026

📚 Love reading and discovering books that stand out? Here’s your chance to help recognize some of Oklahoma’s best!

The Oklahoma Center for the Book is seeking enthusiastic, thoughtful readers to serve as judges for the Oklahoma Book Awards.

Judges play an important role in recognizing outstanding books written by Oklahomans or about Oklahoma. They read and evaluate entries in an assigned category and work with fellow judges to help select the year’s finalists and award winners.

What does judging involve?
📖 Reading books submitted in your assigned category
📝 Evaluating entries according to the awards’ criteria
💬 Sharing thoughtful feedback and participating in the judging process
📅 Committing the time needed to read entries and meet judging deadlines

Judging will take place from November 2026 through spring 2027, with books provided to judges as entries are received.

Judges are volunteers. No professional literary or design background is required—just a love of books, an open mind, and a commitment to thoughtful and fair evaluation. Relevant professional experience is always welcome!

Interested in serving as an Oklahoma Book Awards judge? Apply today: .surveymonkey.com/r/oba-judge-app

09/22/2026

📚 As we launch this year’s My Favorite Book contest, we’re celebrating why books matter and the lasting impact they can have on our lives. What does reading mean to you?

Sometimes we pick up a book because the story sounds interesting. But the right book can become something more. It can help us make sense of what we’re going through, see things differently, or remind us that we’re not alone.

That’s what happened for Georgena, last year’s My Favorite Book Division 3 winner, when she read Whalefall by Daniel Kraus.

Drawn to the novel by her love of marine science, Georgena discovered a story that spoke deeply to her own experience and helped her see that even when something feels too big to process, it’s still possible to keep moving forward.

“Thank you for proving that comfort can be found in what some might consider strange places. Thank you for showing me I’m not alone.”

📝 Read Georgena’s letter: oklahoma.gov/libraries/mfb-div3-letter

What book has stayed with you long after you finished the last page? What book has reminded you why reading matters?

09/16/2026

📚 The author talks from the 2026 National Book Festival are now available online!

Catch up on conversations with your favorite authors, discover new voices, or watch a session you missed. The Library of Congress has posted videos from this year’s festival so you can enjoy the National Book Festival from wherever you are.

🎥 Start watching:
https://blogs.loc.gov/bookmarked/2026/09/15/2026-national-book-festival-videos-and-looking-ahead-at-2027/

09/11/2026

To mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the Library has launched an online collection of nearly 500 first-hand accounts that document what responders witnessed, why they responded, what they endured, and how the experience affected their health, families and lives in the years that followed.

https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/library-makes-nearly-500-first-hand-9-11-responder-accounts-available-online/s/3f265f84-4ede-40c0-a926-732c4aec39e5

Taken together, the interviews - which include responders, family members, advocates, and medical personnel- preserve not only the memories of a historic event, but the testimony of witnesses whose lives became part of its continuing history. Making them available through the Library of Congress ensures that their testimony becomes part of the nation’s permanent memory.

The interviews are part of a project begun by Benjamin Luft, a physician at Stony Brook Medicine in New York, who treated responders in the years after the attacks.

09/09/2026

08/25/2026

The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, not only a talented musician, but also a true titan of children's literacy. Her Imagination Library has received multiple Library of Congress Literacy Awards and, in 2018, Dolly visited us to donate the program’s 100 millionth book to our collection. She even hosted story time. 🦋❤️

Watch the video of her story time reading at the Library. ⬇️ https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/12/dolly-parton-the-library-that-dolly-built/

Image: Dolly Parton reads to children in the Library’s Great Hall in 2018. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.

08/24/2026

📚 Route 66 Big Read: Vanessa Miller | September 19

Vanessa Miller, author of The Filling Station and winner of the 2026 Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction, will take part in two Route 66 Big Read author visits on Saturday, September 19.

🏫 10 a.m. | Luther High School

📚 2:30–4 p.m. | Edmond Library

The public is invited to hear Miller discuss her writing journey, the inspiration behind The Filling Station, and the real-life stories that shaped the book. The program will include an author talk and Q&A, followed by a book signing. Books will be available for purchase on-site.

🔗 Learn more and register:
metrolibrary.org/event/vanessa-miller-author-visit-663112