Ellinwood School/Community Library has received a few contributions that will enhance our collection for our patrons!
First, we received a donation from Dr. Delberta Hollaway Coonrod in the amount of $125 to celebrate the birthday of her mother, Zealoth Stevens Hollaway. I received a phone call from Mary Hollaway Skolaut telling me of Mrs. Hollaway’s life as an elementary school teacher. Mrs. Hollaway went to elementary school for three years, took the 8th grade exam, and then began teaching in the rural schools at the age of 16. She served 18 years in Barton County rural schools and Jefferson School, and 18 years in Morgan County and Eldon, Mo. She retired in 1972 after 36 years. Mrs. Holloway was a member of Calvary Baptist Church, Ellinwood. She was also an honorary member of the Alpha Sigma Pi Lambda Chapter and a Theta International Honor and Professional Association in Education member.
We have chosen to purchase a “Who is...” biography collection for our Daulton’s Children’s Room with these funds in memory of Zealoth Stevens Hollaway. They will be great for our students to utilize when studying famous people in history.
Second, we received a copy of the “2021 K-State All-University Alumni Directory” from Elizabeth Garnett. This will be a great resource for our KSU Alumni and friends! She also donated a 121 year old copy of “The Snow-Image” by Nathaniel Hawthorne for our school archives. This copy belonged to Henry Ernsting. It was given to Elizabeth by her Grandmother Anna. She snuck it home and stored it in her bottom drawer and that’s why it’s in such good condition.
Third, the family of Nova Bowman chose the Ellinwood Grade School Library as one of the recipients of memorials in Nova’s name. Nova graduated from Garden City High School in 1953. She received her Associate Degree from Frank Phillips Community College. She received degrees from West Texas State University, now West Texas A&M, BA in 1969 and MS in Education, 1974. Nova taught in Borger, Texas for 12 years, and Great Bend and Ellinwood for 20 years. We will be using this memorial money to complete book sets that our EGS students currently love to read, and replace books that have been well-used and needing updated.
Last, in 2002 Golden Belt Community Foundation made its first grants to libraries across the four-county area for $250 each. It was exciting as this was the start of the foundation’s work as a philanthropic organization. In celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Golden Belt Community Foundation, the Board of Directors, and staff thought it would be exciting to “recreate” the library grants from the beginning. Ellinwood School/Community Library received an $800 grant from the foundation to be used to support youth programs and/or materials for the library. Libraries are an important part of the community and improve the quality of life for children and families. The Golden Belt Community Foundation is honored to work with each library and community to help support the important work that is being done. We are currently looking into purchasing charging stations to benefit our MS/HS students, as well as our community patrons.
We are very thankful for all of these contributions to Ellinwood School/Community Libraries! We love that we are able to reach all levels of our patrons with these donations! Come in and check out all that Ellinwood School/Community Library has to offer!
Sheri Holmes is the director of library and media services for the Ellinwood School and Community Libraries. She can be reached by email at sholmes@usd355.org.
