Herman & Kate Kaiser History
Permanent Location in LaFortune Park
The Herman and Kate Kaiser Library opened on June 23, 2008. Glenda Kilmer, branch manager, says, “we are so excited about the new building – we have an expanded collection, a meeting room that can be booked by community groups, and a wide range of programs and activities. Our customers are the best and we serve a diverse community.”
The library is 10,000 sq. ft. and shares a lobby with the Buddy LaFortune Community Center, a Tulsa County Parks venue with Cherrie Lewallen serving as Activity Director. The community center is 14,000 sq. ft. It was funded with Vision 2025 tax dollars. The joint building is immediately north of the tennis courts on the Hudson side of LaFortune Park. It is a wonderful complex with a wide range of activities available for youth and adults.
On February 2, 2006, Groundhog Day, an event was held on the site honoring major donors to the project. Students from Key Elementary and the Memorial High School band provided music. Library CEO Linda Saferite announced the branch is named the Herman and Kate Kaiser Branch Library. The official groundbreaking ceremony was held on August 23, 2006. The building opened on June 23, 2008.
The Herman and Kate Kaiser Foundation funded 51% of the $2.4 million cost. The library is 100% donor funded. Other major donors are: Robert J. LaFortune, H.A. and Mary Kay Chapman Trust, Hille Foundation, The Tulsa World, Broadhurst Foundation, Adelson Family, Schusterman Family Foundation, Henry Zarrow, Don and Rita Newman and Irv and Sharna Frank, Calumet Oil Company, Sol Robinowitz Foundation, Paul Woodul Family, Waters Foundation, Barnett Family Foundation, Coretz Family Foundation, Moran Family Foundation, Temple Foundation, Lorene Cooper Hasbrouck Charitable Trust, Sanford and Irene Burnstein, Keith and Beth Goddard, Sam Vierson Family Foundation and Hal and Rosalind Cook. In addition, donors who contribute $100 or more are honored on the wall of honor in the lobby of the new building. Donors are also honored with acknowledments on windows and end panels of shelving ranges. The building contractor was Oakridge Builders.
Features of the Herman & Kate Kaiser Library:
Attractive, inviting entrance, meeting room to seat 75, shelving capacity for 50,000 books, 16 public computers, lounge seating for 18, tables and chairs for 64, imaginative stylistic trees for columns, children’s area with window seat, dragonfly inlays in the flooring, teen area with retro-style booth seating, windows on all sides with views of the beautiful park setting, fireplace for cozy reading, public outdoor art including bronze “On the Road with Mother Goose” by Diane Mason and large bronze sculpture of a child reading a book while leaning against large rabbit by sculptor Georgia Gerber.
History
A neighborhood storefront library on the corner of 51st Street and Memorial Drive opened for operation in May of 2002. The 4,800 square foot facility focused on reading materials for all ages and computers with internet capabilities but no meeting room. It was intended to be a temporary location to fill the gap left when the Hardesty Regional Library moved from the Woodland Hills Mall area to 93rd & Memorial.
Bobbie Crumb served as the manager while the Nathan Hale branch was closed for renovation in 2002. Louix Escobar-Matute was the manager from March 2003 to September 2004. Glenda Kilmer, the current manager, has been in that position since September 2004.