STEM Monday @ 4 p.m.
2024-05-06 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
We’re diving into the world of forensics and experimenting with different methods of finding fingerprints. We’ll be using cocoa powder, baby powder, and testing with dirty hands, clean hands, and hands covered in lotion. Get ready for a hands-on exploration!

Spaces for this program are limited, so be sure to secure your spot by calling the Altus Public Library at (580) 477-2890 and signing up! Don’t miss out on the fun! See you there!

Ya Ya Yarn @ 11 a.m.
2024-05-07 18:00 - 19:00, 2024-05-24 11:00 - 12:00

Story Time & Craft @ 11 a.m.
2024-05-08 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-05-22 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-05-29 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-06-05 11:00 - 12:00, 2024-06-12 11:00 - 12:00

Bilingual Story Time & Craft @ 11 a.m.
2024-05-15 11:00 - 12:00

Family Friday @ 4 p.m.
2024-05-17 16:00 - 17:00

Lego Club @ 2 p.m.
2024-05-18 14:00 - 15:30
Future artists and engineers are invited to join us for Lego Club! Build to your hearts content. Your work will be displayed at the Altus Public Library.

Closed - Memorial Day
2024-05-27

Chautauqua Workshop @ 11 a.m. @ the Altus Public Library
2024-05-28 11:00 - 12:00
Vanessa Adams-Harris – The Oklahoma Brown Case
In the 1950s a small town in Oklahoma, Bartlesville, is where Miss Ruth W. Brown, librarian, was summarily dismissed after 30 years of service because she had circulated subversive materials. What materials did a library hold that would be considered subversive? The Brown case exemplifies the strange period of the cold War known as the McCarthy era and racial integration in Oklahoma.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 2 p.m. @ the Museum of the Western Prairie
2024-05-28 14:00 - 15:00
Rebecca Jimerson – The Music of the Civil Rights Movement
This workshop will delve into the music of the Civil Rights Movement drawing inspiration from African American spirituals, gospel hymns, blues, jazz, and folk songs music. The songs of the movement were a powerful source to uplift, strengthen, and spread messages of hope. Handouts to be circulated to workshop attendees.

Chautauqua Performance @ 7 p.m. @ WOSC
2024-05-28 19:00 - 20:00
Tuesday, May 28th — Earl Warren (1891-1974)
Earl Warren was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 through 1969, a period of intense challenges to American civil rights. The Warren Court provided momentous decisions that reshaped our world, from the Brown Case to Miranda. Warren led the Court to end segregation, open voting rights, uphold criminal rights to council, protect privacy rights, and strike down miscegenation laws.
Dr. Doug Mishler has a Ph.D. in U.S. Cultural History from the University of Nevada, taught for over 23 years, and is the founder and managing Artistic Director of The Restless Artists’ Theatre in Reno. He will portray Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 11 a.m. @ the Altus Public Library
2024-05-29 11:00 - 12:00
Dr. Leslie Goddard – Rating the First Ladies
The role of First Lady comes with no job description, no pay, and no written requirements. Yet America’s presidential spouses have wielded great influence and have always been subject to intense public scrutiny. In this interactive illustrated lecture, historian Dr. Leslie Goddard explored which First Ladies have ranked highest and lowest with historians. Who do you think was best or worst? Why were some so vilified? And what might the future hold for the role of American First Lady?

Chautauqua Workshop @ 2 p.m. @ the Museum of the Western Prairie
2024-05-29 14:00 - 15:00
Dr. Doug Mishler – War and a Question of Rights
This workshop will explore how a variety of wars from the Revolution to the war on terror have affected the rights of individual Americans. From shaping the Bill of Rights in the 18th century, to freedom of speech during WWI, internment in WWII, Cold War hysteria and loyalty oaths, to taking off your shoes to get on a plane, we explore the variety of rights issues some major, some rather silly.

Chautauqua Performance @ 7 p.m. @ WOSC
2024-05-29 19:00 - 20:00
Wednesday, May 29th — Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Rosa Parks is often called the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” She was an ordinary person who did extraordinary things and is well know for her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She encouraged other ordinary citizens and youth to lift their voices for freedom. Rosa never expected to receive a national and global platform from which to speak, but the cause of freedom was most important to her.
Ms. Vanessa Adams-Harris is a Mvskoke (Creek) American Indian with African/Scots-Irish ancestry, educated in anthropology, and trained in theatre at the University of Tulsa. She is an artist, filmmaker, playwright, human rights activist and peacebuilder. She will portray Mrs. Parks.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 11 a.m. @ the Altus Public Library
2024-05-30 11:00 - 12:00
Dr. James Armstead – The Civil War Amendments
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution individually marked important milestones in American history and collectively served to satisfy the war aims of the Lincoln administration. These new freedoms changed American Society in so many unanticipated ways and set the stage for a living constitution that could be molded to meet the legal needs of a complex society, while the general citizenry remained unaware of the historic connections to slavery and a redefinition of our citizenship.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 2 p.m. @ the Museum of the Western Prairie
2024-05-30 14:00 - 15:00
Vanessa Adams-Harris – Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement
From the children here in Oklahoma with Clara Luper in Oklahoma City, a young Claudette Colvin who at age 15 refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, to the Citizenship Education Program throughout the south and its rural communities. Just who, what and where?

Chautauqua Performance @ 7 p.m. @ WOSC
2024-05-30 19:00 - 20:00
Thursday, May 30th — Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson (1912-2007)
Johnson served as First Lady of the United States (1961-1969) as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson and had a front-row seat to many of the major events of the 1960s. Lady Bird was an unlikely but surprisingly influential civil rights activist. Born and raised in the deep South, she understood the seismic changes that southerners felt as their lives were upturned by the politicians in distant Washington. She worked to soothe their anger and demonstration how the end of segregation and the Jim Crow laws would improve their region economically.
Dr. Leslie Goddard has a Ph.D. in History and Women’s Studies from Northwestern University. She is an independent historian, author, lecturer and a nationally recognized historical performer. She will portray Mrs. Johnson.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 11 a.m. @ the Altus Public Library
2024-05-31 11:00 - 12:00
Rebecca Jimerson – Coretta Scott Kin and the “Freedom Concerts”
This workshop will present the storied history of the Freedom Concerts. Combining poetry, narration, and music to tell the story of the Civil Rights movement. Concluding with participants staging a Freedom Concert. Handouts to be circulated to workshop attendees.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 2 p.m. @ the Museum of the Western Prairie
2024-05-31 14:00 - 15:00
Dr. Leslie Goddard – The Lady Bird Special
In October 1964, the Lady Bird Special train pulled away from Washington D.C. Over the next four days, the train carried First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson on a whistle-stop tour of eight Southern states to garner support for Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential campaign in the face of fierce opposition to his civil right reforms. In this lecture, we’ll explore the story of the Lady Bird Special and how Lady Bird used the historic trip to appeal to the minds and hearts of her fellow Southerners while confronting the racism that still prevailed in the region she called home.

Chautauqua Performance @ 7 p.m. @ WOSC
2024-05-31 19:00 - 20:00
Friday, May 31st — Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993)
Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights layer and activist his entire professional life. As head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, he acted as legal counsel on some of the most important cases in U.S. history and helped construct a legal strategy that desegregated America in the mid-20th century. His later government service of Solicitor General, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge, and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court shaped his brilliant career and defined the achievements of an Era.
Dr. James Armstead has a law degree from DePaul University, a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Pacific Western University and is a Professor of International Law and Public Policy. He will portray Associate Justice Marshall.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 11 a.m. @ the Altus Public Library
2024-06-01 11:00 - 12:00
Dr. Doug Mishler – The Supreme Court’s Role in American Life
We will cover not just the Warren Court but peruse a variety of Supreme Courts from the first of John Marshall up to the Robert’s Court today. We will explore how the Court has been called upon to decide cases that have an immense effect on American society and culture. From judicial review to civil rights, slavery, and voting rights, abortion, free speech, rights of the accused; just about every topic in American life has one time or another been affected by the high Court’s decision. This workshop will foster a very relevant discussion about the Court’s role in America today and tomorrow.

Chautauqua Workshop @ 2 p.m. @ the Museum of the Western Prairie
2024-06-01 14:00 - 15:00
Dr. James Armstead – Plessy vis a vis Brown
The Supreme Court responded to the legal challenge against state sanctioned involuntary segregation in 1896 with an attempted social compromise using the tortured language of the separate but equal doctrine to support the status quo. This doctrine denied the intent of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and enabled the Jim Crow system of racial separation. Brown challenged this doctrine as an inherently unequal social system and not permissible under our laws of Constitutional protection.

Chautauqua Performance @ 7 p.m. @ WOSC
2024-06-01 19:00 - 20:00
Saturday, June 1st — Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)
King was an American author, activist, civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. Her activism started before her marriage, then complemented and influenced her husbands’ political work, and continued long after his death. Coretta’s musical background influenced her work and she kept music at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.
Ms. Rebecca Jimerson holds degrees in Journalism (B.A. from the University of Oklahoma); and Mass Communications (M.S. from Oklahoma State University). She is an educator, cultural storyteller, performer, and playwright. She will portray Mrs. King.

STEM Monday @ 2 p.m.
2024-06-03 14:00 - 15:00
Join us for a thrilling STEM adventure at your local library! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to ignite your passion for STEM and connect with fellow enthusiasts! Tag your friends and spread the word. Let’s make this STEM Monday one to remember! See you there!

Ya Ya Yarn @ 6 p.m.
2024-06-04 18:00 - 19:00

Magician Jonathan Meyer @ 2 p.m. @ the Altus Community Center
2024-06-06 14:00 - 15:00
Please join us for an interactive magic show with professional magician Jonathan Meyer on June 6th, 2024!

The Altus program will be at the Altus Community Center, 401 Falcon Road, at 2:00 p.m.

The program is approximately 45 minutes long and is suitable for all ages. Please join us!!!
