Blackwell Public Library featured on Channel 4 news for 100 years of history

The Blackwell Public Library is celebrating its centennial this year. The library kicked off its 100th year of being a staple in the community with an April birthday party, a feature on the KFOR News Channel 4 segment “Is This A Great State or What?” and … ghosts.

KFOR reporter Galen Culver recently visited the library to the film the TV segment. “People around Blackwell always talk about how beautiful this building is, and how they have so many fond memories of coming here,” Lisa Vargas, the head librarian, told KFOR.

During the TV segment, Vargas guided viewers on a walk past the library’s original hand-made wooden shelves lined with book spines of every genre and color. Tucked away in the library is a reading room, filled with antique books dating back early to the 1900s.

“We’re always trying to find a balance,” Vargas said. “We have to find a way to honor our history and to also move forward.” Moving forward comes in the form of a recently added state-of-the-art 3D printer as well as WiFi hotspots, computers and cell-phone charging stations. Old books aren’t the only relics of the past century that reside in the library.

Vargas and the Oklahoma Paranormal Association’s owner and founder, Tanya McCoy-Womack, both spoke during the TV segment about the library’s haunted history. Stories from librarians of years past tell of lights turning on and off on their own, figures appearing in the windows long after the library is closed and noises coming from the basement or a room upstairs when no one else is around. Vargas said that, after hours, she will “run” for her car if she’s alone. “They don’t do any damage,” Vargas said of the alleged “ghosts.” “They might knock a book off or shove them back from the edge of the shelf, but I think they’re just being playful.”

The library will be one of the “investigation sites” for this summer’s ParaCon convention, which is set to be hosted at the Blackwell Event Center. The two-day festival will feature guests speaking on a range of supernatural subjects such as UFOs, Bigfoot and other oddities.

The Wraith Chasers, investigators famous for their spots on TV programs seen on the Travel Channel and Destination America, will conduct a paranormal investigation through the library’s hallowed, haunted halls. Tickets are on sale now. The first Blackwell library opened in 1921 as the “Blackwell Plan.” At that point, it was no more than a reading room at L & B Drug, then an outlet of City Hall on Blackwell Avenue.

In 1931, the existing library opened with more than 6,000 books, a far cry from the 2,500 it had before. It was built at a cost of $60,000. An article from a 1931 edition of The Blackwell Morning Tribune, which later merged to become The Blackwell Journal-Tribune, raved that “Blackwell will have one of the most complete temples of learning in the southwest.” The Blackwell Public Library has archives of local newspapers dating back to 1896. It is the only chartered library in Oklahoma.