Elephant leads library to new location

By AMBER DILLEY
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW June 27, 2009 01:11 pm

— A group of Mary Wood Weldon Library employees, patrons and members of the community led a metal elephant: now named Ellephanilla, down to the new library location on South Green Street Saturday morning.
Before the parade, John Rogers, chairman of the library board, thanked the property board for help during the sell and move.
“We lease this building from them and I want to thank them for their cooperation and working with us on this transfer,” Rogers said. “They have been so helpful and wonderful in doing that.”
The property board has sold the building to Glasgow Baptist Church, across the street.
Jim Hyatt, who was director of the library since 1973 and has recently retired, talked about the history of the local library.
“I will never forget when I came here, they did not have a story hour, so I tried to start one and two people showed up,” Hyatt said. “Now, thanks to our children’s librarian, we have during the summer, about 3 to 500 kids signed up.”
Hyatt also asked the community to “support this library and this community. Come in and show the people of the state that we are proud of our library.”
The parade was called the elephant parade in honor of the library’s mascot, a book cart shaped like an elephant.
The library held a contest to name the elephant, with the name “Ellephanilla,” by Dustin Popp, winning.
The library will reopen at the new location on South Green Street, in the old Citizen’s First Building, on July 6.
Until then, patrons can drop off books at both locations.

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