OSD Library

The OSD librarian is Sue Galloway, who has been at OSD for 16 years.  Before coming to OSD in 1991, she worked in South Carolina, Maryland, and Oklahoma City.  Sue has a unique connection to the education of the deaf as her great, great, great grandfather was Laurent Clerc, the first deaf teacher of the deaf in the United States.  He, along with Thomas Gallaudet, founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut.

The library serves the entire campus of OSD with 9,178 books and videos provided for research papers, classroom assignments, and reading enjoyment.  There are 52 magazines, including news, special interest, science and technology, and magazines for young children.  State and local newspapers are also provided in the library.

Several years ago, OSD began using the Accelerated Reader program to help students practice and improve their reading skills.  This is a program in which students read a book and then take a computerized test.  The AR collection in the OSD library is the most heavily used section of the library with over 1800 books—and more than 5100 circulations!

To help with student research and classroom projects, as well as Accelerated Reader tests, the library has a small computer lab.  Teachers reserve computers both in the library and also in a separate lab near the media department.

To aid OSD teachers, as well as students from nearby colleges, the library maintains a professional collection of journals and books.  There is also a collection of OSD publications including The Deaf Oklahoman and Indian Power, as well as OSD yearbooks, newsletters from other deaf schools, and other publications for the deaf.

The librarian works with students, teachers, and staff on campus, helping them find materials for their projects and papers.  When the OSD Library does not have what is needed, materials are borrowed from other libraries, and the librarian also searches databases of online services and resources to help find books and articles.

Story times and other programs are provided for the students as well.  In 2006, OSD participated with over 547,000 other students and teachers in more than 2400 locations in 50 states and 28 countries to break a world record by reading a passage aloud from Charlotte’s Web.