Click It or Ticket is part of a nation wide crackdown aimed
at enforcing safety belt laws for adults and children during the
Memorial Day holiday. The campaign also targets the 25 percent of Texans
who drive pickup trucks,
Though the percentage of pickup driver and passengers who
buckle up continue to rise, research still shows that this group lags
behind all others in safety belt compliance. Pickups are twice as likely
to rollover in a crash, and safety belts have been shown to reduce the
ricks of death in these accidents by 70 percent.
In support of this public education campaign, local officials will
remind drivers that law enforcement officers will be out in force from May
19 through June 1 ticketing drivers and passenger who are not buckled
up.

What: Click it or Ticket Enforcement Campaign Kickoff
When: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 10:00 am
Where: Texas Travel Information Center, IH 30, Texarkana, Texas
Who: Sheriff's Departments, City Police Departments, Texas Department
of Public Safety, and. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)..

Additional Information: There will be a demonstration of the rollover
convincer at this event to show the public how important seat belt usage
is in a rollover accident.

For more information, contact: Irene Webster, Traffic Safety
Specialist, TxDOT, Atlanta District, 903-799-1221.

###

Activities are gearing up for summer at the library.

The volunteer
banquet
was a rousing success, with the board's awarding the first ever Patsy
Livingston Volunteer Award. Travis Ransom's award speech is included
below
in its entirety.

The summer Texas Reading Club, "Texas Reading Club Jubilee: 1958-2008!"
will
celebrate reading through the decades. Due to a generous donation to
memorialize Polly Smith and from the Friends of the Library, this
summer
will be full of performers, celebrations, books, and prizes. I have
attached a copy of the official publicity poster from the state
library. I
already have plans to visit both Queen City and Atlanta schools for fun
sessions of reading and promotion, and would welcome any other
opportunities
to talk about the library or the summer program.

Regular programs will continue throughout the summer -- Family game
night on
Mondays from 6-8, Nimble Thimble Quilting Club on Tuesdays from 10-3,
Brown
Bag Book Club on the third Wednesday from 12-1, Friends of the Library
meetings the third Thursday at 4, and continuous help with research or
lifelong learning.

Jackie Icenhower, Director
Atlanta Public Library
101 W. Hiram
Atlanta, TX 75551
903-796-2112
fax 903-799-4067
www.atlantalib.com

Patsy Livingston Award

I have the distinct honor and privilege this year to recognize a very
special individual who over the course of many years has made a
significant
contribution to our library, our community, and our lives.

This year the Atlanta Public Library Advisory Board in partnership with
the
Cass County Genealogical Society, and the Friends of the Atlanta Public
Library wish to present for the first time a new award.

This new award will not be given annually but will only be given in
those
special circumstances to recognize individuals who have gone above and
beyond. This award is the only award of its kind and is the highest
honor
that can be bestowed upon an individual by all three Atlanta Public
Library
Organizations. And by naming this award after its first recipient we
will
forever remember how high the bar is set for those who walk the same
path.

The Patsy Livingston Award is presented this year to Patsy Livingston
for
outstanding community impact through her efforts at the Atlanta Public
Library. Her body of work is truly a Lifetime Achievement which could
never
be recognized appropriately with an award of any other name.

Patsy Livingston moved to Atlanta in 1985. She immediately jumped in,
ready
to make things happen - which other people usually do when she is
around.
For 23 years, she has been involved not just in Friends of the Library,
but
Women's Club, Cass County Genealogical Society, Cass County Historical
Society and the Library Advisory Board.
Patsy was an organizational member of the Friends of the Library and
has dug
the group out of several low spells. If the interest wasn't there, she
worked even harder to create the interest. Nothing was too big that she
wouldn't give it a try.
She has served as president of the Friends group and the genealogy
group
more than her share. Patsy is never happier than when she is
organizing,
directing, and bullying people into doing what they should have already
been
doing. And yet, she is never afraid to jump in and just do it herself
if
necessary. Her response to that is, "Well, no one else would do it."
So
she did. Patsy has always been a hard worker for what she believed in
and
never dropped a project. What work she didn't take care of personally,
in
many cases, was done simply so that Patsy stayed happy.
She has promoted the Friends of the Library's Taste of Atlanta/Queen
City throughout the years as chairman of the fundraiser. She has run
many of
the Bake Sales held at the library, encouraging volunteers to bake,
sell and
to be a part of the Friends by helping in any way they could. She
worked on
the Book Sale diligently for many years.
She has, a few times, spoken up and then later wished she hadn't. She
promised to find the money somewhere to finance the computer upstairs
when
the grant covered only the microfilm machine. She struggled, but
finally
ended up fulfilling the goal she had set for herself. She even brought
a
few people along with her. It made her mighty proud to finally get
that
machine and computer set up and ready to use.
The good thing about her way is that she does "encourage" people to
take
part in her projects. The library director may write a grant, the
library
staff may move some books around but it is the volunteers who care so
deeply
about the library and who use it, work it, and claim it as their own.
People who put out the effort will get their rewards - accomplishment,
satisfaction, pride, joy. That pretty well describes Patsy Livingston,
our
Friend.
Her accomplishments are amazing and she probably doesn't even
realize herself what an impact she has had on others or what all she
did
accomplish in her years here in Atlanta.