HomeFRIENDS OF THE
ALBANY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Author's Day, Friday, April 9, 2010 ~ 12 noon
Ted Cox, author of The Toledo Incident has a new book!
Murray Loop, Journey of an Oregon Family 1808-1949 |
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Murray Loop is an absorbing story of a family displaced as feudal tenant farmers who in desperation leave Scotland seeking a better life on the American continent. Thus begins a trail of hopscotch from their ancestral home to Canada to the United States and ultimately to Oregon. And along the way there is the blending through marriages that in due course make Minnie and Hugh Murray and their three children the principal characters in Ted W. Cox's tale. The book is a history lesson, too, beyond chronicling the Murrays, in that Cox intertwines his detailed researched of each area --its people, mores, laws, attitudes -- wherever the Murrays settle. That of course is a fine way of forewarning the reader of how family members are affected by their surroundings. Another key historical element pertaining to the region in which the Murrays finally settle for good is reported in a crystal clear description; that of the conflict between the Territorial Act of 1848 which acknowledged Indian possession of land, and the Donation Land Act 1850 which opened the land to settlement by whites. Says Cox, the Federal policy of racial separation made it so "Native Americans, like Highlanders of Scotland, paid a brutally high price." In short, while Murray Loop is a chronicle of a family of "strong-willed, independent people," leading one to wonder how so many such people could live together under one roof, it is also a notable account of some of America's growing pains, warts and all. The Murray farmhouse still stands at Toledo, Oregon on a section of a 1911 hard surface road ( long since paved ), a loop called . . . Murray. from review by Pat Wilkins |
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Ted Cox
In 1941, the Friends of the Albany
Public Library was established to provide funds for programs and equipment
not covered by the City budget. As the services offered by the Library
continue to increase, the support of the Friends becomes ever more important.
Activities Sponsored
- Noon book reviews the second Friday of each month, September-May
- Summer Reading Programs for children and young adults, June-August
- Used Book Sale - look for the new "Book Store" in the new building
- Author's Day in April
Fund-Raising Activities
- Used books for sale at both Library branches
- Book bags, note cards, coffee cups, and holiday ornaments for sale at the Friends Book Store.
Recent Purchases from Dues and Gifts
- Self-Check machine
- Meeting room chairs and tables
- Chairs for catalog access
- Staff fax machine
- Staff color printer
- Magazine racks
- Microfilm Reader Printer
- Funds in support of the new Library
Becoming a Friend of Albany Public Library
- April is membership month
- Dues: Senior - $10, Individual - $15, Family - $20, Sustaining - $30, Sponsor - $50
- To join the Friends, please call the Friends' President, Linda Lawrence, at 541-926-5686, or pick up a brochure at either Library.
