You’d think it would be like deja vu for Paul Caffey who served on the Hennessey Public Library board 40 years ago and was re-appointed to that board last week.

But you’d be wrong.

Back in the late 1970s, the library was located on North Main Street in Memorial Hall. It was on the southeast corner where a picnic pavilion now stands in Memorial Park.

“It was in one room, but it was a large room and had lots of books, for that time,” Caffey said in a phone interview.

The current 3,500 square foot library is located in the 500 block of South Main Street and started as a high school in 1928.

It continued as HHS until 1964, then a grade school until 1983.

The library now has state-of-the-art technology and programs for all ages, Caffey said, “and the number of books are overwhelming.”

The latest count is 28,238.

You can also download books, use the library’s computers, wi-fi and much more now, “and I thought back in the ’70s that it was so great that we could get a book from the state library.”

Connie Franks resigns

Caffey was appointed to the board seat held for 25-plus years by Connie Franks, who resigned due to “health issues of my family.” “She did a really good job on the board,” said Vice Mayor Clif Vogt who presided at the board’s meeting earlier this month.

When contacted, Franks recalled that Esther Staggs was the librarian when she went on the board. Fannie Cordry was on the board back then and she also served with Nettie Racer before it was required that board members live inside the town limits.

“It was a fun time and I enjoyed my time on the board,” she said.

Other current members of the library board are President Ann Taylor, Secretary Karla Van Gee, Karen Vogt and Leonor Ortega.

Library staff helpful

“It’s one thing to have a degree in library science, but the library staff also know where all the books are located and all about the authors,” Caffey said. “They always take the time to be helpful.”

There are areas and rooms especially for children, older students, and research, fiction, non-fiction, history and more.

Caffey’s favorites

“Mysteries and westerns are my favorites,” said the retired safety consultant. “But I can get burned out on some of the westerns. There are lots of shoot-em ups, he gets the girl and rides off into the sunset.”

He’s usually not into biographies, he said, but did enjoy one on cowboy actor Ben Johnson from Osage County in Oklahoma.

‘Great supporter’

After Caffey heard that Vogt said Caffey had been a great supporter, he responded: “I haven’t done any more than anyone else. Darlene (wife) and I have been members of the Friends of the Library for a long time and we’ve donated books and furnishings and then items that they may need, but no more than the next guy…But I am glad and proud to know they appointed me.”

About Paul Caffey

Caffey recalls being on the town board from about 1977-81 and serving as water commissioner when they discovered wooden waterlines on Oklahoma Avenue.

“We did a lot of work on the waterlines back then,” he said. “We had to and luckily we had a lot of money back then to do it with.”

He recalled that he served on the town board with his military service buddy, the late Mel Thompson, “and we didn’t always agree” which surprised some people.

Caffey moved to Kingfisher after the service, then Hennessey where he worked in the family’s trucking company until it closed in 1984.

That’s when he went to work as an over the road truck driver in Joplin, Mo., for five years.

“Then the Becks (in Hennessey) hired me as a driver and three months later they put me in sales, then as safety director,” he recalled. “Bill, Edna and their three boys made it possible for me to be home with my family for 23 years.”

He later worked for several oilfield companies as a safety consultant and retired in 2014.

The Caffeys raised their three children in Hennessey: Debbie (1984 HHS grad), Don (1986) and Jay (1990). They have two grandsons and four granddaughters.

Favorite Authors

Now at 76, Caffey said he enjoys reading his favorite authors: “Patterson … and now I’m reading a David Baldacci book.”

Of course he got it from the Hennessey library “and they’ll even email you to let you know when it’s time to check it in.”