Part Three - Videos on Park and Recreation Month Guide

Find this video and other embedded videos on the video tab of the Park and Recreation Guide!

On the video main landing page, you will find videos about TVA Raccoon Mountain that includes a video around the TVA lake and includes a video about a fast-paced, downhill bicycle ride on a Raccoon Mountain bike trail!

Other videos on the main landing page include Russell Cave, Fall Creek Falls, and Red Clay State Park.

In addition to the main landing page under the video tab, there are three sub-tabs. The sub-tabs are North Chick, Old Stone Fort, and More Chattanooga and Tennessee Videos.

The North Chick tab has kayaking videos - one in calm water and one in rough water.

The Old Stone Fort Park tab describes the enclosure found in Manchester. The park is bounded by the Duck River on one side and the Little Duck River on the other side before the two rivers merge. Videos on this tab include the Duck River, waterfalls, and the importance of summer solstice at the park.
 
The More Chattanooga and Tennessee Videos tab includes more local and regional embedded videos. Videos include Signal Mountain's Rainbow Lake and Sparta's Virgin Falls.

This year's featured park is Head of Sequatchie. Check out this page for videos in and around the start of the Sequatchie River as it heads on its journey towards the Tennessee River.

Peruse the videos on the video tab in the Park and Recreation Guide and enjoy!

Marie Cullis - The Stars at KLIC: Journey Story of our Staff

By Marie Cullis

Like many, my path to working in libraries was not straight forward.

I was a non-traditional college student, meaning I did not begin college immediately after high school, I lived on my own, and I worked full time through parts of college (mostly waiting tables). I began at a community college much like Chattanooga State, and I really enjoyed my time there. I have always loved learning and enjoyed being a student. Attending part-time and changing majors a few times, it took me about 5 years to obtain my Associate’s degree. But that made me the first person in my family to graduate college!

After that I decided I wanted to further my education and I was leaning toward majoring in history. I love history, and I also knew it was a good major in case I wanted to apply to law or graduate school. I had relocated to Tennessee by then and enrolled at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

This time I attended college full-time so that I could take advantage of financial aid assistance and progress quicker than I did with my first degree. During my senior year I began an internship at a local museum that quickly turned into a part-time job. I fell in love with collections and behind-the-scenes public service work and decided this would likely be my career path. For a period, I struggled with whether to apply to graduate school for museum studies or library science. In the end, I decided on museum studies and was accepted to Middle Tennessee State University. While there, I worked at their library part-time on a digitization project, which was really rewarding.

I was halfway through my master’s degree work and thesis when the 2008 financial crisis hit. While I did not lose my assistantship and scholarship to the crisis, many museums drastically cut positions and some closed permanently. I don’t believe museums have ever fully recovered. I was lucky and I managed to get a job as a Curator of Collections here in Chattanooga after graduating.

Unfortunately, that museum was unable to raise enough funds to survive. After working full-time for 7 years, I ended up working part-time in order to manage the collections’ transition to another institution. By then I’d had a wonderful little boy and didn’t mind working less and spending time with him. But the job had an end date and I’d need to find something else eventually. A friend of mine was working here and mentioned they were looking to hire a part-time adjunct librarian. While I didn’t have an MLIS, I did have experience and a related masters. So I applied, and got the job! After doing that for two and a half years, the full-time position I’m in now opened up, and I applied and was offered the job!

I already knew and liked everyone on staff here, so it was a good transition. I’m still in a public service atmosphere and at a community college much like where I began. I’m happy to be here!

Part Two: July is Park and Recreation Month - Pictures from Library Staff

Part two of a three-part blog series on the Park and Recreation Month guide

Our KLIC staff members enjoy visiting parks or seeing cool places. The KLIC staff submits pictures of their favorite activity, or their favorite park, or favorite vacation spot. This year's submissions brought new pictures from Scotland, Croatia, Tennessee Riverpark, Rock Gardens and so much more! You really have to check this page out.

We have staff who hike, have a rose garden, people who love beaches, people who travel all over the country, people who kayak, and more. 

Check out the video of pictures from the Library Staff!

July is Park and Recreation Month - Game On! Part One

By Dwight Hunter

One of my favorite guides to work on and to update each year is this guide: Park & Recreation Month Guide.

This is part one of a three-part blog series about this guide.  It is a fun guide to find park and recreation resources, and to view embedded videos, and to explore links and much more.

In my senior year in high school, I decided to take what I thought was an easy course called Recreational Sports. It wasn't easy. I learned how to play racquetball & volleyball, how to bowl, do archery, practice rifle target shooting; and I learned slow pitch softball, trampoline tricks, rappelling, golf, and disc golf. Those recreational lessons are still with me today.

Use the information in the guide to find a park near you! As always each year, there are pictures submitted by the library staff that can be viewed -- more about the KLIC staff pictures in part two of the blog series!

The new feature this year on the guide is Head of Sequatchie River! The Sequatchie River exits a cave at full force on its journey to the Tennessee River. Find out the connection among HOS and Devilstep Hollow Cave and Grassy Cove!

Enjoy a fun summer - discover a park, see how people have recreational fun, and make a lifetime of discovery!