LOCKE MILLS — The Oxford County Educators Association-Retired recently distributed children’s books to 24 libraries in Oxford County. For nearly 10 years, the organization has provided books to public libraries in the county to add to their collection of children’s books. The books are written by Maine authors and are often autographed by those authors.

This year’s selection was “Woodland Litter Critters” by Patience Mason, whose husband’s photography provided illustrations for the book.

The OCEA-R created this program to encourage young people in Oxford County to read.

Karen Ellis, Elaine Lagueux and Blanche Sanborn are currently the members of the group that researches possible books for distribution. This year it was OCEA-R’s contribution to the Maine Educators Association’s “Day of Caring” project.

OCEA-R has designated its program as “Maine Books for Maine Kids.” One of the group’s goals is to be a positive influence for the education of our young people. Maine authors have been enthusiastic about this program, and some have spoken to the group.

OCEA-R will meet at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at the American Legion Hall. It will be the last meeting of the fall and the organization will not meet again until March of 2016. Sign-in will begin at 10:30 a.m. A business meeting will be held at 11 a.m., and a meal prepared by members of the Legion Auxiliary will be served at approximately noon.

After dinner, a silent auction will be held as a fundraiser. An important part of the meeting will be to turn in donations toward the annual scholarship fundraiser. All of the scholarship calendar raffles need to be turned in as soon as people arrive. The proceeds go to students in Oxford County who will pursue their education past high school and who are graduating from high school in the spring of 2016.

The October meeting was held at the First Congregational Church in South Paris. Karen Ricci presented the program. Her topic was “People and Animals” and she explained the practice of reiki, a form of alternative medicine, and especially how it can be applied to the health of pets.