Library News

The Leopold Writing Program invites New Mexico students in grades 6-12 to submit original essays for our 2025 Writing Contest.

Please consider these instructions, and then respond to the ESSAY PROMPT below.

Write about the song or melody that you hear in a body of water (such as a stream, river, lake, acequia, ocean, etc.) and what you would answer back.

Bookmark This Page for Library Events!

There is always something happening at each of the 19 libraries in our Public Library system. Our recent survey told us you wanted more information about upcoming events at all locations - so here we go!

Updated daily, here you will find activities and events at all library locations. In addition, you can search for events by the name of the library or by the day of the week. Activities and events are designed for all different ages from infants and toddlers to teens and adults. It almost goes without saying there really is something for everyone.

IDEA: Introduce your kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews to the wonder and resources of the public library. Get them a library card if they don’t already have one. Show them the library is a safe and welcoming place and how to ask for help. Once learned, these skills will help them in their studies and daily lives at every grade level and beyond. Librarians are always available to help you explore and learn. Just ask!

Events at each public library are ALWAYS FREE and open to everyone.

Do Good. Feel Great!

Holiday Book Sale
Sat, Dec 14 from 10am – 4pm

Members always FREE
Non-members $2

Main Library Activity Room - Lower Level
501 Copper Ave NW

Give the Gift of Membership to The Friends of the Public Library and shop for gifts at their bookshop - pre-owned books, music and other media. This year give a membership for every book lover on your list to The Friends of the Public Library!

BENEFITS

• Free admission to book sales
• VIP access to members-only book sales
• 10% discount on all Main Library Bookshop purchases
• Invitation to member-only events
• Tax deductible membership dues

The Friends’ Main Library Bookshop is open Mon-Sat 10:30 am to 2 pm.

It’s that time of year!

This program makes donating easy based on the shopping you do every day. Once you link your Card to APLF @ CW809 all you have to do is shop at Smith’s and swipe your Shopper’s Card.

Here’s how it works:

• A digital account is needed to participate in Smith’s Inspiring Donations. If you already have a digital account, simply link your Shopper’s Card to your account so that all transactions apply toward APLF. Here are some instructions.
• Any transactions moving forward using your Shopper’s Card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you.
• Smith’s Inspiring Donations will donate 0.5% of all eligible spending to APLF that customers have linked to their Rewards Card.

Sunday, Oct 20, 3 PM
South Broadway Cultural Center
1025 Broadway Blvd SE
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Presented by Bookworks, the Abq Public Library Foundation, and AMB Concerts.

Visit bkwrks.com for more information.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Make a difference in your community! Join today!

Responsibilities

• Attend 6 evening meetings per year.
• Advocate for the library.

What we do

• Act as a bridge between the community and government
• Stay informed about library needs and serve as a discussion forum
• Recommend policies to the Mayor & County Commissioners for library development, including new facilities and financing improvements
• Promote the use of library facilities and programs

The Advisory Board has 8 vacancies: A City At Large Position, A County At Large Position, and Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9.

Contact the Library Advisory Board to learn more and get involved.

Tues, Oct 8: Early voting BEGINS

Tues, Oct 22: Last day to request mail-in ballot

Sat, Nov 2: Early voting ENDS

Tues, Nov 5: Election Day - polls open 7 am to 7 pm. Absentee ballots accepted until 7 pm

Register to vote or update your registration if your name or address has changed. Your personal information must match the information that is on file with the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division (MVD). If you or someone you know will be 18 before November 5, 2024, they can register now.

Already registered? Confirm your voter registration now!

Once you enter the required information, you will be able to view:

• Your voter registration information
• Your voting locations
• Your sample ballot
• Your absentee application and ballot status
• Your county clerk’s contact information

Information on Absentee and Early Voting

This past Saturday morning, I read a weekly knitting newsletter and learned about a knitting designer (Norah Gaughan) who was new to me.

So I went the the ABC Library website, and lo, all of her books are on Hoopla! I checked out the two that interested me, and looked through them. Turns out that I will never knit any of her lovely designs, but I found that out, and got to see her work.

Finding a book in our library that I’ve heard about online, or on the radio, or in a print catalog happens pretty often. Thank you for choosing so many fascinating books for us.

– A Satisfied Library Patron

A.I. images, videos, and audio clips are everywhere this election season. Don’t get fooled.

Learn how to spot A.I. from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.

When in doubt. Check it out.

These are my Children
Cindy Dominguez, Artist
Emma Fergusson Library

Tamale Man
Eric Garcia, Artist
South Broadway Library

Perros Jugando con Hilo
Pato Aguilar, Artist
International District Library

Additional pieces will be installed at Lomas Tramway, Central & Unser, and Taylor Ranch Libraries. All new additions will eventually be added to the library’s public art webpage.

NOTE - In order to register as a new voter or update your registration online, your personal information must match the information that is on file with the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division (MVD).

If you or someone you know will be 18 before November 5, 2024, they can register now. Please vote!

These are the things that must match:

• Your social security number
• Your driver’s license number or state ID number, and
• >Your date of birth.

Register to vote or update your registration if your name or address has changed. Register to vote in federal, state, county, and city elections in New Mexico. You can also update your registration if you want to change your political party.

Are you registered to vote? Confirm your voter registration now!

Once you enter the required information, you will be able to view:

• Your voter registration information
• Your voting locations
• Your sample ballot
• Your absentee application and ballot status
• Your county clerk’s contact information

Information on Absentee and Early Voting

At the East Mountain Library, we just had a little girl tell us that for her fifth birthday, “I wanted to go to the Library for my birthday.” It was adorable!

As you can imagine, the days leading up to Library Director Dean Smith’s retirement were busy ones. We asked that he share his reflections on all that has happened over the past 16 years.

What jumps out to you as you think about your time in Albuquerque?

Librarians have a tendency only to look forward. There’s always just so much to do that there is little time to look back and think about what has happened and what we have accomplished. It is overwhelming when we look at the very long list of accomplishments we all share. And it is a very satisfying exercise.

What are the highlights?

First of all, we survived a worldwide pandemic and continued to provide continuous and uninterrupted services online. Though limited and reduced, we also managed to provide in-person services for all but three months of that time.

• Additionally, we convinced the New Mexico State Library to purchase online tutoring for the whole state;
• we took our annual staff training from a half-day event to a full-day event;
• we completed major renovations at seven libraries—primarily top to bottom and
• we completed many smaller projects, replacing roofs, parking lots, landscaping and HVAC systems.

When the parking lot at the San Pedro Library was replaced 10 years ago, I found myself saying, “That is a beautiful parking lot.” Not something I ever thought I would say.

Along the way, we added three much-needed Community Rooms for programs and meetings at the Juan Tabo, Taylor Ranch and Tony Hillerman Libraries.

And, of course, we added two new libraries: the Central & Unser Patrick J. Baca Library and the International District Library.

And I cannot forget that we created the truly, most outstanding Library sign in the world.

We also updated our logo and moved to a new Integrated Library System, which is a big deal for librarians. We created a career ladder for our paraprofessionals and created positions called Library Community Services Coordinators to help with the increasing social service needs.

What was the greatest challenge?

Probably the most frustrating thing I’ve learned is how hard it is to spend money. Between the red tape of government purchasing and the bureaucracy of the system itself, getting projects off the ground is almost always a challenge.

What did you enjoy the most?

The most satisfying thing is working with all the people—the customers, elected officials, colleagues and supporters—all of whom love their libraries and want to make them even better.

You probably noticed that I have used “we” in most of this cataloging of accomplishments. This is not the royal we but is really an acknowledgment that none of these accomplishments are achieved by one person. It took a team to get them done.

All of us working together makes the Public Library possible!

Dean Smith

April 10, 2024 at 7pm

Have you bought your ticket to the next A Word with Writers event with Hampton Sides? Did you know that when you buy a ticket, you’re also donating money to the Albuquerque Public Library Foundation?

It’s all thanks to Bookworks Albuquerque.

Bookworks is among our most supportive organizations. We are thrilled to partner with them to bring you special events that benefit both the community and APLF.

Click here for more information or to buy tickets.

Donations are eligible to be matched by The Albuquerque Public Library Foundation (APLF) Board of Directors. Your generosity can make magic happen: $5 becomes $10, $25 becomes $50, $50 becomes $100.

Donations will go to fund programs and services not covered by our library’s operating budget. As reflected in these pictures, they include music, Literacy Kits, Read to the Dogs, Event Guides, STEM, STEAM, and more

I’ve been interested in the concept of community and in love with the written word for most of my life. Joining the Albuquerque Library Foundation Board and supporting the foundation’s mission is a “no brainer.”

I’m talking about the big picture here, not the many wonderful programs and services our libraries offer, described by other board members’ statements, on our website, and in our newsletters. Today there are fewer opportunities than ever for people of all ages and from all walks of life to come together physically and experience commonality. The public libraries in our city are one of the last places we can enter and become part of and take part in our Albuquerque community --and many intellectual communities--for free. There’s much discussion nowadays about the loneliness and isolation people feel – our libraries are a small, vital antidote to this in our city.

I benefited from the usual communities that fortunate children can join. Like many other board members, I brought home the most books allowed on childhood trips to the library. Books took me to different worlds; in my East Coast library, built by Andrew Carnegie, I found Laura Ingalls Wilder and the American West. (Maybe that’s one reason I’m here in New Mexico.)

At college a beautiful Perpendicular Gothic style library was the heart of the campus. It had a grand entrance hall containing a fireplace you could almost stand in with a huge Art Deco tapestry above it. There were large, cushioned seats grouped around the fireplace, where fires crackled during winter. In the turbulent Sixties, when I walked into that soft silence, I found both respite and knowledge. It was another world, where the community of students over the last century and more had drifted between the shelves and held books I had in my hands

My interest and membership in community goes beyond academia. In graduate school I got a grant to photograph communes in the Southwest and traveled around in 1969 and 1970 with my Pentax Spotmatic. I lived in an artists’ community in the Seventies (it had a library!). I attended the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute in the year we started its poetry library. Later, when I joined the vibrant law school community here, the UNM Law Library was the center of life. I learned how to take short naps face down on a book and joined the siblinghood of the law. As a lawyer, I worked on voting rights cases protecting a crucial component of citizens’ rights. For years, I represented a pueblo in its efforts to protect its sacred symbol from commercial use and ownership by those not part of that Native American community. When I got a grant to write about the countercultural communities I’d photographed decades before, Zimmerman Library provided the silence and the research material I needed. Still later, I spent several years each September on the New Mexico State Fair Portrait project. At our booth, we photographed fairgoers in one of the last remaining places New Mexicans of all ethnicities, walks of life, and economic backgrounds come together to have fun. My photo archive is now part of the Beinecke Library at Yale’s Western Americana Collection.

I’ve described libraries as spaces I inhabited, but occupying each of them also were exceptionally patient and selfless people, always ready to answer questions and help at just the right moment. People who were and are committed to a deep sense of community and public welfare.

So, to me (and really, it seems to me, to anyone who really thinks about it), the fact that the library staff and Albuquerque Public Libraries are essential parts of our community is another “no brainer.” I’m happy to support them, to try to make them and our community stronger.

Juan Luis Borges said, “I have always imagined Paradise to be a kind of library.” My view of the hereafter isn’t exactly the same; still, my Paradise would contain a great library. In the meantime, I’m glad to give back and be part of the Foundation’s efforts to support these essential building blocks of our community here on earth.

The Platinum Seal of Transparency is the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, a respected source of nonprofit information.

As we enter our tenth year of service to the Albuquerque community, we wish to make it easy for donors and potential donors learn about APLF’s impact and financial information.

By clicking on the Platinum badge, you will be taken to the Candid website. Candid is the umbrella organization that includes GuideStar, the Foundation Directory and additional resources for non-profits.

Eryka MacKenzie

Eryka MacKenzie
President, APLF Board of Directors

After 10+ years of servant leadership, Julia Clarke has moved into the President Emeritus role at the Albuquerque Public Library Foundation. The Foundation and the library system can’t thank her enough for her leadership and knowledge. Luckily, she will be continue to be a part of the Foundation in a more supportive role.

Thank you, Julia, for all you have done and all you continue to do for the support of libraries.

I, Eryka MacKenzie, as the incoming President would like to introduce myself and let you know that I am here to serve both the Foundation and the libraries. You can learn more about why I believe in supporting libraries. I am looking forward to an exciting 2024. We are planning multiple opportunities to engage with the community, improve our technology, and, of course, support the libraries in all ways possible. It should be an exciting year.

One new initiative we began in 2023 is the creation of videos to engage with library supporters on social media. If you aren’t yet following us on your social media platforms, be sure to follow us on both Facebook and Instagram. For extra enticement, here is a short video that we had lots of fun creating.

Thank you for all you do to support the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Libraries. We couldn’t do the work without you.

Community Giving. Community Strong.

Howard Seltzer

Lomas Tramway Library - 2nd Saturday of the month @ 2 pm

Join us on our trip to PERU on February 10th at 2 pm at Lomas Tramway Library, followed by one of our trips to RUSSIA on March 9th. Our World Travel Programs are always on the second Saturday of the month at 2 pm.

Hope to see you there - Howard

My wife Marsha and I developed a passion for travel very early in our marriage, which was unusual because neither of us grew up in an era or a family that emphasized travel. In the early days we concentrated on domestic travel here in the Southwest, mostly driving, and then expanded to places like Sanibel Island, Cannon Beach, and Hawaii. In 1974, what was then the University of Albuquerque, sponsored a flight out of Albuquerque – the first-ever charter flight from Albuquerque to Spain and Morocco and we were hooked. That was it, the beginning.

We have been doing the World Travel Programs at the Lomas Tramway Library for several years with the outstanding support of staff person, Sandy Morris. Sandy produces all the flyers and brochures, and I couldn’t do it without her. We took a break for COVID but once again gather on the second Saturday of each month at 2:00 pm. I would be delighted to have you join me as I share the pictures and background information on places we have visited. I always welcome comments and memories from the attendees. Let’s get together for some fun “armchair” travel without the hassle of jet lag!

Elephants on the Serengeti as seen from a hot air balloon in the morning sun.

Floating over the a massive herd of wildebeests on the Serengeti. As far as the eye could see.

Eileen O’Connell

Eileen O’Connell is one of the jewels in our library system crown. She laughingly revealed her informal title to as “Empress of the Database.” We met when she managed the Special Collections Library at the corner of Central and Edith. Her enthusiasm for the library was as contagious then as it is now.

Eileen currently supervises a talented staff of seven including four in Material Support Services and three in Digital Services. She became a customer of the San Pedro Library at age six, a page at age sixteen and later became Manager of the San Pedro Library. She knows our libraries from the inside out.

“Everything that taxpayer dollars buy, it’s my job to make sure you can find it and use it.” It’s a big job when you consider there are more than 300,000 active users of the library system and over 900,000 physical assets, including books, audiobooks, DVDs, etc. And not everyone searches for the same thing in the same way. Eileen and her staff enjoy solving the puzzles of different search approaches that take into account misspellings, missing words and any number of issues most of us never consider. We just expect the right answer to show up when we want it. And it usually does, much to their credit.

“A great part of the job is being able to bring so much to our customers that can enrich their lives.” At the same time, customers might not consider that not everything is available in every format. Eileen smiled patiently, responding, “If it doesn’t exist, we can’t buy it.”

In closing I asked her if there was anything she would like to say to our BOOKISH readers and she didn’t hesitate. “If you use our libraries in person, bring a friend who has been away from the library for a while. Libraries need to be here.” And libraries need you. Thank you, Eileen, for your stewardship.

Because libraries serve so many people for so many reasons, we continue to share these notes with you. It is a real boost when patrons share their thoughts and let staff know what they appreciate most.

Written to the San Pedro Library:

• Thank you for sharing these masks with us, this library does so much to inform the community about cultures and diversity. These masks are stunning. Wow, I can’t believe people wear these. (Masks from the Vejigante Exhibit January - February 2024)
• It is so colorful here in this library. I always feel so welcome.
• I took your YouTube class. Thank you for offering these. I learned a lot from the course.

Received at the Cherry Hills Library:

• I’m writing to thank you for inspiring me and my family to take a trip together to Zion National Park. Last summer, you had a national parks book display near the front of the library. My 3 year old son and I looked at it and picked up a travel book on Zion National Park. We were so excited looking through the photos and reading about all there is to see that we booked a room at the lodge in October. We used the book to plan out our visit and checked the book out again in October to bring with us on our trip. We had the BEST family trip to Zion, all thanks to you inspiring us!
• Thank you for letting me check out so many books!
• Thank you for being an awesome library.
• Thank you for the library.

Shared by the Central & Unser Library - Patrick J. Baca Library Staff:

• I had a young man flag me down at the computers yesterday. He was very excited to learn that he had access to LinkedIn Learning with his library card. He was looking forward to getting several certifications completed using the program to improve his career aspirations.