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A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

Archives for September 2020

Voting and Coding and Spiders, Oh My!… Drive-thru Family Day is October 10th

September 27, 2020 By Pamela Martinez

The Library is open! The Young Readers’ Room and Underground Teen sections are excited to invite our patrons, young and old, back inside to browse, study and read! Here is a list of five non-fiction books you will find in the New Book area of the Young Readers’ Room. Stop by soon to check them out and browse for some others while you are here!

In observance of the 100th anniversary of Nineteenth Amendment, we have the book, “Women Win the Vote” by Nancy B. Kennedy ready for checkout. Nineteen chapters are written about nineteen individuals who made a difference in the women’s movement. The final chapter mentions ten additional people who also made an impact for women in the U.S. Filled with colorful pages and information that POPS!, this book is great for learning something you may not have known before! This book makes history fun! The call number is J324.62 K384w.

How many of you enjoy working on the computer? How many of you enjoy figuring out difficult projects or playing computer games? Well, this next book will have you able to code your own computer games! “Get Coding 2! Build Five Computer Games Using HTML and JavaScript” by David Whitney contains step-by-step instructions on how to create your own computer game! Parents, you may enjoy this book as well as the kiddos! Colored drawings and easy to follow directions will have you playing a new game in no time! Please find this book under the call number J005.1 W612g on the New Book shelf.

“Be Your Best Self: Life Skills for Unstoppable Kids” by Danielle Brown and Nathan Kai will motivate your child to do their very best in order to achieve that dream or goal towards which they may be working. This book has short chapters that range from discussing what success is to how to stay motivated. Colored illustrations and easy to read text will help your child reach those goals, or maybe even set some new goals! Please find this book under the call number J158.1 B812b on the New Book shelf.

“Splendid Spiders” by Melissa Higgins has a book full of colorful, life-size photographs of spiders! An easy to read book, it may have you parents looking around more closely for these small, or LARGE insects! You’ll either find the photographs intriguing or creepy! With so much to learn about spiders, you’ll find useful information in this book. Please look for this under the call number J595.4 H535s on the New Book shelf.

Have you been wondering about outdoor science? Well, we have the perfect book for you: “Habitats” by Sonya Newland. This book is not only fun, it will teach the youngsters some great facts and let them experience science experiments too! Each double page spread has colored photographs and illustrations to help solidify the lesson. With easy to follow directions on how to complete a science experiment, this book will become a favorite! Please find this book under the call number J591.707 N461h.

We’re gearing up for our 17th Annual Family Day celebration on Saturday, October 10 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Join us to celebrate the Young Readers’ Room 100th Birthday celebration. This year’s event will be a drive-thru celebration. Please enter the Library’s front drive along Vine Street from Cajon Street (4th Street will be closed in both directions). Everyone will drive through the front drive and exit onto Eureka Street. We have a free book for every child and a free family book for the first 200 families who drive through. We will have six stations at which vehicles can stop along the drive, so be ready for some fun and surprises to celebrate with us! See you soon!

Filed Under: News + Events, What's New

Your Right to Vote Was Earned by Struggle, and Isn’t Guaranteed

September 20, 2020 By Teresa Letizia

“Someone struggled for your right to vote. Use it.” -Susan B. Anthony

The word ‘suffrage,’ which simply means ‘the right to vote,’ doesn’t sound like it fits its definition, does it? The term sounds like it could refer to a state of suffering. But such a thought is far from its meaning. Suffrage, the right for each citizen to have a voice in its government, is the backbone of the freedoms of American democracy. Each American has an inalienable right to vote and be heard, right? No suffering involved. Hmm, well, not exactly.

Groups of American citizens have historically struggled for decades upon decades in order to secure their right to vote, and some conflicts are ongoing to this day. These battles are addressed in some of the newly acquired books by Smiley Library which explore the experiences of a couple of these groups.

“On account of race : the Supreme Court, white supremacy, and the ravaging of African American voting rights” is constitutional law historian Lawrence Goldstone’s treatise of the disturbing history of suffrage for African Americans. Though ratified in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment, which explicitly states that the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” was not fully realized for 95 more years — until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In that near-century of time African American citizens were continually and blatantly denied access to voting often under the guise of “states’ rights,” such as by use of literacy tests or poll taxes, and as Goldstone defines, were often aided by the decisions of the Supreme Court. Out of this grew Jim Crow laws of racial segregation which sought to further African American disenfranchisement and remove the group’s political and economic gains which had been advanced during the Reconstruction period. Though the Voting Rights Act of 1965 seemed to have remedied the ails of the previous century, Goldstone is disturbed by the 2013 decision by the Supreme Court in Shelby County, Alabama vs. Holder which has allowed states to put voter restrictions back into law. The suffering for suffrage, it seems, often comes from progress taking one step forward and two steps back. The right to make your voice heard may be inalienable, but it is also fragile.

While African Americans endured challenges in the 19th and early 20th century, the cause of women’s suffrage was running in tandem. When African Americans were given the right to vote with the Fifteenth Amendment, African American women were not included. One half of the American population — women — were denied this privilege of the citizenry. Author Ellen Carol DuBois begins her account in “Suffrage : women’s long battle for the vote” of the Women’s Suffrage Movement by outlining its beginnings in the temperance and abolitionist causes women embraced in the 1840s. However, the mutual goal of suffrage for African Americans and for women fell away as the Jim Crow era took hold, and the mainstream women’s movement left African American women behind.

DuBois does contextualize the exclusion of these women, as well as other issues of importance to the Movement at the time, such as advocacy for trade unions, birth control, and other social justice reforms. As the Movement continued into the 20th century these were abandoned as well. Women suffragists came to the realization that the vote would not be given to women until a constitutional amendment was put into place. It was Quaker reformer Alice Paul who began the process in 1912. DuBois chronicles the Movement’s history up to the establishment of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, and briefly addresses what came next. She quotes suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt’s comment on achievement of the Amendment, that is was just “the first lap of this struggle for women’s emancipation.”

These are just two of several new books on the subject of suffrage available in the Library. Other titles include “The woman’s hour : the great fight to win the vote” by Elaine F. Weiss, “Free thinker : sex, suffrage, and the extraordinary life of Helen Hamilton Gardener” by Kimberly A. Hamlin, “No place for a woman : the struggle for suffrage in the wild West” by Chris Enss, and “Thank you for voting : the maddening, enlightening, inspiring truth about voting in America” by Erin Geiger Smith. For more on voter suppression, you might consider “Uncounted : the crisis of voter suppression in the United States” by Gilda R. Daniels.

If you prefer a more visually tactile experience of history, you may enjoy “Exploring women’s suffrage through 50 historic treasures” by Jessica D. Jenkins. You may also visit our Heritage Room by appointment and find many suffrage-related artifacts, such as the campaign literature entitled “Form addressed to mothers, fathers and all good citizens urging an affirmative vote for the Suffrage Amendment : October 10, 1911“, published by the Redlands Political Equality League. Or visit the Heritage Room’s online exhibit at www.akspl.org, “The Woman’s Vote: A Century of Suffrage.”

The Library also offers books on the subject for children and young adults. Lawrence Goldstone offers a companion to “On account of race” for young adults with “Stolen justice : the struggle for African American voting rights.” Others for children include “How women won the vote : Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and their big idea” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and “Women win the vote! : 19 for the 19th amendment” by Nancy B. Kennedy.

For more information on how to check out these titles using our Books to Go program or to find our in-person hours, please visit our website, www.akspl.org, or call 909-798-7565.

Filed Under: What's New

Honoring the Hispanic Heritage of Redlands

September 18, 2020 By Maria Carrillo

On September 9, 1932, El Aguila premiered at the Redlands House of Neighborly Service. Featuring the talents of members of the city’s Mexican American community, the long-awaited stage production included beautiful costumes, a stringed orchestra, and sets complete with family heirlooms to provide an air of authenticity. Written by Redlander Bruce McDaniel, the play tells the story of Estrellita and her beau El Aguila who is disguised as a bandit to avenge Estrellita’s family.

Stars Luisa and Jose Munoz, the rest of the cast, musicians, and crew won rave reviews from spectators, which included theater directors from the Padua Hills Theater and Pasadena Playhouse. A celebration of Mexican culture, El Aguila went on to be staged at the Beaumont Bogart Theater and the Little Theater in Padua Hills the following year.

Photographs of the lavish sets and costumes are a part of the House of Neighborly Service Collection in the Library’s Heritage Room.

National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed September 15 through October 15 in the United States.

Filed Under: News + Events

Killer Quesadillas to Creamy Chocolate Pudding — So Many Recipes!

September 13, 2020 By Diana Lamb

“You want happy endings, read cookbooks.”  Dean Young

Carne asada tacos, carnitas burritos, Baja fish tacos, killer quesadillas, and mushroom asada bowls are a sampling of the 75 recipes contained in “Trejos Tacos” by actor and L.A. restaurateur Danny Trejo. For something sweet, Danny offers both regular and vegan donuts in flavors like Margarita, cinnamon sugar, vegan berry and vegan coco loco. This book will make you instantly hungry for Mexican food!

Food allergies and dietary preferences are sweetly accommodated in Angela Garbacz’s book, “Perfectly Golden.” Now everyone can safely devour warm sticky pecan buns, pumpkin loaf cake, graham cracker cream pie, orange blossom cake with lemon buttercream frosting, rich chocolate ganache tart, and soft molasses cookies that are rolled in sugar before baking for a sweet crispy coating.

Simple, flavorful and wholesome fare is what you’ll discover in “Amish Family Recipes” by Lovina Eicher. Hearty and filling meals abound with chicken pot pie, Swiss steak, cabbage rolls and zucchini pizza casserole. The Amish are known for their baked goods and desserts. Save room for a warm slice of peach bread, frosted banana cake bars, sour cream apple pie, and cool, creamy chocolate pudding.

“Everyone Can Bake” by Dominique Ansel teaches home bakers his foundation recipes and techniques for consistently better baking results. You might start with strawberry banana bread or lemon pound cake. Soon, you may be inspired to bake a show-stopping raspberry cream puff cake or hazelnut chocolate cherry cake filled with chocolate mousse and coated with a smooth dark chocolate glaze.

Some more new cookbooks to whet your appetite include: “The Feast of Fiction Kitchen: Recipes Inspired by TV, Movies, Games & Books,” “Clean & Simple Diabetes Cookbook: Flavorful, Fuss-Free Recipes for Everyday Meal Planning,” “Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen,” and “That Cheese Plate Will Change Your Life.”

For more information on how to check out these titles using our Books To Go program, please visit our website, www.akspl.org, or call 909-798-7565.

Filed Under: What's New

Library to Resume In-Person Services September 9

September 6, 2020 By Jennifer Downey

After almost six months, Smiley Library will be resuming in-person services on Wednesday, September 9. We’re excited to welcome our patrons back into the building, and we have taken many steps to keep everyone as safe as possible.

The Library will be reopening in phases. During this first phase, we will be open to the public four hours per day, six days per week. Library guests will be asked to limit their visit to one hour, with no more than fifty people in the building at any time. Our friendly staff is here to help you find what you need, answer your questions, and get the most out of your visit.

Things will look a little bit different when you come back. Plexiglass has been installed at all service desks for everyone’s safety. Chairs have been rearranged to allow for social distancing. Library guests will check in at the new entrance in the children’s garden and exit through the Young Readers’ Room. Face coverings and social distancing are required.

We ask that you please continue to return your items in the book drops on Vine Street. There will also be a portable book drop at the new entrance. All returned items will continue to go through a three-day sterilization and quarantining process.

If you’re more comfortable with curbside service, we’ve got you covered through our Books to Go service. Just call, email, or go online to place your holds, and we will call you to schedule a pick-up time. Also, check out our eResources at www.akspl.org/elibrary to read the New York Times, watch streaming videos, read popular magazines, and much more. We’ve also started an Instagram page and a blog to help stay in touch.

Smiley’s new open hours will be Monday and Tuesday 2-6 pm, Wednesday and Thursday 1-5 pm, and Friday and Saturday 12-4 pm.

We miss our patrons and are looking forward to safely reopening. Whatever the “new normal” brings, you can be sure Smiley Library will do its best to serve you safely and effectively. Our community always comes first.

Welcome back!

Jennifer Downey

Principal Librarian, Adult Services

Filed Under: News + Events, What's New

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