A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

Archives for September 2025

Meet Smiley Library’s Youth Services staff!

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In this week’s article I am happy to introduce you to all of our staff members in the Youth Services Department. With a staff of five, the Senior Librarian is Miss Pamela. She has been the librarian here since 2009. Prior to that position, she was a Library Specialist here at Smiley Library from 2000 – 2006. Miss Pamela hosts a weekly Preschool Story Time each Tuesday morning, as well as a weekly Pajama Story Time on Wednesday evenings. Miss Pamela enjoys reading, keeping up with all of the book requests made by young readers and planning great programs for our young Readers! She belongs to a few committees and enjoys outreach events to share her knowledge of our beautiful library and all we have to offer.

Our other librarian on staff is Miss Kristina. She joined the Youth Services Department in 2019. Miss Kristina enjoys leading weekly Baby Story Times back-to-back on Thursday mornings. She is also in charge of all things Teen! Teen Underground is where it’s at for her! She enjoys planning teen programs that draw the teens into the library as well as checking out and reading more books! Miss Kristina works with the teens at school sites as well. Be on the lookout for her at your next school function! Miss Kristina thrives on the challenge of finding the perfect book for our readers…be sure to ask her for help while you’re visiting the library!

You may also be familiar with our Library Specialist, Miss Emily. She joined our crew just over a year ago. Miss Emily is now hosting a weekly Toddler Story Time on Thursday mornings, right after Baby Story Time. Miss Emily loves helping kids find the book they’re searching for and helping to suggest books they would enjoy reading. She also has a special knack for making folks feel welcome when they visit the Youth Services department. She is so creative and creates the most fun monthly calendars and brochures.

Miss Dawn is our Library Clerk. You’ve probably met her as you’ve strolled through the Young Readers’ Room! You can find her amazing smile behind the Young Readers’ Room desk, ready and available to help! Miss Dawn loves to read and enjoys helping young readers’ hunt down their favorite stories. Miss Dawn helps to process the new books and helps to mend the books that may get torn or need a bit of mending.

The newest member of our crew is our new page, Miss Bela. She joined the Youth Services Crew last month. Bela is excited to start her new position as Library Page and is already underway getting the shelves looking in an orderly fashion. Miss Bela is happy to help anyone who may be looking for that special book, or offering a recommendation if asked.

We also have an amazing volunteer base in Youth Services as well. We depend on these folks as they donate their time on a weekly basis to come in and help out any way they can. Thank you to each of our volunteers!

The theme of this week’s article, if you didn’t notice quite yet, is that we are here to help! Our Youth Services Crew is excited to arrive to work each and every day ready to see what comes our way! From questions, to book recommendations, to programs, the Youth Services Crew aims to please!

Stop by to say hello and allow us to help you find the book/s you’re looking for!

~ Pamela Martinez, Senior Librarian, Youth Services

Three authors who invite us to look deeply inward

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Sometimes it’s best to take a pause and do some introspection. These works are the result of three authors taking the time to look inward and write unflinching accounts of what they found.

“I Want to Burn This Place Down: Essays” by Maris Kreizman is a look at what happens when the promises of good grades and dutiful rule-following fail to result in stability. Kreizman was raised to be a good child, fed the ideas that all her hard work would pay off in a well-paying job and a nice house. What occurred instead is confusion, instability, and being taken advantage of. And that is what happens to a lot of people. Kreizman faces her own precarious situation as a person with a chronic illness and shows how few protections there are. She writes how the world was never set up for people like her to succeed and the only way to amend it is to try to take care of each other. Yes, she wants to burn it down but in order to build something better in its place.

Aiden Arata’s “You Have a New Memory” is a look at the strange world that now exists between the physical world and the digital. Arata dives deep into the world of influencers and likens them to modern day grifters, creating illusions of health and wealth. She zeroes in on the genre of stay-at-home girlfriends and their shiny but precarious lifestyle. It isn’t all filters and poised shots though, there is the fact that we have begun using the internet as our external memory and moral compass while ceding our own abilities to modulate either. The work looks at how we have boiled down political belief from facts and deep soul searching to just going on vibes. It’s a thoughtful look at what we have gained from the digital world, and the price that we paid.

Rax King is definitely someone who knows who she is, including all the bad parts. In her latest work “Sloppy: or, Doing It All Wrong,” King reflects on her own behaviors, including lying, sobriety, and her issues with relationships. King explores the problematic but also sympathetic relationship with her parents, both fervent followers of the 12-step program. It impacts her future struggles of addiction and sobriety which now are under control, save for her love of shoplifting Brandy Melville items. She doesn’t shy away at looking at her own anger issues and how it affects those around her. King looks at the messy parts of what it means to be human and invites us to do the same.

Enjoy these books and more at your local library!