A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

“May freedom be seen, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to please, to do what is right.” — Rev. Peter Marshall, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, 1947

“The reader became the book; and summer night / Was like the conscious being of the book.” — from "The House Was Quiet and The World Was Calm" by Wallace Stevens, 20th century American modernist poet

News + Events

Teens, don’t read this… especially if you don’t want to win a prize by reading books!

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Teens, in the following article I will attempt to read your mind multiple times. Please proceed with caution if you wish to keep your thoughts private.

The Dig Deeper Summer Reading Program at A.K. Smiley Public Library is in full swing. If you are thinking, “Eh…that’s kid stuff,” please, teens, think again. Here’s how the Summer Reading Program works for teens: for every 50 pages you read between now and August 3rd, you earn a ticket. Each earned ticket offers you a chance to win one of twelve cool prizes.

My telepathic powers tell me you are skeptical about these alleged “cool” prizes. Would a voucher for Open Door Escape Games for you and your friends excite you? How about a gift card to A Shop Called Quest comic bookstore? Would you enjoy a close-up look at the disturbing micro-organisms that surround you with your very own cell phone microscope? Does your mouth water at the mention of a refreshing pint of gelato from Happy Camper Creamery? Are you craving the special variety of brain freeze only a scoop of Salted Caramel from À La Minute can deliver? Is your stomach pitifully lacking a breakfast burrito from Burger Town U.S.A. right at this very moment?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then join the Dig Deeper Summer Reading Program immediately. All of these prizes and more are on the line exclusively for teens. To get started, simply visit the Young Readers’ Room at A.K. Smiley Public Library, pick up a Teen Reading Log, grab some books, and let your eyeballs do the rest. You could also download the reading log from the Teens’ page of our website (www.akspl.org/teens) or even just record the titles and pages you read on a regular old scrap of paper or the back of your hand…we’re not picky!

My sixth sense indicates you are slowly coming around to this whole Summer Reading Program idea, but you still don’t know what to read. Teens, we’ve got you covered! From anime to career idea guides, the Teen Underground, located in the basement level of the Library, has something for you.

Want a page-turner that involves a mysterious bequest, a love triangle, an inscrutable riddle, and attempted murder? Try “The Inheritance Games” by Jennifer Barnes. How about a twist on a classic in the form of the new Jane Austen-esque murder-mystery, “Pride and Premeditation” by Tirzah Price? Are you more of a modern fairy-tale fan? “Tokyo Ever After” by Emiko Jean may be up your alley. Or maybe you’d like to take a stab at horror with the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” series by Scott Cawthorn? No? You want to laugh? I thought so (still mind-reading). Try “This Will Be Funny Someday” by Katie Henry, a coming-of-age story about a model high school student turned stand-up comic. 

Teens, I don’t need a Magic 8-Ball to tell you that letting your eyeballs loose on some good books this summer may result in a win-win for you; not only will you be transported/enlightened/made brilliant by the pages you consume, but you may also end up with a mouth full of smoothie from Badger Bowls (yet another one of our cool prizes). Of course the rewards of reading transcend a paleta from Nicho’s Ice Cream or a street taco from Taco Shack (cool prizes numeros once y doce), but I predict you are open to a chance at having it all. You have two weeks left, teens…read with us! And I promise I will now stop reading your minds.

 

Participate and win! Adult Summer Reading Program now underway through August 2

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The grand prize is a $100 shopping spree at Gerrards Market in Redlands!

All you have to do is read and review books that you have checked out from A.K. Smiley Public Library and enter to win gift cards and goodies from your favorite local businesses!

Upon returning your book or books, pick up a review slip from the Circulation Desk, fill it out, and drop it in our raffle box at the Reference Desk.

Besides the Gerrards shopping spree, other prizes include those from Bricks and Birch, Saverino’s Italian Deli & Market, Olive Ave. Market, Oscar’s Mexican Restaurant, a la Minute Ice Cream, Martha Green’s The Eating Room, The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe, Carolyn’s Cafe, and Breakfast Shack.

So join in on some summer fun! The more you read, the better your chances of winning!

Juneteenth, the celebration of emancipation from slavery, now recognized as a federal holiday

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From its very founding, the United States had a precarious relationship with freedom. While the Declaration of Independence clearly stated that “all men are created equal,” the actual practice of enslaving people tested whether, in practice, that ideal could ever be a reality. Enslavement was the single most divisive issue of the early republic. When Southern states perceived that Abraham Lincoln’s election threatened what they believed was their “right” to enslave others, those states attempted to break the bonds of the United States to each other. The result was civil war, with some 800,000 or more Americans perishing.

President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring that all enslaved people located within states in rebellion against the United States “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”

Before that, some enslaved people had already found ways to emancipate themselves, with groups like the Underground Railroad, by finding a detachment of the United States Army, or simply fleeing those who enslaved them and making it successfully to a free state. As the United States Army liberated states in rebellion, enslaved people there were freed. However, not everyone was aware of emancipation, even after the Civil War was over. In Texas, it wasn’t until US General Gordon Grainger issued General Order #3 on June 19, 1865 that:

“The people are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, become that between employer and hired labor.”

From that day, June 19, came a jubilee celebration for the last of the enslaved people of the United States, who finally learned of their new freedom. Juneteenth, as it became known, commemorates this day.

Just a few days ago, the importance of what Juneteenth represents was recognized by the United States with the designation of June 19, “Juneteenth,” as a federal holiday.

Learn about “The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth” at the National Museum of African American History & Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth.

Kids and teens! Sign up for our Summer Reading Program beginning June 15!

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Our Summer Reading Program, “Dig Deeper…Read, Discover and Investigate,” will begin on Tuesday, June 15! Come to the Library on Tuesday or anytime thereafter to sign up to participate in the reading game… help us read down into the layers of the earth. How many layers will all of the babies, kids and teenagers be able to scale down into by reading? Look for the chart in the Young Readers’ Room to find out! Find the summer performance schedule on our website, Young Readers’ Room (akspl.org), and Facebook pages Young Readers’ Room, A.K. Smiley Public Library | Facebook.

Do you remember as a kid when learning something new was like having an “A HA!” moment? Well, those days don’t need to be over! Let the Young Readers’ Room non-fiction collection help add to your brainpower! We have an amazing collection of non-fiction titles to entice even the youngest of your family to browse the shelves and increase their knowledge.

For example, on our “New” non-fiction shelves you will find this month’s suggested readings. A new series by established author Kate Messner, “History Smashers” the newest entry is “The Titanic” with illustrations by Matt Aytch Taylor. This book will have readers turning page by page to find out the scoop on this historical shipwreck. The text is written for grades third through sixth, with illustrations and graphs interspersed throughout the book. History Smashers is a great series to get your kiddos interested in history!

Can you hum or sing along: “Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd…” its baseball season and we have “The Everything Kids’ Baseball Book” ready to check-out. This 2020 edition contains 9 chapters consisting of baseball teams, rules, stats, and records held. With little blurbs and illustrations spread out in each chapter, this makes for a great resource for your baseball-loving child!

“If Bees Disappeared” by Lily Williams is a book based in the United Kingdom and what the county of Kent did to uphold its bee population. This book lays out the idea that if the bees disappeared then birds would disappear, and that would have an impact on our food supply. So check out this title today to learn what you can do to ‘bee’ responsible and keep the bees, birds and foods coming!

Tiera Fletcher and Ginger Rue wrote “Wonder Women of Science…Twelve Geniuses Who Are Currently Rocking Science, Technology and the World” for third through seventh grade readers and the illustrations were created by Sally Wern Comport. These women are all masters of their field, from math to animals to computer science fun and more. This book will have your kids reading to find out more and more information. Maybe one day your child will be included in a book similar to this one!

My final suggestion for today is “Bill Nye’s Great Big World of Science.” Fifth graders and upper level readers will find this book hard to put down. Filled with colored photographs, illustrations, charts and graphs, your science-bound child will find fulfillment in this big book! Bill Nye does not disappoint with this fun-filled, science project information-finding book! Science is such a broad topic and this book helps to differentiate between the different categories… toward which subject of science will you navigate?

Explore Black history, culture: books, DVDs, webinars, databases, Juneteenth events

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The Inaugural Juneteenth Celebration was held virtually at the University of Redlands
June 15 – 17

The staff of A.K. Smiley Public Library has gathered a list from our collections of books and DVDs featuring Black history and culture themes with which to honor, remember, and inspire. Most of the items are new, but a few are older and may be just new-to-you. We hope you’ll take a moment to explore and discover an item or two in which you may learn a little something you didn’t know.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a son of formerly enslaved parents, embarked on the establishment of February as Black History Month. He was a teacher and school administrator who in 1912 became the second African American, after W.E.B. Du Bois, to earn a PhD from Harvard University. In February 1926 he launched the precursor of the celebration with “Negro History Week,” designated for the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Dr. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Each year the Association, which continues to support Dr. Woodson’s cause, assigns a theme to the celebration. The theme for 2021 is “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity” — ideas to ponder as we read.

Please refer to previous blog post Celebrating Black Authors and Black Lives for additional titles. Take a look too at our extensive Catalog for older items on the subject, as well as those for children and young adults. Check them out through our Books to Go program or in person during our new public hours.

Also, don’t forget our eLibrary which includes, besides e-items for download, the new Black Life in America database. This primary source collection provides materials in which you may research the experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media, from 1704 to today. It is an expansive window into centuries of African American history, culture, and daily life — as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent.

Streaming video service Kanopy, also located in our eLibrary, features films about racial and social injustice. Inspiring documentaries, like “The Talk: Race in America,” “P.S. I Can’t Breathe,” and many others, can help contribute to a more open dialogue about race relations in modern America.

And finally, for even more ways in which to learn about Black history, view the Heritage Room’s Black History Month webinar series. available for viewing at the AKSPL Special Collections YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx1V0OiVDDpGORavA_W6icQ,  or on Facebook under the Video tab.

The offerings include:

Also, we encourage you to visit these sites, the Library of Congress at  https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov, and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) at https://www.pbs.org/articles/2021/02/celebrate-black-history-month-2021/.

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Centennial Anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

The Tulsa race massacre took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of White residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is alternatively known as the “Tulsa race riot” or the “Black Wall Street massacre.”

See also, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission website, https://www.tulsa2021.org/, and find our books on the subject here:

Juneteenth, on June 19

Juneteenth (a combination of June and nineteenth) is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. It is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it is now celebrated annually throughout the United States, with increasing official recognition resulting in its declaration as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. It is commemorated on the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865 announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom from slavery in Texas.

For more information check out our Blog post, Juneteenth, the celebration of emancipation from slavery, now recognized as a federal holiday, and find our books on the subject here:

Visit the University of Redlands website to learn about its Inaugural Juneteenth Celebration, which took place virtually from June 15 through June 17, 2021.
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