A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

* June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month! *
Learn more about it by checking out a related book from our book display in the Library, or from our post here.
Teens, find our LBQTQIA+ reading list--designed for you--on our website's Teen page, listed under the Services tab!

News + Events

Books selections for LGBTQ Pride Month

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For more information, including 2022 events, resources, and audio/video, visit the Library of Congress.

Find our selections below. Click through the links to our catalog where you can place books on hold:

 

NON-FICTION

Culture and groups

Vocal Music, Stage Presentations, Public Performances, Drawing

Poetry and Literature

History of North America

FICTION

Celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month — browse our reading list

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May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, so Smiley Library is offering a sampling of our books as a celebration of those Americans of Asian and Pacific islands descent. Read summaries and reviews of the selected books, listed below, by accessing our catalog through the books’ links.

We also recommend https://asianpacificheritage.gov/ to connect with online events, exhibits, and collections.

A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).

NON-FICTION

Minor feelings : an Asian American reckoning / Hong, Cathy Park

Poetry, Essays, Literature

Dear memory : letters on writing, silence, and grief / Chang, Victoria
Yellow rain : poems / Vang, Mai Der
A god at thedoor / Doshi, Tishani
All the flowers kneeling / Tran, Paul
Why not me? / Kaling, Mindy
The impossible city : a Hong Kong memoir / Cheung, Karen
The best American poetry 2021 / Smith, Tracy K.
Time is amother / Vuong, Ocean
Beast at every threshold : poems / Wee, Natalie
Vessel : a memoir / Cai, Chongda
They called us enemy / Takei, George (graphic novel)
Spirits abroad : stories / Cho, Zen
Skinship : stories / Choi, Yoon
Disorientation / Chou, Elaine Hsieh
Seoulmates / Frederick, Jen
Fiona and Jane / Ho, Jean Chen
Tales from the cafe : a novel / Kawaguchi, Toshikazu
The cabinet / Kim, Ŏn-su
Lemon / Kwŏn, Yŏ-sŏn
Leave society / Lin, Tao
The wedding party / Liu, Xinwu
A place for us / Mirza, Fatima Farheen
Earthlings : a novel / Murata, Sayaka
My annihilation / Nakamura, Fuminori
Love in the big city : a novel / Park, Sang Young
She who became the sun / Parker-Chan, Shelley
The ministry of utmost happiness / Roy, Arundhati
Gold diggers / Sathian, Sanjena
Hao : stories / Ye, Chun
Interior Chinatown / Yu, Charles
Tokyo Ueno station / Yū, Miri

SCIENCE FICTION

If we each can do a little, together we can do a lot! Variety of Earth Day topics, all ages; local event April 27

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“Invest in our Planet” is the theme for Earth Day, April 22, 2022.

Use the following reading list for adults, young adults, and children to find a way you can help!

 

But first, how you can invest in our community ~

Learn about local efforts to reduce climate change and positively influence our collective health and sustainability on a local level:

What: Presentations by Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action (ANCA), Redlands Conservancy, and CA Climate Action Group. Table presentations by Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Friends of A.K. Smiley Public Library, Redlands Conservancy, and ANCA

When: Wednesday, April 27, at 6:30 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm)

Where: A.K. Smiley Public Library Contemporary Club, 173 S. Eureka St., Redlands

It’s free to the public; no registration is required.

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Also, enjoy the Great Outdoors in a state park in honor of Earth Day ~

Visit participating California state parks for free with your library card by checking out a vehicle’s day-use state park pass! Some restrictions apply; give us a call at 909-798-7565 for more information.

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READING LIST OF BOOKS FOR ADULTS:

Activists, Innovators, & Inspiration

Animals & Plants

Climate Change, Global Warming, and the effects on our environment

Environmental Toxins

Hope

Mitigation, Preparation

Plastics & Recycling

Pollinators: why birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, and most importantly, bees are vital to our environment

The Science: let’s figure this out

Trees & Forests

MAGAZINES

YOUNG ADULT

Fiction

Nonfiction

Graphic Novels

CHILDREN

Picture Books

Chapter Books

Mysteries

Graphic Novels

Nonfiction

Easy Readers

Spanish

Use your library card to visit state parks for free!

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Smiley Library patrons can now use their library cards to visit state parks for free!

Thanks to a partnership between the California State Library and the California State Parks, Smiley Library patrons can check out parks passes to gain free parking at over 200 state parks. Use your library card to check out a parking pass for two weeks, just like you would check out a book. Passes circulate for two weeks and are non-renewable.

Smiley Library has been given three parks passes. If all are in use, you may place a hold for the next available one.

Just hang the pass from your rearview mirror and you’ll have access to beautiful state parks, including California Citrus State Park in Riverside, Wildwood Canyon in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, and Silverlake State Recreation Area in the mountains north of San Bernardino, as well as over 200 more parks up and down the Golden State.

“Parks and libraries have the potential to be powerful symbols and agents for California’s open spaces,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “It is an honor to work side-by-side with the California State Library and partners to advance outdoor access to all Californians via public libraries, inspire stewardship for the start park system, and build a healthier California.”

Recent Smiley additions by and about remarkable women

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“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Celebrate Women’s History Month in March with these titles, on display in the Library

In addition to considering the books below, visit https://womenshistorymonth.gov/ for more information on Women’s History Month and its 2022 events. The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.