A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

News + Events

Smiley Library will close June 19th in observance of Juneteenth

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This year, for the first time, the Library will officially observe the Juneteenth holiday — Wednesday, June 19th — with its closure.

Juneteenth commemorates the day that the last of enslaved people in the United States were informed of their right to be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. It wasn’t until U.S. General Gordon Grainger, accompanied by 2,000 Union troops, arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and 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.”

Though Juneteenth has been celebrated in the ensuing years, it became a federal holiday in 2021.

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, and check out our list of available books and e-books here, and on our display table in the Library under the portrait of Albert and Alfred Smiley.

★ On Juneteenth / Gordon-Reed, Annette
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★ Juneteenth / Garrett, Van G. (YRR)
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★ What is Juneteenth? / Jewel, Kirsti (YRR)
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★ Juneteenth for Mazie / Cooper, Floyd (eBook)
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Celebrate Earth Day every day — by learning — a reading list for all ages; Redlands events, April 20th

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Search Smiley Library’s comprehensive reading list below for adults, young adults, and children providing access to learning more about why we need Earth Day, and how to enjoy it…

The theme for World Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs. Plastics. The theme aims to bring attention to the serious issue of plastic pollution and how it harms nature. For Earth Day 2024, EARTHDAY.ORG aims to end plastic for planetary health and demands a 60 per cent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

Celebrate Earth Day in Redlands, Saturday, April 20th

♥ Participate in your choice of a variety (dozens!) of hands-on events around town sponsored by ANCA (Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action) and many other Redlands environmental organizations. Refer to www.redlandsearthday.org/ for more information, and to register.

♥ Learn more about why so many have been observing Earth Day since 1970; take a look at “A Brief History of Earth Day,” a short, enlightening PowerPoint presentation by ANCA member Andy Green.

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!

♥  California State Library Parks Pass / California State Library, Parks Pass Program, 2022

Follow any of these links to our catalog to read more about it, and to place on hold.

READING LIST OF BOOKS FOR ADULTS:

Plastics & Recycling

New Book Collection

National Parks, State Parks, and other wilderness areas

Activists, Innovators, & Inspiration

Animals & Plants

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

Environmental Toxins

Hope

Mitigation, Preparation

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

What’s Old: celebrating a century of service at the Circulation Desk 

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In the heart of A.K. Smiley Library, a silent centenarian has quietly celebrated a milestone – the circulation desk, installed in 1923, recently turned one hundred years old. This robust piece of furniture has been a steadfast witness to a century’s worth of California history, from the Roaring Twenties to the digital age.

While modern circulation records don’t go back to the beginning, Smiley currently circulates an average of 239,217 books per year, meaning potentially tens of millions of books have passed over the circulation desk since its installation. Beyond the sheer volume of books it’s seen, the circulation desk has also observed numerous transformative moments in Redlands over the years.

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Redlands as a community was largely against entering World War II, with many residents being part of the America First organization led by Charles Lindbergh. After Pearl Harbor however, the community changed its perspective, leading to voluntary efforts like victory gardens, Red Cross drives, and repurposing local buildings for military housing. The Library was no exception to the wartime effort, and in 1944, head librarian Mabel Inness led a Victory Book Drive which collected 1,778 books for men in the service camps.

Plaque on the circulation desk: “Presented by Eldridge M. Lyon 1923.” A philanthropist who was an outstanding resident and friend of Redlands, Mr. Lyons had been a trustee of Smiley Library for many years who had a keen interest in the “university of the people.”

The desk has been present through many major architectural changes at the Library itself, including the additions in 1926, 1930, and 1990. It was here when the Library was painted off-white in 1939, and it was here when the iconic brick-red color was redone in 2002. After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake when the Library Tower was removed, the circulation desk remained and was there when the Tower was rebuilt in 1999.

Beyond the walls of the Library, the desk has witnessed cultural shifts, technological advancements, and societal changes. In the era where radio dramas once captivated living rooms, the circulation desk was a community hub to share the magic of storytelling. As television claimed its place in the household, the circulation desk anchored readers in a world of books amidst the glow of screens. In the digital age, the desk seamlessly transitioned to becoming a metaphorical gateway to a vast expanse of information. From the advent of radio to the rise of the internet, our circulation desk has endured as a permanent fixture in the community of Redlands’ pursuit of knowledge.

Approach the desk not just to check out a book or movie but as a participant in a tradition spanning generations. Simply by borrowing from the Library, we contribute to a legacy of resilience, adaptability, and community spirit that A.K. Smiley proudly carries forward into the next century. The next time you bring a book to the circulation desk, remember – you’re not just returning a book, you’re engaging with a piece of living history, a century-old companion in our collective journey of reading and learning.

Connect with Black heritage year-round: reading lists, DVDs, YouTube videos, Black Life in America e-database

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The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, founded in 1915, assigns a theme each February for the observance of Black History Month. In 2024 the theme on which the Association is focusing is African Americans and the Arts. The intention, as ASALH writes, is not to “limit the exploration of the Black experience, but to bring to the public’s attention important developments that merit emphasis.” We encourage you to visit the Association’s website and learn more about this year’s theme and previous ones. You may also wish to participate in its month-long 2024 Black History Month Virtual Festival.

Events and programming are also available at these sites, the Library of Congress at https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov, and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) at https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-showcases-rich-collection-of-stories-to-celebrate-black-history-month/.

In recognition of Black History Month here at Smiley Library, peruse our most recent acquisitions featuring Black history and cultural themes, and Black authors, with which to continue to remember, honor, celebrate, and inspire. Look for books on display in the Library near the Circulation Desk. As always, ask a librarian for help finding anything.

(Reposted from 2020-22)

New Books – Fiction

Harlem Shuffle / Whitehead, Colson
Skye Falling : a Novel  / McKenzie, Mia
Palmares / Jones, Gayl
Black Girls Must Die Exhausted : a Novel / Allen, Jayne
In Every Mirror She’s Black / Akinmade-Akerström, Lola
The Sweetness of Water / Harris, Nathan, Sgt.
The Year We Learned to Fly / Woodson, Jacqueline (Young Readers) – coming soon
Filthy Animals / Taylor, Brandon (Brandon L. G.)
While We Were Dating / Guillory, Jasmine
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New Books – Nonfiction

Call Us What We Carry : Poems / Gorman, Amanda
The Disordered Cosmos : a Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred / Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda
The Essential June Jordan / Jordan, June
Letters to My White Male Friends / Ross, Dax-Devlon
Dear Black Girl : Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping into Your Power / Winfrey Harris, Tamara
Hip Hop (and Other Things) : a Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated / Serrano, Shea
Colorization : One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World / Haygood, Wil
The Black History Book / Blyden, Nemata Amelia
Such Color : New and Selected Poems / Smith, Tracy K.
The Matter of Black Lives : Writing from The New Yorker / Cobb, Jelani
Changes : an Oral History of Tupac Shakur / Pearce, Sheldon
King of the Blues : the Rise and Reign of B.B. King / De Visé, Daniel
Dear Senthuran : a Black Spirit Memoir / Emezi, Akwaeke
Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision : Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in her Life and Literature / Nittle, Nadra
Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat : Poems / Rae, Khalisa
Unprotected : a Memoir / Porter, Billy
On Juneteenth / Gordon-Reed, Annette
The 1619 Project : a New Origin Story / Hannah-Jones, Nikole
My Remarkable Journey : a Memoir / Johnson, Katherine G.

2020 – 2021

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:

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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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2020 – 2021

Autobiographies, Biographies, and Memoirs

Cookbooks

DVDs

DVD Documentaries

Fiction

Graphic Novels

History

Humor

Literature

Music

Poetry

Politics, Civil Rights, Law

Sciences, Philosophy, Journalism, Language, Mathematics, Technology, Performing Arts

Social Sciences

Sports

Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. – learn more about his life and work

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In remembrance and celebration of the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968, why not read more about him? A.K. Smiley Public Library offers a variety of books, audio books, and e-books for children, teens, and adults on Dr. King.

An American Baptist minister, activist, and political philosopher, Dr. King was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 at the age of 39. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination in the United States.

In 1983, Congress made the birthday of Dr. King a federal holiday, and in 1994, declared it a National Day of Service. For more information, visit MLKday.gov.

Look for these items–and more–on display in the Library (which are available to check-out), or follow the link to our catalog to learn more about it and to place it on hold.

The sword and the shield: the revolutionary lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. / Joseph, Peniel E.
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Biography / Autobiography
King: a life / Eig, Jonathan, 2023
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The autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. / King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1998
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The seminarian: Martin Luther King, Jr. comes of age / Parr, Patrick, 2018
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