What's New

In 2025, A.K. Smiley Public Library is excited to explore the possibility of introducing a seed library to better serve our patrons and enrich the area. A seed library, at its core, is a collection of seeds that patrons can “borrow” to grow in their own gardens.  The concept is simple but can be profoundly impactful, blending education, sustainability, and community engagement in a single initiative.

The environmental benefits of a seed library are significant. By encouraging local gardening and reducing reliance on commercially packaged seeds, which often travel long distances, we can promote sustainability. Offering seeds suitable for our region helps gardeners grow plants that thrive in the climate of Southern California while supporting pollinators and biodiversity. Additionally, a seed library opens the door to learning opportunities for all ages. Programs on gardening basics, composting, and native plants can empower our patrons to develop new skills and deepen their connection to nature. Children in particular can benefit from hands-on activities that teach them where their food comes from and the importance of caring for the environment.

Beyond environmental and educational value, a seed library can bring people together in other meaningful ways. By creating a space where gardeners – from beginner to expert – can exchange seeds, tips, and stories, the library continues to be a hub for shared knowledge and collaboration. Seed swaps, gardening clubs, and workshops in town can all stem from this initiative, fostering a sense of community that extends beyond the walls of the library.

Taking our collection in bold new directions also highlights the evolving role of public libraries – we’re not just places for books but centers for lifelong learning. A seed library perfectly aligns with our mission to provide access to both resources and information, demonstrating how libraries can adapt to the changing needs of the people we serve.

The process of using a seed library is straightforward. Patrons borrow seeds, plant them, and if possible, save seeds from their harvest to return to the library. Even those unable to save seeds can participate, as the library will maintain a stock through donations and partnerships with local organizations.

As we move forward with this idea in 2025, we’ll be seeking input and feedback from our patrons to shape our seed library to meet local needs and wants. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to get involved as we look forward to sowing the seeds for a greener, more connected future.

~ Principal Librarian Ted Conable

First and foremost, Happy New Year to the readers of the “What’s New at Smiley Public Library” column. We are about two weeks into the New Year, and if your resolution for 2025 is to read more books, well lucky for you I can help you in that matter. Here is a list of new fiction titles that are available or will be available for check out at A.K. Smiley Public Library.

Fans of the horror author Grady Hendrix will be happy to know that his latest novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, will be released on January 14th.

Fans of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series by Robert Crais will be thrilled to know that the latest title, The Big Empty, will also be available for check on the 14th of this month.

Historical fiction fans will want to make sure that they read Homeseeking, by Karissa Chen, which was released earlier this month.

Romantasy (romance fantasy) readers will be happy to know that Onyx Storm, the third in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, will be available for check out after January 21st.

And if you are looking for a debut author to read, then you might want to check out The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan. This title will be available for check out this week.

Happy New Year and happy reading!

The dawn of a New Year is just a few sleeps away, so some questions may loom for you… ‘what books will I read next year? There were such great ones in 2024…what will strike my fancy for 2025?’ Great questions! I’m glad you asked. As of this writing, all of these books are available, on the New Book shelf in the Young Readers’ Room. Let me shed some light on some of these titles that have come in.

Series: Spy School by Stuart Gibbs. The newest book in the series (volume 12) is “Spy School Goes Wild.” The book is on the shelf, ready for the next patron. You may ask, “What could possibly go wrong for Ben when he is cast into an extremely dangerous wilderness?” Well, if you know Ben and the shenanigans he gets himself into, then you’re in for an exciting, if not, exhilarating, read.

Some of you may recall reading the chapter book series Whatever After by Sarah Mlynowski. The first book was published back in 2012 and the last one, volume 17, will be published next summer. For those of you who enjoy reading graphic novels, I have great news: the first title of the series “Fairest of All” has been written as a graphic novel. The artwork was created by Anu Chouhan. Please let the Youth Services Crew know if you liked the original version – print only – or the graphic novel version.

If you’re a fan of Rachel Renee Russell’s series Dork Diaries series, you’re in for a treat with the sixteenth volume entitled “Tales from a NOT-SO-Bratty Little Sister.” What could a NOT-SO-Bratty little sister actually do to upset Nikki so much? Have you ever kept a diary…that little, secret book hidden away so absolutely no one could ever find it, let alone, read it? Well, Brianna may have found this delightful literature and wouldn’t give it back. Check out the latest Dork Diaries book and read about the tomfooleries these two get into.

The Bad Guys are back at it in the nineteenth volume, “The Serpent and the Beast,” written by Aaron Blabey. Will Cedric and Wolfie find themselves in such a predicament that this could be the last installment in the series? Goodness, No! The twentieth volume will be released in early January, so quickly come to check out volume 19 from the New Book shelf and be ready for the next volume, “One Last Thing.”

 

One more graphic novel series has been added to the collection: “Dog Man Big Jim Begins” was added to our New Book shelf in early December. This thirteenth installment in the Dog Man series will bring some knowledge of the characters from the previous books to light. Big Jim is so caring…and oh, those space Cuties! Check out the newest Dog Man book today.

With all the free time we have during the holidays (she says with a wink), I thought I’d introduce you to some good books that might help fill all those hours when you’re not baking, decorating, stress shopping, wrapping, etc. In honor of Dewey Decimal System Day observed on the December 10 birthday of its creator, Melvil Dewey, let’s start at the very beginning of the Dewey Decimal system, the 000s, “Computer Science, Information, and General Works.”

Now, hold on – no yawning! It’s a lot more interesting than it sounds – we’re going into the ‘Library and Information Sciences’ sub-section featuring a couple of award-winning new releases! These are books on reading – it can’t get any better than that! These selections enlighten us in the age-old struggle with censorship, and show us how books can ultimately save us.

The first statements in the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights are: “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people… presenting all points of view on current and historical issues… Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.”

The author of our first selection, middle school librarian Amanda Jones did just that; she took up the mantle of challenging censorship, writing about her experience in national bestseller That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America. Jones, a School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year, spoke out at a 2022 public hearing held at her local library in Louisiana which was called to discuss book content (her speech appends her memoir). Because what she values most about books is how they can affirm a young person’s sense of self, she addressed the group on the fundamental right of the freedom to read, especially decrying the banning of those books about diverse minority groups whose voices her students need to hear.

‘That librarian,’ Amanda Jones, however, was promptly attacked and slandered via e-mail and on social media, and even received death threats, by persons who were revealed to be extremists using book banning campaigns funded by dark money organizations—as well as by some friends and family. Jones shares her harrowing journey in fighting back, suing those who waged attacks against her, as well as chronicling similar current issues across America. She urges the reader, “Everyone in the United States should stand up for intellectual freedom and stand against censorship, regardless of party line. You start banning one thing, and you’re on a slippery slope to banning everything.”

The importance of accessibility to disparate voices in literature is apparent in our complementary selection awarded as the NPR Best Book of the Year, Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me by Glory Edim. Founder of the Well-Read Black Girl book club, the author has grown it into a network reaching half a million readers. Edim, daughter of Nigerian immigrants, took her title from one of the books and authors who has spoken to her over the years, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, “She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.”

For Glory Edim, it is books that have gathered her, healing her throughout the traumas of her life: her father whom she adored leaving the family and returning to Nigeria, and her mother’s years suffering from debilitating depression. As a child these circumstances forced Edim to take on the responsibilities of an adult. She and her brother found respite in their local library where she found community and began, through reading, to find her own value and voice.

As she grew, and into adulthood, she gathered around herself black women authors who comforted her, taught her, and aided in her growth. She writes, “Toni Morrison compelled me to hone in on my vision. Maya Angelou urged me to take more risks. Alice Walker drove me to build something outside of myself. Somehow their intricate stories and astute observations provided me with an unbreakable foundation.”

She related to their stories and the women behind them. Their books and others’ saved her. Each of us deserves to be saved; each of us deserves to be able to see ourselves in a book.