Sedona Public Library (SPL) has scheduled several events for Read Around Sedona, our community reading project.  Programs are based on our selected title “Cha’risa’s Gift,” written by local author Ilana Maletz.
 
The main character of the book is a Hopi medicine woman named Cha’risa. When she learns that her son is questioning his traditional beliefs and culture after forced attendance at an Indian boarding school, Cha’risa begins a journey to help him, not realizing how profoundly this decision will change her own life.
 
Set against a backdrop of towering red rocks, snowcapped peaks, and sacred canyons, “Cha’risa’s Gift” has a strong connection to Arizona’s landscapes and history and to the diverse culture of the Southwest. The story spans not only three generations of an Arizona family but much of the territory that makes up Northern Arizona. Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and the Hopi mesas all feature prominently in Cha’risa’s story.
 
Please note:  Read Around Sedona programs will take place at various locations. 
 
Read Around Sedona Kick-Off Event. Monday, April 9, 1 to 2:30 p.m., community room at SPL:  Meet Ilana Maletz, author of “Cha’risa’s Gift.” Following the program, the author will be available to answer questions and sign books. Books will be for sale following Ilana’s presentation. Cost of book is $11, cash or checks only.  Credit cards will not be accepted.
 
Community Book Discussion of “Cha’risa’s Gift.”  Tuesday, April 10, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Quiet Study at SPL. 
 
Arizona Stories:  Frontier Characters and Communities. Thursday, April 19, 1:30 to 3 p.m., Sedona Heritage Museum, 735 Jordan Road. Presented by Jim Turner. During this presentation the audience will learn how Arizona evolved from a violent frontier to a just and civil society dedicated to its people’s welfare.
 
The Golden Era of Movie-Making in Sedona. Monday, April 23, 1:30 to 3 p.m., Church of the Nazarene, 55 Rojo Drive in VOC. Presented by Janeen Trevillyan. From cowboys to Elvis’s pink Cadillac, Janeen will share great images from these movie-making days in Sedona and the stories behind them.
 
Screening of “Stranger on Horseback.” Monday, April 30, 6 p.m. in the community room at SPL. This classic Western was partially filmed in Sedona. Local scenes include Red Rock Crossing, Broken Arrow Trail, Schnebly Hill, and Jacks Canyon.  No closed captioning.
 
Community Book Discussion of “Cha’risa’s Gift.”  Monday, April 30, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Quiet Study at SPL.
 
As part of our community reading project, the Library will be collecting donations of new personal hygiene items for the Hopi Outreach Program.  Please leave your donations at the main library or the Village library.
 
Read Around Sedona will continue during May. Check the events calendar on the Library’s website at www.sedonalibrary.org and watch for announcements of additional programs.
 
For more information, please contact Sophia Zarifis-Russell, 928-282-7714, ext. 114, or Cheryl Yeatts, 928-284-1603. Thank you for supporting Read Around Sedona.

​Sedona Public Library
Column for March 30, 2018
Written by Cheryl L. Yeatts, Manager of Sedona Public Library in the Village

Sedona Public Library has launched its annual Arizona Gives campaign, and this exciting and modern statewide fundraising effort has led to questions about this strategy. Are popular crowdfunding and social media methods the right way to reach constituents and donors in Sedona? As the Library is celebrating its 60th anniversary, we want to be sure that our older library stays current in a quickly advancing world of communications. I took this opportunity to look at my own fifty-year evolution of fundraising activities.
 
My first nonprofit fundraising effort was walking for the March of Dimes in Detroit, and I literally collected dimes from friends, family and neighbors for each mile that I walked. I was eight years old, and I didn’t completely comprehend how the whole thing worked, but I knew that my dimes would help sick babies. I also knew that hot chocolate and donuts awaited me at the end of the seven-mile walk, and that was strong incentive for a little girl on a chilly Michigan morning.
 
Every autumn at my Catholic high school, we students were bussed all over the Detroit area to sell raffle tickets for the church’s annual fall festival. The church raffled off cars and cash, and students happily participated in ticket sales because we were let out of school early and we could win cool prizes. We knew that the church needed the funds we raised, and we all loved the three-day event with rides, food, shows and more.
 
As an adult, my first nonprofit volunteer experience was for the Orange Durham Coalition for Battered Women in North Carolina. For this small grass roots nonprofit, city-wide walks and three-day festivals were not an option—we held an annual phone-a-thon. We sent a ‘heads up’ post card to constituents letting them know about the upcoming call. There was no caller id back then, so folks knew when the phone rang, it might be us. On the established call night, volunteers called from phones at a borrowed office space, and we spoke with those who answered telling them about our work and asking for a gift. We offered no incentives, but we shared stories and statistics about the women and children who we served, and the lives we saved.
 
My phone work continued at Northern Arizona University where for many years I worked closely with the NAU call center. You might receive calls from students at your own alma mater. It remains a popular way for universities to reach out to alumni. But according to NAU’s current call center director, answer rates continue to decrease. They still prefer charge card gifts over the phone, but the call center is currently talking to vendors from crowdfunding and online giving day software companies.
 
I’ve also volunteered answering phones at public radio pledge drives, and these, too, have changed in recent years. While radio hosts still ask listeners to make a pledge by calling in, less volunteer operators are recruited, and they answer phones for fewer hours. The majority of on-air requests now direct listeners to ‘give online’ where they can pledge and sign up for the popular premiums that radio stations often provide.
 
Today, I am at Sedona Public Library where we are asking library cardholders and other constituents to honor our 60th anniversary by making a commemorative gift at www.azgives.org/sedonalibrary. We do not offer incentives, but we assure you that your support allows us to offer our broad slate of programs and services, manage our considerable collection, and maintain our partnership in the Yavapai Library Network
 
There is much research on modern fundraising strategies, and we want to know: what is the best way to reach YOU? Are emails the way to connect with you? Is social media? Do you need premiums to give, give more, or give for the first time?  How about columns like this, does this inspire you? Or shall we embark on the good old fashioned annual phone-a-thon?
 
We want to get it right, and we’d love to hear from you. So I’m asking for your support and your input. Please give a commemorative gift by going to azgives.org; and please stop by or call and let me know your preferred way to be contacted. I’d love to visit with you. Anne Marie Mackler, 928-282-7714, x125 or amackler@sedonalibrary.org. Thanks!

Sedona Public Library
Column for March 23, 2018
Written by Anne Marie Mackler, Development Director

Sedona Public Library celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, and the Board of Trustees views this occasion as the perfect time to ask big questions, launch big ideas, and bring our 60-year-old library into the future.
 
Nonprofit organizations, unlike humans, have the luxury of defying the effects of age and gravity. In fact, with the right leadership, organizations—and the facilities that house them—can be revitalized and make themselves new again. Our Board is committed to doing just that.
 
What can we do better? How can we meet the evolving needs of library users? Can we make our communication more effective by better using available technology? How can we improve our building, our services, and our programs for the future needs of the community?
 
The Library Board is looking for new leaders who will ask, and answer, these and many more questions. We need a team of assertive and available community members, people who are unafraid of suggesting and implementing change while simultaneously upholding time-honored traditions.
 
Familiarity with the Library, dedication to the larger Sedona community, and an understanding of the challenges and benefits of advocating for a vital nonprofit organization all make for a tremendous candidate.
 
Sedona Public Library is not just any nonprofit 501(c)(3)—we are easily the most impactful nonprofit organization to residents of the City because we reach so broadly across the community to all ages and interests.
 
We do much more than check out books, tell stories to children, file tax returns, or set up chairs for the next program. We meet a variety of needs for, literally, thousands of people who come through our doors. From sharing top-notch employment tools with job seekers, to providing new parents with early literacy resources, to teaching an elderly citizen how to set up email. Our services are as diverse as our collection is deep; our expertise is as reliable as the building trusses are strong.
 
Results of a recent citizen survey conducted by the City of Sedona indicate that library services received one of the highest scores for quality of community service with only fire services and emergency medical services rated higher.
 
In our own study, citizens also highly praised the Library, and they encouraged better communication, upgraded and modernized space, and confident adaption to the new century. We’ve listened, we’ve got our marching orders, and we are moving forward.
 
That’s why we need a diverse board, a team that represents all the different walks of life in the community. If you are someone who personally knows and loves the Library, you are especially encouraged to consider this opportunity.
 
We’d like to see candidates who are familiar with fundraising, financials, budgets, and policy, as well as setting and implementing strategic plans. A trustee’s most important job is as a steward of our assets, reputation, and mission.
 
Beyond that, a candidate must be willing to work hard, listen carefully, and share honestly. Regular attendance at monthly and committee meetings is expected, and with the right team, the work can be a whole lot of fun.
 
If you’d like to apply, please pick up an application packet at the reference desk in our White Bear Road facility or at Sedona Public Library in the Village. If you have questions, or would like to learn more, please send your inquiries directly to joel@detarconstruction.com or call Joel at (928) 282-5379.

Thanks for considering this opportunity.
 
Community support allows us to continue to offer free and innovative services to residents and visitors. Please consider making a donation at www.sedonalibrary.org. We are a standalone nonprofit with financial support from the City of Sedona, Yavapai and Coconino Counties, and most importantly our community!

Sedona Public Library
Column for March 16, 2018
Written by Joel DeTar, Library Board President

The role of libraries in communities is changing. We are thinking about that at Sedona Public Library, just like people at other libraries all around the country. The books and other media aren’t going away any time soon, but as information becomes more decentralized and electronic, what libraries do will evolve.
 
An MIT task force considering the future of libraries notes that libraries have always been about “sharing information with their communities, advancing knowledge, and facilitating connection.” Our programming at the Library is targeted to achieve these goals.
 
I have just joined the library staff to work on programming and outreach. We will review our current program offerings, conduct a survey to get input from the community, and develop new programs. Some of these programs will be developed by the creative and talented staff at the Library, and other programs will be created in partnership with community members and organizations.
 
Programming at the Library currently takes many forms. We have library programs that are designed and run by our staff, such as Conversational French, which is a relatively new, bimonthly offering created by Kay Bork and Sophia Zarifis-Russell.
 
Some of our staff programs are special events, and on March 15, I will facilitate a community deliberation on immigration using the National Issues Forums guide “Coming to America: Who Should We Welcome? What Should We Do?” This program is sponsored jointly by the Library and the League of Women Voters of the Greater Verde Valley. Community deliberations offer an opportunity for members of the community to voice their opinions, and to learn about the reasons others have for competing viewpoints.
 
We also have library programs that are run through volunteer efforts by members of the Sedona community. For example, Robin Harris, a nationally recognized blogger, facilitates the Sedona Writers Salon.
 
Many nonprofit groups meet regularly at the Library and welcome visitors to their meetings, such as the Sedona Gem and Mineral Club and the Northern Arizona Audubon Society. Nonprofits also have special events that are open to the public. For example, the Democrats of the Red Rocks will bring Nancy MacLean to the Library on Saturday, March 10. MacLean is a Duke University historian and author of the widely acclaimed “Democracy in Chains.”
 
We also make our space available for commercial projects, such as the upcoming, “Self-Publishing Your Book: Choosing a Path,” presented by Diane Phelps, on Saturday, March 24, from 1 to 4 p.m., at a cost of $40 to participants.

Sedona Public Library
Column for March 9, 2018
Written by Andrea Christelle, Programming and Outreach Manager

Sedona Public Library’s Read Around Sedona (RAS) community reading project is back, after a successful inaugural program in 2017. The program is designed to encourage the entire community to read the same book and participate in events, fostering a shared literary experience. In addition to supporting civic engagement and encouraging reading, Read Around Sedona promotes Arizona literature.

For Read Around Sedona 2018, Sedona Public Library has selected the book “Cha’risa’s Gift,” written by local author Ilana Maletz. “Cha’risa’s Gift” was a semi-finalist in the Tuscon Festival of Book Literary Competition in 2017.
 
The main character of this work of historical fiction is a Hopi medicine woman named Cha’risa.  She leaves her people to begin a journey to save her son Ahote. After years of forced attendance at an Indian boarding school, Ahote now questions his traditional beliefs and culture. He is no longer certain where he belongs, but Ahote has found employment at C & M Ranch just outside of Flagstaff and has decided to link his future to the two brothers who own it. Not wanting to leave Ahote alone in an uncertain world, Cha'risa accompanies her son to Flagstaff, a decision that will profoundly change her own life.
 
Set against a backdrop of towering red rocks, snowcapped peaks, and sacred canyons, “Cha’risa’s Gift” has a strong connection to Arizona’s landscapes and history and to the diverse culture of the Southwest. The story spans not only three generations of an Arizona family but also much of the territory that makes up Northern Arizona. Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and the Hopi mesas all feature prominently in Cha’risa’s story.
 
As part of Read Around Sedona, the Library has planned several events related to the book.  During one event, you will have the opportunity to meet and interact with the author. Please check the events calendar on the Library’s website at www.sedonalibrary.org and watch for announcements of additional programs.
 
Copies of “Cha’risa’s Gift” are available in regular and large print to check out at the Library. Please contact the Library if you need assistance placing a hold. You may purchase the Kindle edition at Amazon.com. Books will be available for sale during some of the events.

This Arizona Community Reads project is supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
 
For more information, please contact Sophia Zarifis-Russell, 928-282-7714, ext. 114, or Cheryl Yeatts, 928-284-1603. We are excited about this opportunity for our community and encourage you to participate in Read Around Sedona.

​Sedona Public Library
Column for March 2, 2018
Written by Cheryl L. Yeatts, Manager of Sedona Public Library in the Village