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As published in the Red Rock News
Sedona Public Library is happy to offer a wide variety of news publications, both online and hard copy, and this is just another one of the many types of resources we make available. From the New York Times online and in print, to Newsweek on OverDrive digital magazines, to local and regional news publications, you can find a news resource at the Library for all your information needs. Relax in the Library while you read the latest issue of your favorite newspaper, or check out magazines to take home. If you get your news from traditional sources such as those we offer, you might also rely on social media to learn about current events in real time. Social media platforms serve many functions in today’s online society: you may connect with your family and friends on Facebook, display your photography on Instagram, or use Twitter to follow your favorite celebrity. But is scrolling through your feeds on these sites the best way to consume news? You’ve likely heard that both credible and fake news can be found on social media—but how can you tell the difference? Let’s talk about the different types of unreliable information you may run across online. John Silva of the News Literacy Project defines misinformation as false or misleading information circulating by mistake. Meanwhile, disinformation is false information deliberately and often covertly spread in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. They can look identical, but the difference is the intention behind it.
You may not have the time to check the credibility of every post that passes through your news feed. Start by evaluating one post a week. See how it goes! With practice, you will build your social media savvy, learn how to spot unreliable information, and recognize bias in yourself and others. Bias can be difficult to spot, but the benefits of being reliably informed are worth the effort. At Sedona Public Library, we pride ourselves in making a wide variety of news publications and other resources available to the communities we serve. If you have questions about the Library’s online or print news offerings, or have any other questions, we’re here to help! Contact us at the main library, 928-282-7714, or at Sedona Library in the Village, 928-284-1603. From one savvy reader to the next, thanks for staying up to date at your library! Sedona Public Library Column for April 30, 2021 Written by Andrea Lhotka, Reference Librarian  As published in the Red Rock News
You made our third annual Library Giving Day a success! Thank you for investing in Sedona Public Library during this national campaign celebrating libraries everywhere. We’re so glad you choose to support your hometown library! We believe in the community, and you believe in us. Thank you! The Library Giving Day campaign was originally established by the Seattle Public Library Foundation as part of National Library Week, and it continues to be supported by the American Library Association and the Public Library Association. Designed to remind people that libraries are cornerstones of their communities, the notion has caught on. What started as an idea grew into a movement, and this year 400 library systems across the U.S. and Canada participated in the April 7, 2021 effort. Sedona Public Library is thrilled to be a part of a national event to amplify libraries’ profiles in their communities, and we are thrilled with the tremendous turnout of supporters. Thanks to the nearly 200 people, from 12 to 91 years old, who participated in our April campaign! Gifts were matched, dollar for dollar, up to a total of $23,500 provided by 21 generous donors, including all 18 staff members at Sedona Public Library. And we surpassed our goal! With the matched gifts, we raised $48,200 towards our library programs, services, collections, exhibits, and more. Sedona Public Library has its roots in community generosity, from its founding by a small group of Friends of the Library, to the gift of land by Eugenia Wright and Helen Ecker for the first building on Jordan Road, and to the cash donation by Ethel M. Low to buy land for our current large facility on White Bear Road. And we’ll soon break ground on an outdoor patio connecting the Library with the Friends used book store. We are a thriving, growing, and strong organization, and we are one of the oldest institutions in Sedona. We owe our historic success to each and every donor who carries on that founding spirit of philanthropy. Donors for Library Giving Day included volunteers, board members, staff, and patrons, and a cute brother and sister duo from West Sedona School. “But I thought it was for a charity?” the eight-year-old patron asked, as his 12-year-old sister guided him to put his dollar in the donation box on April 7. “The Library is a charity,” she explained, smiling. “And these dollars go towards books,” she said. Books, and so much more, I explained. And we talked about the computers, DVDs, Grab & Go Craft Kits, and StoryWalk at Sunset Park. And then their eyes grew large when I explained that soon we will have a big outdoor patio where they can read in the sunshine. They smiled happily and headed back to the computers in the children’s room. Thanks again, Sedona. Your support makes a huge difference to what we can offer to the community. Sedona Public Library is an independently run, 501(c)(3), privately owned, debt-free, nonprofit organization providing public services. We receive support from the City of Sedona, property tax dollars from Yavapai and Coconino Counties, and gifts from businesses, foundations, and individuals like you, as well, of course, from the Friends of the Sedona Library. When you support them, you support us—it’s a win-win. Please visit us at sedonalibrary.org. Sedona Public Library Library News for April 23, 2021 Written by Anne Marie Mackler, Development Director  As published in the Red Rock News
If the past year of the pandemic has taught us one thing, it is how much we need social interaction. Community is no longer taken for granted after a year in which we were so isolated. It has been deeply challenging, but things appear to be moving in the direction of a return to whatever the new normal will look like. Through the years, Sedona Public Library has been a key institution in encouraging and maintaining Sedona’s sense of community. From its remarkable story of being constructed entirely of donated funds, to its nearly unique and successful public/private partnership with the City of Sedona for funding, from services to readers of all ages, to the LatinX community finding services and support, and meeting space made available for anyone who wishes to present, Sedona Public Library has been a cornerstone for the creation of community in our town. Visitors who stop into the Library comment regularly not only about the beauty of the building, but how staff is so helpful and how the space is so busy and vital. Through the years, it was not unusual for donations to be given by visitors who recognized what a jewel the Library is in the crown of Sedona. And many people who relocate to our town mention that the Library is one of the reasons they chose Sedona over other towns. Now, as the country moves slowly towards opening and returning to greater interactions with one another, the Sedona Public Library is poised to again serve as one of the town’s most important community centers. Through finding a good book to read, assistance with finding important information, teaching users to be self-sufficient information gatherers, and again serving as a community meeting place for groups large and small, the Library will help Sedonans reconnect and revitalize their sense of community. A soon-to-be-built outdoor gathering place between the Library building and the Friends Of The Sedona Library bookstore, will offer the opportunity to come together again in safe and exciting ways. And programming that has been put on hold due to the pandemic is beginning to ramp up again. Programs for children and adults will again become the norm. Starting April 5th, the Library returned to normal open hours and access to the many services will be available to all users. Now is the time, as we come out of our homes and isolation, to return to the Library to enjoy those services and reconnect with friends too long missed. Make the Library a part of your return to normalcy. Through the years, the Friends Of The Sedona Library have been key supporters of the Library’s efforts to provide the broad range of vital and exciting services for which it has been known. All through the nearly 63 years of the Library’s existence, the Friends have been providing funding for programming, book purchases, and even improvements to the building in the form of furniture and more. It has been a strong partnership as both organizational arms recognize how a community is benefited by expanded Library services. While you are at it, do stop by the Friends Of The Sedona Library’s bookstore next door to the main Library. After having read everything in your house, you can clear your shelves and then restock them with great titles at remarkably low prices. Every month, there are books of different subjects on sale at even deeper discounts. April will feature Art, Sports, Science, and Travel at half price and May will feature Animals, Anthology/True Crime, Biography, and Business also at half price. We are working on plans for a major sale in June to celebrate our anniversary. While you are at it, enjoy the lovely improvements to the bookstore landscaping and grounds. Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks has dedicated time and materials for this beautification. They have been working on the gardens, making the walkways safer, and generally spiffing up the place. We are extremely grateful for all they have done. A sense of belonging is important to us all, as we have learned. Being part of something bigger than our own world is how we remain healthy and happy. Volunteering for organizations we value is hugely important to maintaining our own sense of connection. Sedona Public Library has been one of our city’s longest operating organizations and has created that sense of community consistently. The ending of the pandemic offers the opportunity to return to the Library and reenergize your own sense of connection. Whether it is simply visiting the Library, or offering your services as a volunteer to either the Library or the Friends, come take concrete steps to cast off the past year and reconnect with others. Director Judy Poe, the staff, and the boards of the Library and the Friends are working hard to prepare for your return! Come see! Sedona Public Library and the Friends Of The Sedona Library, Inc. are 501c3 nonprofit organizations. You can learn more about supporting these partner organizations by visiting sedonalibrary.org or calling 928-282-7714. Thanks! Sedona Public Library Column for April 16, 2021 Written by David Keeber, President, Friends Of The Sedona Library  There’s something about the word “volunteer” that brings a smile to my face. Having worked long enough to gain social security benefits and a retirement package from the University of Illinois, I packed up a household and along with my husband, Norm, trekked to Sedona for our long-awaited retirement. Now at last we would have time enough to relax, travel a bit and… I hadn’t completed the trilogy of things I would do when I had the time and opportunity. What was I going to do in those other hours of the day? Where was that “special something”?
My love of a good book found me often among the shelves of books in Sedona Public Library. Pulling one and then another from the shelf, I was aware that I really wanted to work with books. What better place to do that than in the Library? A conversation with Ginny Volkman quickly led to being put under the caring tutelage of Marlene Conklin in her domain of book donations. Week after week we sorted, evaluated, and handled books that had been shared by readers who no longer had space enough to house these treasures of information, instruction, and storytelling. Heaven was mine! Could there be anything more wonderful than being surrounded by books? It was only a matter of time before I discovered the “hole in the wall” location of Sedona Public Library in the Village. In a few hundred square feet I found shelves of books and magazines, computers, people “shopping” for their next book, folks picking up books they had reserved, and Dotte Vande Linde overseeing it all. It didn’t take long to know that this was where I wanted to be…in the middle of this happy, busy community. Time has a way of moving us down the stream of experience so that we barely notice how long we’ve been on the journey. A few months here, several years there, and soon Sedona Public Library in the Village had moved once, twice, three times under the careful gaze of Cheryl Yeatts. In each of our temporary homes we invited patrons of all ages and interests into our community of readers just as we do today. We continue to offer ideas for “the next book to read.” We listen as people share their current favorite authors and pass them along to other patrons. We invest in each other’s lives as we share conversations about families and vacations and things that matter. We enable a gathering of folks based on a love for books and reading and turn it into a caring community. We lift each other up. What is “volunteering”? It is an opportunity for a second chance, for doing something you’ve always wanted to do but never quite had the time to do. It is investing your unique gifts and experiences in a new venture that addresses the passion that challenges you. For me, it is serving at Sedona Public Library in the Village. Sedona Public Library Column for April 9, 2021 Written by Janice LaDuke, Sedona Public Library in the Village Volunteer  As published in the Red Rock News
Sedona Public Library is happy to announce that beginning on Monday, April 5, we will return to regular hours in both west Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek. Along with the new hours, we have other exciting news and events. A sense of returning to normal is in the air, and while we are being very careful, we are also excited to increase our services to the wonderful community of Sedona. LIBRARY HOURS: In west Sedona we will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and on Fridays and Saturdays, we will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. We will be closed on Sundays. In the Village of Oak Creek at Bell Rock Plaza, beginning on Tuesday, April 6, we will be open Tuesday through Friday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. We will be closed on Sundays. COMMUNITY SAFETY CONTINUES: Masks and social distancing are still required at both library locations, and regular hand sanitizing is requested. Curbside holds pickup will be available in west Sedona from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. during open hours, and doorway holds pickup will be available at Sedona Public Library in the Village during open hours. We are pleased to remind you that for the safety of our patrons, the air and surfaces at the library in west Sedona are protected 24/7 with Active Pure Technology air scrubbers. This system reduces over 99.9% of SARS and COV-2 viruses, bacteria, and mold. Sedona Public Library gladly made this investment last fall to improve comfort and confidence for our patrons and the community. POETRY MONTH: April is National Poetry Month, and as always we are celebrating poetry at Sedona Public Library. Please enjoy our haiku table, where we celebrate this centuries-old form of Japanese poetry designed to capture natural images in 17 syllables. This interactive display is a first for the Library, and we invite you to learn about haikus and write one yourself. Cards for writing your poems will be provided, and a haiku hanging display will be available for those who want to publish their work. In Youth Services, we have our new Poem in Your Pocket Day. It’s on April 29, but we will celebrate all month long. Stop by and choose a poem and pick a handmade pocket where you can store your poem for reading, memorizing, sharing, and keeping forever. If you feel inspired, you can write your own poem or copy your favorite poem for someone else to put in their pocket. We also invite you to join in crafting our community poem. We’d love for you to come in and add a word or two—here’s what we have so far: “I want euphoria and corona to end!/Yesterday, unbelievable things…” Finally, we will also have poetry books on display, poetry story time online, as well as our carefully curated list of favorite poetry books. Come on in and help us celebrate poetry! THE RED ROCKS: If you haven’t been in for a while, or even if you have, have you visited our Geologic Timeline Pillar? Can you name the nine layers of rock that make Sedona the gorgeous geologic landmark that it is? They’re beautifully displayed on this pillar designed and created by Paul and Phyllis Lindberg. It’s one of our most beautiful, and sturdiest, collections. SPANISH FAMILY AREA: We’ve been rearranging collections and improving signage. Finding your way is easier than ever, but if you can’t find something, just let us know—we’ll get you there. One improvement we’re excited to offer is the new location for our collection of books in Spanish. It’s now conveniently located right outside our Quiet Study and furnished with tables and chairs for your convenience and enjoyment. Leer con nosotros! SUPPORTING YOUR LIBRARY: One of the Library’s TOP supporters is Friends of the Sedona Library, Inc. The Friends of the Library used book store is a major source of support for Sedona Public Library. When you shop at their store, you support us! It's a win-win! April specials are: 50% off art, sports, science, and travel books! Happy shopping! Finally, we thought you should know the staff at Sedona Public Library thinks supporting the Library is so important, we got together and made a Library Giving Day gift. One hundred percent of us pooled our funds and collectively made a gift of a thousand dollars. Staff was so inspired that we decided to turn our gift into a matching grant—bringing the matching grant total to $21,000! We think making a matching gift is a wise investment in one of the best resources in all of Sedona. We hope you agree. Come on by for Library Giving Day, April 7, and celebrate the Library with us. See you then! Sedona Public Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your gifts are tax deductible and can be made in person at either location, online at sedonalibrary.org/donate, or mailed to 3250 White Bear Rd., Sedona, AZ 86336. It is with support from the City of Sedona, both Yavapai and Coconino Counties, the Friends, foundations, and individuals like you that we can do the important work in the community that we do. Thank you. Sedona Public Library Column for April 2, 2021 Written by Anne Marie Mackler, Development Director |
