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As published in the Red Rock News
Hello Red Rock News Readers! One of the perks of my job as the Library’s Program and Marketing Coordinator is getting to meet all of our patrons when they come to the Library. Whether it’s a quick hello or hearing about their day, I appreciate what they have to say, any comments they have about what’s going on at the library, and all the compliments about the new courtyard. Progress is a wonderful thing. A part of my job that I relish is giving new patrons their library card. Getting a library card is free and easy at either library branch. Just stop in with your photo ID and proof of residency, and we will issue your card. If you have a card but haven’t used it in a while, we encourage you to drop by the circulation desk and update your e-mail address and contact information so that you can receive our monthly e-newsletter, which will tell you about the programs and free services available each month. Even if it’s not your first library card, it may be your first Yavapai Network Library card. A library card is one of the most valuable cards one can hold. And our cards have personality. You can choose from a card featuring adorable javelinas or the classic Sedona Public Library card, featuring our logo. As a Sedona Public Library cardholder, not only can you access all of the services here in Sedona, but you can also access the items available at all 56 libraries in the Yavapai Library Network. That means over 1.36 million items are easily accessible to you via your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Just search for an item in the catalog on our website—sedonalibrary.org—put the item on hold, and have it delivered to either the main branch or our Village of Oak Creek location. One feature of the catalog that I like is having the ability to freeze an item hold. If I’ll be away on vacation I can put a freeze on a hold and unfreeze it when I return. For me, it’s the little things I appreciate. Today’s library card also gives you access to thousands of free e-books, audiobooks, and online magazines that you can download from the comfort of your own home. Do you enjoy watching movies? My parents owned a video store in Jersey City, New Jersey when I was growing up. You KNOW I enjoy watching movies. The Library offers access to Kanopy, a free streaming video service, to all Sedona Library patrons. With a selection of over 30,000 on-demand videos, the Kanopy collection includes new releases, independent and international cinema, classic movies, documentaries, educational films, and more. It’s like Netflix … but free! Cardholders can access Kanopy on their smart TV, home computer, or with the Kanopy app on mobile devices. To get started using Kanopy, visit sedonalibrary.kanopy.com, enter your name and email, and create a password. Kanopy will then send you an email, and all you need to do is open it, follow the easy directions, and enjoy the show. (Be sure to check your “spam” folder if you don’t see the email!) You can stream up to four movies per month. Your library card can take you to the far reaches of space or 20,000 leagues under the sea. It can let you follow the adventures of a young country starlet or put you in the room where world changing decisions are made. The world is your oyster with your library card. Sedona Public Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit our website or send your check to Sedona Public Library, 3250 White Bear Road, Sedona, Arizona 86336. Remember you can direct your gift to the Village Library. Thank you! Sedona Pubic Library Library News Column for August 26, 2022 Written by Jan Marc Quisumbing, Program & Marketing Coordinator  As published in the Red Rock News Sedona Public Library is dedicated to keeping kids on track during the school year, and we love to help them avoid the summer slide that too many students experience over summer break. Skills were maintained, and news skills were achieved with our exciting summer program line up. Local sponsors, staff and so many families made this summer of learning one of the best ever! The Oceans of Possibilities Summer Reading Program had 138 kids and teens registered and almost 50,000 minutes read, that’s over 800 hours of reading! Readers read books for points, participated in events, learned new skills, and earned prizes. We held 194 programs inside and outside the Library and engaged 1,791 kids in all sorts of programs. So many business sponsors provided prizes and programs. A giant shout out to City of Sedona Community Pool and Parks and Rec; Sedona Kids Company; Sedonuts; Arizona State Parks; Famous Pizza; The Chai Spot; NAU School of Forestry; Bearizona; Science Vortex; Out of Africa; Arizona Science Center; and the Friends of the Sedona Library. Thank you! Three programs stood out for kids and families. First, program registration was fun with face painting and henna art design for hands. Second, the Oceans of Possibilities Pool Party with the Jolly Roger Comedy Magician was a hit! We couldn’t have done it without the Parks and Recreation hosting this magical wet event. Finally, another hit was the Entomology for Kids with Forest Entomologist, Dr. Hofstetter and NAU interns. They taught kids about the bark beetle life cycle. The kids got to happily dig into logs to identify bugs. Special guests included the traveling Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches! Besides all the fun programming, we hosted two summer camps. With a generous donation from the Friends of the Sedona Library, kids participated for free in Sedona Youth Theater Camp. Over nine days of intensive theatrical training, Sedona Youth Theater inspired youth to create their own unique show highlighting their amazing talents, performance skills, and imaginations. The kids loved it and shared their thoughts. Addison said, “I learned you can make something out of nothing.” And Willow said, “It was fun! I had a good time and I learned that you do not have to always know your lines.” Sage said, “The teachers were welcoming and gave equal attention to everyone . . . Improv is the best because you have to think on your feet.” Finally, Kinsley noted, “Acting class made me feel welcome. It is really fun and I learned that mistakes make it perfect." Another camp was a free week-long science camp: Arizona Science Center Camp Innovation held in the new Javelina Room at Sedona Public Library in the Village. Kids spent five days, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., learning about science and doing interactive activities. Thank you, Arizona Science Center for coming to Sedona. Here’s what the kids said. Twins Wylann and Westly said, “We enjoyed being with friends and making new friends. We loved making slime, rockets, marble tracks, and paper helicopters . . . there was a yummy lunch every day!” Aiva said, “My favorite activities were making candles and making chalk, rockets and heat shields, and the teachers were very nice, and we got a pizza party at the end with M&Ms. I want to go again.” From parent, Alexis Workman, we heard, “I am blown away by how many hands-on science activities they did each day covering such a wide range of topics like animal adaptations, thermal energy, force and motion, and states of matter. This was absolutely an amazing program and so convenient to not have to worry about packing lunches and snacks. We would do this again without question. Thank you!!!” The camp counselors thought it was a great experience, also. Here’s what Camren Carlson said, “I really enjoyed having the opportunity to take Arizona Science Center’s Camp Innovation up to Sedona. Teaching science at the Sedona public library was an incredible experience. The campers were an amazing group of students who were really passionate about science. I loved watching their amazing reactions to the power of science. Seeing all that the kids learned and experienced made the week of camp extremely rewarding.” And thanks to further support from AZ OnTrack, the Arizona Science Center will be back at the Sedona Public Library for a Back-to-School Family Event. Join us for Family Day on Saturday, August 27, from 12 – 2 p.m. Discover the wonder of science and join us to explore engaging STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics, win prizes, and spend quality time with family through hands-on activities—all designed for back-to-school readiness. If you participated in the Summer Reading Program, please come by and help our planning process when you complete a simple survey located in the Youth Services Department. Thanks! 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 and the Friends of the Sedona Library, property tax dollars from Yavapai and Coconino Counties, and gifts from businesses, foundations, and individuals like you. Thank you! Visit sedonalibrary.org to learn more. Caption for photo: Happy kids who won prizes for their completion of the Oceans of Possibilities Summer Reading Program. Sedona Public Library Library News Column for August 19, 2022 Written by Viviane Kraus, Youth Services Manager  As published in the Red Rock News.
Hello Red Rock News Readers! Many hands make light the work. From the volunteers who pull the holds and shelve the books, to staff who greet patrons upon their arrival and are ready to help them with whatever they need, everyone who works or volunteers at the Library plays a vital role in keeping it in tip-top shape. The Sedona Public Library’s Facilities Manager, James “Jim” Thomas, is one such person at the Library who I am glad to know and honored to work with. Over the past 8 months, I have come to appreciate Jim and all that he does at the Library. Being in charge of the physical goings on of a 26,000 square-foot building is no easy feat. Somedays yes, it’s routine duties like making sure the lavatory is clean and presentable before the Library opens to fixing a broken leg on the train table in Youth Services. There is never a day where Jim doesn’t perform miracles we didn’t know we needed. The fondest memory I have of my first few weeks of working with Jim was watching him navigate in between the book stacks on a motorized construction lift during the Library’s Quilt Show installation in January. Up and down the aisles he went, humming a Tom Petty tune, navigating the lift down the aisles as expertly as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Disney’s The Jungle Cruise. I am grateful for Jim. While my days start later and end later most days, his doesn’t. He’s at the Library earlier than most, and usually by the time I arrive to let him know about an event scheduled that day, he’s already made the proper preparations. Jim has a great sense of humor, an even-keeled temperament, knowledge and experience gained from managing RV properties and senior care facilities, and the patience of a saint when working with me. I’m still learning as I go, the ins and outs of my job, and Jim is there to point out when I can’t see the forest past the trees. Jim figures out the best way to time-manage an event. As with all staff introductions, let’s take a moment to learn more about the Library’s Facilities Manager and resident McGuyver, James “Jim” Thomas, who, by the way, plays a mean six string guitar for Silent Treatment, a Cottonwood rock band. Where were you born? “I was born and raised in the Central San Joaquin Valley of Central California (the Fruit Basket of the World). In the 1970s, this was a great place to grow up. I lived in a little neighborhood on the East side of Fresno and Clovis amid the fruit orchards and spent a lot of time in the orchards goofing off with friends or swimming in the irrigation canals.” What was your first job? “My first job commitment was mowing lawns in the neighborhood. At ten-years-old, my partner in shenanigans and I started mowing, edging (with a manual edger), and raking yards for $5, front and back. It wasn’t long before we had a regular route that we worked for about four years. My first taxpaying job, ironically, was as a custodian’s helper at the elementary school they built in the neighborhood. At fourteen-years-old, I was working for $4.15 an hour and was feeling pretty good about it.” What was the most influential book you read and why? “I would have to go with “Chariots of the Gods” by Erich Von Daniken. This book presented the idea that the history of man, as we know it, was in question, and it put me on a mission to find out the truth. What I found were more questions than answers and I continue to search to this day.” Are you Team Dog or Team Cat? “I’m team No Pets. Let me explain, after having both dogs and cats my whole life, I came to a point where there were no more pets and my kids had grown up and moved out of the house. The opportunity arose for not having the responsibility of children and pets, and it was a pleasant ten years. No picking up poo, trips to the vet, pet hair EVERYWHERE, or pet sitters. But – heavy sigh – that time is over and we have had two cats this last year. Everything I didn’t have to worry about the last ten years is back, but we love them dearly.” Have you ever seen a ghost or UFO? “I have not seen a ghost, but I have witnessed some very strange things. Yes, I have seen many UFOs. Was it aliens? I do not know, but I do know it wasn’t a weather balloon. I even researched them for quite some time and worked on a National Geographic show called “Chasing UFOs” as a production assistant. Somehow this seems to tie into my book answer, “weird”, and I continue to search for them to this day.” The next time you see Jim, hammer in hand, six feet up on a ladder, take a moment to say “hello”, ask him about his newest grandchild, and thank him for all he does to help keep the lights on at the Library. No really, he replaced the lights by the Silent Waterfall, much better now. Sedona Public Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit our website or send your check to Sedona Public Library, 3250 White Bear Road, Sedona, Arizona 86336. Remember you can direct your gift to the Village Library. Thank you! Sedona Public Library Library News Column for August 5, 2022 Written by Jan Marc Quisumbing, Program & Marketing Coordinator |
