Theaterwork Presents

Lewis Carroll’s
La Guida Di Bragia,
A Ballad Opera for Puppets

Special Benefit Performances
May 6, 7, and 8 at 7:00 pm
Scottish Rite Center
463 Paseo De Peralta

Tickets:
Adults: $10.00
17 and under: $5.00
Reservations: 505-471-1799

These performances will benefit the Santa Fe Children’s Museum and the Southside Library.

This production of the play is historic. It has been 150 years since it was first presented in the Dodgson household and there has been no other performance since that time. This is the only example of a play by Lewis Carroll. There is no need to underscore the importance of Lewis Carroll as a writer, except perhaps to mention the fact that he is the third most quoted author in the English language.

Theaterwork has built a Victorian puppet stage for this production, and the characters are played by special dolls that serve as puppets, in the same way it was done originally. The play was first published in 2008, with illustrations by Santa Fean (and Theaterwork Company member) Jonathan Dixon. Mr. Dixon received approval from the Dodgson family both for this work and for his extraordinary illustrations for Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark. He met with Carroll’s great-nephew, Phillip Dodgson Jacques in Devon, England. He was the first illustrator to receive approval from the Dodgson family in 100 years.

Theaterwork has a significant body of work that includes rarities such as A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Orchids in the Moonlight. They are committed to bringing rare or previously untranslated work to audiences in New Mexico. In a couple of months they begin their 14th year in Santa Fe and their 30th year as a Company.

Photos by Petr Jerabek.

Children’s Water Poster Contest Winners

The City of Santa Fe City Council will celebrate the creative efforts of the winners of the 6th Annual Children’s Water Conservation Poster Contest on Wednesday, May 13 at 5 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers, 200 Lincoln Avenue. The ceremony will honor the 18 outstanding student artists who won this year’s contest. Their winning posters will be on display at City Hall from May 4 through May 29.

This year’s Grand Prize winner is Sam Connan, a 5th grade student from Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences. The selection committee felt the winning poster was very creative, original, and had a clear water conservation message. The Grand Prize winning poster, pictured at right, will be displayed as a water conservation message on a City of Santa Fe bus for one year.

The winners are:

1st Grade
First Place: Oona Hook, Eldorado Elementary School
Second Place: Amaryss Sandoval, Eldorado Elementary School
Third Place: Maria Sanchez, Agua Fria Elementary School

2nd Grade
First Place: Maya Gorman, Agua Fria Elementary School
Second Place: Ever Prishkulnik, Wood Gormley Elementary School
Third Place: Natalie Nathanson, Wood Gormley Elementary School

3rd Grade
First Place: Griffin Ferguson, La Mariposa Montessori
Second Place: Kai Taishoff, Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences
Third Place: Sophie Hare, La Mariposa Montessori

4th Grade
First Place: Marisa Tedori, La Mariposa Montessori
Second Place: Margaret Sandoval, Agua Fria Elementary School
Third Place: Miya Homashige, La Mariposa Montessori

5th Grade
Grand Prize: Sam Connan, Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences
Second Place: Briana Ritter, La Mariposa Montessori
Third Place: Brass Burapa-Coggins, Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences

6th Grade
First Place: Jorri Stephenson, Gonzales Community School
Second Place: Ceryn Schoel, La Mariposa Montessori
Third Place: Tatyana Stavrowsky, Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences

For more information, contact the Water Conservation Office at (505) 955-4225 or visit www.santafenm.gov/waterconservation.

Teen Chocolate Tasting Party: Sweet Success

30 teens and 1 guest author, Peggy King Anderson, were treated to a very sweet party at Southside on April 23. Each participant was given a rating sheet with 26 varieties of chocolate from 7 different countries in 5 different categories: Dark Chocolate, Chocolate with Nuts or Chili, Chocolate with Candy, White Chocolate, and Chocolate with Fruit. Participants sampled to their hearts’ content and then selected their favorites.

Top honors go to Milk Chocolate with Toffee Crunch and the second favorite was White Chocolate with Coconut; both are Swiss made by Lindt. Water, fruit and hot tea were also served. This free program was sponsored by The Friends of the Library and organized by the Teen Advisory Board, which meets at Southside every 2nd and 4th Thursday from 4:15 – 5:30.


Story by LW @ SS, Photos by GS @ LF

Phone Book Recycling

Annual Phone Book Recycling Program Runs April - June

The City of Santa Fe’s annual phone book recycling program started earlier this week and will run through the end of June.

Please drop off at the libraries in the specially-provided dumpsters. Do not take your phone books into the library or put them in the book drops.

Old phone books can be dropped off at the following locations:

• La Farge Library, 1730 Llano St.
• Southside Library, 6599 Jaguar Dr.
• Tony Anaya Building, 2550 Cerrillos Rd.
• Fort Marcy Complex, 490 Washington Ave.
• Siler Offices, 1142 Siler Rd.
• Manuel Lujan Building, 1200 S. St. Francis Dr.
• Buckman Road Transfer Station, 1686 Paseo De Vista

For more information, please call, (505) 955-2200.

Summer Youth Golf Program

Marty Sanchez Golf Course will conduct an eight-week, 16-session golf youth program from June 9 through July 30 for youth ages 8 through 16. A beginner and an intermediate golf program will be offered.

Registration for both programs will take place at the golf course on:
Friday, May 8: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 9: 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

FUNDAMENTALS (BEGINNER) GOLF PROGRAM:
Pre-register by mail! Deadline for early registration is May 1, 2009. The program will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the following age groups:
Ages 8 – 12: 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Ages 13 – 16: 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

The cost is $112 ($6.25 per session x 16 sessions; includes $12 for AAU insurance).

To pre-register, please download & complete a Registration Form and an AAU Form; mail forms with a check made out to the Marty Sanchez Golf Course for $112 to:
ATTN: Levy Scott, Beginner Golf Program
3 Lauro Road
Santa Fe, NM 87508

For more information call (505) 466-3803.

INTERMEDIATE GOLF PROGRAM:
The Intermediate Program is taught by highly qualified PGA instructors. The program is open to all school age juniors who have participated in a minimum of one summer in the Fundamentals (Beginner) Program and have a basic knowledge of the game and a desire to increase their skill level. You can not pre-register for the Intermediate Program.

The program will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from: 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.

The cost is $125.00 ($7.06 per session x 16 sessions; includes $12 for AAU insurance).

To register, please download & complete a Registration Form and an AAU Form; On registration day, bring forms and a check made out to the Marty Sanchez Golf Course for $125.

Questions? Contact the Pro-shop: (505) 955-4400

Download forms at www.linksdesantafe.com/.

L. has an epiphany!

Some friends and I are going to see Marge Piercy at Lannan's Readings & Conversations series at the Lensic in May. One friend, who I'll call "L.", wanted some reading recommendations beforehand. I e-mailed her some links to our catalog for titles such as Woman on the Edge of Time and The Moon is Always Female.

L. replied, "I didn't know I could reserve books and dvds online. I thought I had to go to the library to do that! Zoinks! I feel like a whole portal has opened up to another dimension...Wow. Thanks!"

If you, like L., are in need of an epiphany, check out the Help pages on our catalog. You can find information about all kinds of library goodies like online holds, renewals, and preferred searches. You can also click on the right-hand links to see New Books and New DVDs and Audiobooks. Enjoy the portal to another dimension!

Arbor Day

Today is Arbor Day, started by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1872 to encourage tree planting and care. We all know why trees are important—take the time this weekend, if you can, to plant one, or feed and water one, or just sit and lean against a favorite old friend and appreciate what it gives to you and the world.

There are many, many literary references to trees, but two poems come to mind today. The first, Joyce Kilmer’s familiar piece:

“Trees”

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.


And then, Ogden Nash’s parody:

“Song of the Open Road”

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.

by RG @ Main

Volunteer Tea

On Tuesday, April 21st, a Volunteer Appreciation Tea was held at Main Library. The entire staff at Main pitched in with baking, cooking, decorating, punch-making and piano-playing.

Over 38 volunteers showed up to enjoy tasty homemade sweets, punch, and tea. The volunteers ranged from assistants at the Friends of the Library booksales to shelvers and interlibrary loan processors. Lucky volunteers whose numbers were picked got prizes: books (of course!) and some potted primroses. But the best prize of all is having our volunteers help us in so many ways. Age doesn’t matter—the youngest was 8 and ½ , and the oldest was, well I don’t think we will reveal the octogenarian’s name.

The Santa Fe Public Library's 223 volunteers logged in 3907 hours last fiscal year, and the Friends' 241 volunteers logged in 5282 hours. We couldn't possibly put a dollar amount on the quantity and quality of work that they do, but if you do some math with Santa Fe's living wage you'll see that we couldn't function without them. Also, many of our volunteers perform tasks that are far from entry-level.

We have information about becoming a library volunteer, and we'd love to have you. Perhaps next year you'll be one of the lucky ones at the tea!

Get thee to a librarrrrrrryyyyyy—

To celebrate William Shakespeare's 445th birthday, today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day.


Bonus points if you wear a ruffled Elizabethan collar.

Made in New Mexico

When I was living on a tiny island, I became a fan of old-style Westerns. I would often ignore the plot and gaze at the huge expanses of land—buttes, mesas, mountains, Monument Valley—and think of home. DVDs weren't easy to come by, so I also found myself watching films that I hadn't seen in years, like Red Dawn.

Watching Red Dawn . . . wait! Is that the Carnegie Library in Las Vegas, New Mexico??? Indeed it is! Imagine that, Patrick Swayze and the Wolverines playing 80's war games in good old Las Vegas (even though they call it Calumet, Colorado in the film).

While the movie industry in New Mexico has gotten a lot of business, press, and awards over the last few years, this state has long been a backdrop for both Hollywood and independent filmmakers. Salt of the Earth is a semi-fictional account of a zinc miners strike from 1954, and many supporting cast members were native New Mexicans. Counter-culture 60's classic Easy Rider also takes its swing through New Mexico, including the Las Vegas jail. Rock icon David Bowie played an alien who first fell on the slopes of Madrid in The Man who Fell to Earth, released in 1976. And don't forget 1971's Two-Lane Blacktop, which features the Santa Fe Plaza and other local landmarks.

And there are more. Many more. You can find many of them on our shelves and in our catalog. Main Library's neighbor, Video Library, has a section of movies filmed in New Mexico, so you can just browse, rent, watch, and try to identify different places. (Just don't try to use your public library card at Video Library.) Best of all, you can see a bit of the state's history, land, and people dancing across the silver screen.

Darfur

Thursday, May 7, 2009
7:00-8:30 pm
Main Library Community Room

Book discussion and lecture by Lucian Niemeyer.

Darfur, located in westernmost Sudan, is that nation's largest region, situated on the border with Chad. For centuries, northern Sudan has been predominantly Arab Muslim and the south, black African. Ruled as a colonial state by, primarily, Egypt and Britain, Sudan was granted independence in 1956 with Khartoum, in the northern Arab Muslim territory, as its seat of power.

In 1983, the Sudanese government announced that all of Sudan would officially be a Muslim country. The "sharia," the Muslim code of laws, became the rule: those not Muslim are deemed unclean and infidels. Southern Sudan began resisting the genocide waged by the Muslim north. This resistance led to the 1992 announcement of a holy jihad by the Sudanese government, leading to today's humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Lucian Niemeyer is a professional photographer who operates out of Santa Fe. He has traveled the world, photographing human and environmental conditions. He is author and photographer of numerous books including Africa: the Holocausts of Rwanda and Sudan, Desert Wetlands, and New Mexico: Images of a Land and its People.

Bitter Honey and Non-Bitter Snacks

You know how when you live in a place, you never do the touristy stuff that everyone who visits gets to do? Well, this past weekend I broke with tradition and had my introduction to a tapas bar. Once a month, El Meson (213 Washington Avenue, conveniently right up the street from the Main branch of the Library!) hosts flamenco dancing with Miel Amarga (means Bitter Honey) in their tapas bar, Chispa. The dancing was exquisite, the music and singing were gorgeous, the frequently changed costumes were beautiful, and the fun had by the performers was definitely contagious. And finally, the tapas were sublime. We ordered seven tapas, split between four people, and it was as good as a dinner, but more varied and exciting. There were even more than enough choices for a vegetarian like me, who usually gets stuck w/ a salad or a bean burrito. Long live the Tortilla Española!

Two bits of advice: reservations are required and they fill up quick, so plan in advance – also, sit in the front row of tables if you want to see the dancers’ feet – the fancy footwork in flamenco is terrific, but the bar gets so crowded that it’s hard to see from further back.

In this day and economy, of course, one might want to save one’s pennies, in which case one can check out a book of tapas – Tapas : the little dishes of Spain, by Penelope Casas & The best 100 tapas, by Esperanza Luca de Tena, and do a little DIY flamenco party at home. But if a special occasion comes around, let someone else do the cooking and dancing, and give Chispa a chance!

by AA @ Main

Santa Fe Reporter Poll

Last year, Icarus, this very blog, won Best Local Blog in the Santa Fe Reporter’s Best of Santa Fe contest. If you've forgotten, here’s something to jog your memory.

Well, it’s time to vote again. Right here. You can vote until May 15th. The only requirement is that you live in NM and have an email address.

Tell your friends and family!

National Poetry Month

Some of the more seasoned staff here at the Library are still able to recite poems learned as children. For those of you who want to be able to do that too, now is the time. April is National Poetry Month and finding your favorite poet is as simple as clicking on http://www.poets.org/. Or go to your local library, find the 800s, start memorizing and impress your friends and family. Don't miss out on some really good literature by bypassing the poetry section.

Librarian Spots Wild Deer! News at Ten...

If you read the News in Brief in the Santa Fe New Mexican today, you'll see an item about a reference librarian spotting seven deer on Paseo de Peralta after leaving work last night.

While we've made jokes that the stress of Tax Day may have impaired his objective sight, it still seems like a neat thing to see after a day at work.

Sustainability “Coffee with Coss”

Wednesday, April 22
9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
City Council Chambers
City Hall - 200 Lincoln Ave.

The public is invited to “Morning Coffee with Mayor Coss” for a discussion on sustainability – to include the Sustainable Santa Fe Plan, the city’s Green Building Code, green jobs and other related topics – on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22. There is no need to RSVP.

Morning Coffee with Mayor Coss is an interactive forum established in June of 2006 to promote communication between city government and members of the community. Each Coffee focuses on a specific topic of importance to the community. Through these Coffees, the city is able to hear comments, concerns, and ideas from community members in order to address specific concerns and make informed decisions on how to best serve the public.

For more information, please contact Laura Banish, City of Santa Fe Public Information Officer, at (505) 955-6046.

2008 Diagram Prize Winner

When we last left off, we mistakenly reported that the 30th Anniversary Diagram Prize was the 2008 Diagram Prize. And in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, the Diagram Prize is given to the most interesting, outlandish, outrageous book titles of the year. But finally, the real results for the 2008 Diagram Prize have arrived.

The envelope, please...

• First Prize: The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-miligram Containers of Fromage Frais
  (List price: USD$795.00. We don't have it.)


• Second Prize: Baboon Metaphysics
  (We have it!)


• Third Prize: Curbside Consultation of the Colon
  (We don't have it, and we're rather OK with that.)

What's interesting about this year's prize is that there is actually controversy. The Fromage Frais book is published by Icon Group International, a company that seeks to replace those high-priced temperamental authors with a computer. However, at close to 800 dollars a copy for such a limited audience, it looks like they're appeasing the computer with a bit too much caviar and possibly some tasty tidbits of fromage frais.

Oh, and Computer? There's a technical error in your title. Back to the drawing board, as they say!

El Día de Los Niños / El Día de Los Libros

A Celebration of children, families, and reading: April 30

We're having pajama party story times at the libraries!
Come dressed in pajamas and bring your favorite bedtime stories.

Tuesday, April 28
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Main Library

Wednesday, April 29
7 pm to 8 pm
La Farge Library

Thursday, April 30
6 pm to 7 pm
Southside Library

These free programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library.

Teen Chocolate Tasting Party

Thursday, April 23, 2009
4:30 - 5:30 pm
Southside Library
6599 Jaguar Dr.

Teens, ages 13 to 18, are invited by the Santa Fe Public Library to attend a Chocolate Tasting Party at the Southside Library. Join other teens for a chance to enjoy a wide assortment of chocolates from different countries around the world. A judging will be held to choose the group favorite.

Please call the information desk at the Southside Library at 955-2820 to register.

This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library.

Calling NM Women Authors

Call for Entries by April 15th

The second New Mexico Women Authors’ Book Festival will be held Saturday, September 26, 2009 beginning at 11:00 am and closing at 5:00 pm at Milner Plaza on Museum Hill in Santa Fe, New Mexico. During the event 50-60 New Mexican women authors will be speaking about their work or their craft in seven different presentation pavilions.

These pavilions are listed below with the number authors that will be chosen in each category:

• Poetry – 11 Poets (there will also be a “Poetry Out Loud” reading session for additional poets)


• Fiction – 10 Authors


• Creative Arts – 10 Authors


• History and Biography – 10 Authors


• Health, Home and Family – 10 Authors


• Children – 9 Authors

Any published woman author who is a full-time or part-time resident of New Mexico may apply. Selections will be announced on May 1, 2009.

For application forms and requirements, contact John Stafford, 505-982-3016, x 25 or john@museumfoundation.org.

Plaza Roundtable

Members Sought for City Roundtable on Plaza Events

The City of Santa Fe is seeking members to serve on a roundtable which will discuss and make recommendations on how the city’s historic Plaza can best be protected and preserved while also serving as a community gathering place. The Santa Fe Plaza has been the commercial, social and political center of Santa Fe since 1610.

The Plaza Roundtable shall discuss and make recommendations to the City Council regarding, but not necessarily limited to the following:
1. Appropriate use of the Plaza for major commercial events and special events;
2. Alternative sites for major commercial events and special events; and
3. Restrictions on the use of the Plaza for major commercial events and special events.

The Roundtable will be seeking recommendations to the Santa Fe City Council in time for the Council to establish policies and procedures for organizers planning events for 2011. In doing so, the Plaza Roundtable shall seek public participation from and consult with city staff, Plaza major commercial event organizers, Plaza special event organizers, downtown merchants, the State Historic Preservation Office, other city committees, community groups, and individuals of all ages who use and are interested in the Plaza.

The Santa Fe Plaza Roundtable will consist of nine members and two alternate members, all appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council. The City is looking for members who collectively represent a range of interests in the Plaza and the Santa Fe Community, including, but not necessarily limited to major commercial event organizers, the historic preservation community, 400th anniversary event planners, downtown merchants and the public at large. You can download the resolution containing full details of the Roundtable here.


If you are interested in being a member of the Plaza Roundtable, please send a letter of interest as well as a resume to Mayor David Coss, 200 Lincoln Ave. PO Box 909 Santa Fe, NM 87504 or send an email to: segurule@santafenm.gov. The letter and resume should be submitted by April 20. Appointments could be made as quickly as April 29.

City and Library Closings

All City of Santa Fe Agencies, including all branches of the Santa Fe Public Library, will close at 1:00 pm on Friday, April 10th.

Also, all Libraries will be closed on Sunday, April 12th for Easter. We will be open normal hours, 10 am - 6 pm on Saturday, April 11th. Also, we will resume regular hours on Monday, April 13th.

For more information, check out our Hours and Locations page and our 2009 Holiday Closings page.

Coyote Cute!

Cute Cute Cute Cute Cute!

For those of you who've been napping under a rock, the Daily Coyote is a somewhat cultish obsession for those in the know. Starting as a blog chronicling the adventures of a woman in Wyoming falling in love with a coyote pup, it is now an in-demand book.

Our cataloger, who is also madly in love with the coyote, is currently holding the book hostage, until the very last possible second of the due date. But, with enough holds, you too can take a peek at this heart-warming story of cross-species love. With photos so adorable, they will make all your hair stand up and go aaa-whooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Aside from the mind-boggling cuteness of the coyote himself, the woman who writes the blog is a fascinating character. While moving from San Francisco to New York, she abruptly changed her plans when she drove through Wyoming. She now lives 60 miles from a grocery store in a one-room cabin. Her observations about the Western wilderness are original and compelling. We could never live the way she lives, but we would love to hang out with her (so long as it was summertime).

Most people think of coyotes as pet-eating monsters, but this blog and book will melt even the most hard-hearted coyote-hater. However, if you're not quite ready for consummate coyote-love, we have plenty of books on coyote lore to cuddle up with. Since, unlike the author of the book, we're not cuddling up with an actual coyote.

by AA & AM @ Main

Indefinite articles, commas, conversations, and ampersands.

Despite the reputation of libraries for being bastions of silent study, one of the best things about working in one is the scintillating, intelligent conversation with colleagues and patrons. Whether we're discussing books, current events, film, the arts, the repartee is always witty and sparkling.

An occasional, yet favorite, topic of conversation is... grammar! It can get heated as we pore over writing handbooks and style manuals, verbally correcting the books in our collection or an article from a national news organization. To many, grammar is something learned in 10th grade and promptly forgotten. To us, it is as important as gravity and breathing.

If you'd like to join our lovely conversation, you can start with Grammar Girl's useful A vs. An post, so you don't need to stumble when you mention a historical walking tour, vs. an architectural tour of the plaza. Grammar Girl has also come in handy deciding bets about Less vs. Fewer, and even salvaged a friendship torn asunder by the perennial Who vs. Whom debate.

If you'd like a little less sass with your grammar lesson, the Purdue University Online Writing Lab has tons of resources on writing, grammar, and usage. For everyone from high school students to ESL learners and professional writers, there are handouts and workshops available. They also provide information about the A vs. An debate, to prevent us all from making fools of ourselves.

And to get us out of contentious waters, I would just like to highlight two of my favorite grammar and punctuation entities: the ampersand and the Oxford comma. Come on in and join the conversation.

Editor's note: the Author changed one of the prepositions in the first sentence three times.

At a Loss

For some of us, reading is more than just a past-time or hobby. Finishing an especially good book can feel like losing an old friend: we roam around the house muttering, picking up and putting down magazines and books in a desultory fashion, waiting in vain for something else to grab our attention, and our hearts.

For this reason, many of us readers often turn to outside help, even professional assistance, when seeking our next reading fix. Your friendly neighborhood librarian can be an excellent source of recommendations, but sometimes the experts require expert assistance.

One easy trick of the trade is to read everything reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, or at least anything reviewed that catches your attention. You can stick with award-winning books, such as the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. You can delve into the rich literary tradition in the Southwest, and read both classics and newer books of note. If thousands of readers can't be wrong, you can queue up on our High-Demand Holds list. If you like the book less traveled, there are other sources, such as Flashlight Worthy Books.

There are also links to lists and databases galore, tools to find reads that should suit every taste. If you want to try an author, but don't know where to start, try Debbie's Idea. If you need to know what book comes next in a series, try the KDL What's Next Database. If you want a book similar to a specific title or author, get involved with What Should I Read Next?

With just a bit of clicking and searching, you'll not only find a book that catches your attention, you'll have a long list of possibilities to engage your brain for a while.

National TV Turn-off Week (April 20 – 26)

The Santa Fe Public Library will be participating in a city wide initiative to encourage families to turn off screens and engage in other creative and social activities.

Presenting:
Paul Glickman
The “Great Paulissimo” performs magic for children and families.

Tuesday, April 21
4 pm to 5 pm
Southside Library

Wednesday, April 22
7 pm to 8 pm
La Farge Library

Thursday, April 23
7 pm to 8 pm
Main Library

As a Matter of Fact

National Public Radio, or NPR as its fans call it, tends to amass a legion of listeners wherever it goes. Its radio shows spin off into books, movies, and speaking tours. The NPR website has a wealth of useful information, as well as listening schedules, station finders, streaming radio, transcripts and podcasts.

The NPR librarians have also started their own blog, As a Matter of Fact. In its five months of existence, the blog has provided an interesting blend of current events, pop culture, LibraryLand, and historical archives. There are also neat insights into the types of research they do. Taxonomy not Taxidermy! is a gem, and you don't have to be in the biz to fully get the joke. There's also a neat slideshow of librarian fashion.

So if you're curious about some of the folks who bring you your news, As a Matter of Fact is a must-read.

Egg Dyeing

Saturday, April 11
2:00 - 3:00 pm
Main Library Children's Room
145 Washington Ave.

Easter Egg Dyeing
With natural dyes
Ages 5-12

Supplies will be provided.
The program is free, but registration is required.
Call 955-6783

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Eggs graphic courtesy of Clipart and Crafts.

Hard Times

Even if you don't pay attention to the news, it's difficult to escape the fact that we're going through some hard times. The job ads have gotten leaner, there are more empty store fronts, and if you haven't been personally impacted by the recession, you know someone who has. Last week, the New York Times had a story about Hoovervilles, but not in a historical sense.

Slate has posted a series of ten compelling photographs that illustrate the financial crisis. They also have a feature about the architectural gems of Detroit, now either vacant or given over to mundane uses. To put some names with these images, a freelance photographer is traveling around the country, getting stories of people affected by the economic downturn and posting them to the Faces of the Recession blog.

For some practical information closer to home, the New Mexico Human Services Department has a site listing its offices for each county. Under the Santa Fe County listing, click on "Santa Fe Government and Community Resources" for a two-page PDF listing agencies and contact information for all types of assistance. If you need help with your PNM bill, this page will take you through the steps to figure out if you qualify. The U.S. Government also provides help for the unemployed on its official blog, Gov Gab.

Don't forget, the Santa Fe Public Library offers free computers with internet access, Microsoft Word, and printing at ten cents a page. We have books galore on job hunting and personal finance, and a wide selection of fiction and movies for when you need some entertainment. Every branch has wireless access and helpful reference librarians who are skilled at helping you navigate whatever situation life may throw your way.

April Library Exhibits

Main Library
Musical Paintings
Acrylic Paintings
by Pamela Faye
&

My World 2
Papier-Mâché Reliefs
by Rebecca Schneider

Southside Library
Ceremonial and Medicine Wheel Masks
Artwork of the First Nations
by David Janson

For more information, check our Art page.

For upcoming events, check our Calendar and Children's pages.