Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Closures

All branches of the Santa Fe Public Library will be closed on Monday, January 16 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The libraries will be open regular hours over the weekend:

Main Library:
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday: 1 pm - 5 pm

La Farge Library:
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

Southside Library:
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

Giving from the Heart

The Friends of the Library Joins the
SECOND ANNUAL
SANTA FE ALTERNATIVE GIFT MARKET
WHICH OFFERS OPTIONS THAT KEEP ON GIVING
Friday- Sunday,
December 16-18
De Vargas Center

Shoppers will enjoy free Java Joes coffee, hot cider and holiday-baked goods while choosing gifts that benefit those in need at the second annual Santa Fe Alternative Gift Market. The Market begins with a grand opening celebration Friday, December 16, at 5:00 p.m., chaired by Ali MacGraw. The Market will be open Saturday & Sunday, December 17 and 18, at the DeVargas Center in Santa Fe. Weekend hours are Saturday, December 17, 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 18, Noon-5:00 p.m.

Participants can select tax-deductible gifts that provide urgently needed assistance to local and international organizations providing medical help, books for libraries, shelter and food, working to reduce illiteracy, and assisting homeless veterans, among other things.

Santa Fe non-profits taking part include the Friends of the Library, InterFaith Community Center, La Familia Medical Center and Esperanza Shelter for Battered Women and New Mexico Veterans Helping Homeless Veterans.

Gift-givers can choose from more than 60 different items. The choice is enormous. Gifts range from providing flu shots to Santa Fe children from La Familia Medical Center, books for the Santa Fe Public Library, to legal representation for a girl rescued from sexual slavery in Asia; from sending a bicycle to rural health workers in Zambia, to underwriting one night’s stay in Santa Fe’s Interfaith Shelter, or providing entrepreneurial training to one Egyptian trying to start a business.

Highlights this year will be story times for children, as librarians and volunteers from the Santa Fe Public Library take turns reading holiday favorites, plus musical performances by local musicians.

Alternative Gifts International is a non-profit organization that inspires support for humanitarian and environmental causes. It offers donors the option to designate charitable gifts through carefully selected agencies in the name of their relatives, friends and associates.

by PCH @Main

Free Parking!

Parking Division Offering Holiday Incentives

First Two Hours Free Over Three Weekends; 20% Off of CashKey Reloads

The city’s Parking Division is helping shoppers ease their holiday stress by offering the first two hours of parking free at three city-owned garages and the Water St. parking lot, over three weekends: December 10 and 11; December 17 and 18; and December 24 and 25. Interim Parking Division Director Sevastian Gurule said, “The Parking Division plays an important role in the downtown area as it contributes to public safety and the success of downtown businesses. Our pervious parking promotions have been successful, and it just makes the holiday shopping experience a little nicer; to be able to park for free for a couple of hours in a secure covered garage located in the heart of our beautiful city.” The first-two-hours-free holiday parking promotion is valid at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center parking garage, 119 S. Federal Place; the Sandoval parking garage, 216 E. San Francisco St.; the Railyard parking garage, 503 Camino de la Familia; and the lot on Water St., 102 E. Water St.

Shoppers who want to park for two hours at a meter on those three weekends will find the meters hooded—courtesy of the Downtown Merchants Association and the city’s Parking Division. In an effort to ensure that all customers have an opportunity to partake in this holiday promotion, patrons are asked to adhere to the two-hour time limit.

For the gift that keeps on giving, the Parking Division is offering a 20% discount on all CashKey reloads beginning Monday, December 5 through Friday, December 30 except for December 8 and 9, when the office will be closed for staff training on the new Parking Management System. Reload the keys at the Parking Division office in the main post office, 120 S. Federal Place, third floor, Suite 321, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

For more information, contact the Parking Division administrative office at 505-955-6581.

Interlibrary Loan Holiday Hiatus

Interlibrary Loans will be temporarily suspended starting Wednesday, December 14, 2011. No requests, either in person or via email, will be accepted after Tuesday, December 13, 2011.

The Interlibrary Loan Department takes a hiatus at the end of the year due to the closures of educational institutions from which we do much of our borrowing and lending. It also gives us time to clear our records and recover overdue items.

We will not be accepting requests while we are on hiatus, either in person or by email. If you have any questions, you can email Interlibrary Loan at interlibraryloan@santafelibrary.org or call 955-6780.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

"Holly in Winter" photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair

Saturday, December 3
9:00 am - 2:00 pm

Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center
1121 Alto St.

Call 955-4715 for more information.

Recycle Holiday Lights

As you and your family decorate your home this year, you may need to get rid of broken or unwanted holiday lights. Now, you can recycle these lights for free! Rather than tossing them in the trash, these lights can be stripped for their valuable metals and recycled, keeping them out of the landfill.

All types of string lights are accepted, including icicles and LEDs. The bulbs can be left on the string. Drop them off for no charge at any of the following locations:

Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station (BuRRT) – 2600 Buckman Road, Santa Fe

Capital Scrap Metal Inc – 1162 Cooks Lane, Santa Fe. Capital Scrap will pay $0.80 per pound.

City of Santa Fe, Environmental Services Division – 1142 Siler Road, Santa Fe

County Transfer Stations – All transfer stations are accepting lights.

For more information on what can be recycled and where to take it, please visit http://www.santaferecycling.org/

Change Your Clocks!

Daylight Saving Time will end this Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 am. If you're not sure which way the clock goes, remember the phrase:
Spring Forward, Fall Back.

That's right, this Sunday we will all gain an hour. This one time a year, we've got an "extra" hour to play, work, or sleep with. So at 2:00 am Sunday morning, set your clock to 1:00 am, and you're all set!

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

El Día de Los Muertos Procession

Giant Puppets! Music! Fun! Costumed Characters! Outdoor Community Altar dedicated to Air, Water, Food and Energy! Bring Families and Friends!

Create something artful and political (in the spirit of the season) to carry in the Procession, dealing with the Serious Issues of Air, Water, Food and Energy: (like) The Tar Sands (and Pipeline)! Fracking! Nuclear Power! Genetic Engineering! Coal! Corporate Control of Air, Water, Food, Energy and Everything! You Know What The Issues Are! Think in images or poetry. Come in costume — wear your best calavera (skeleton) gear.

Can't think of anything to make? Don't want to wear a costume? No problem! Just come on out and join the procession!

Bring a candle to carry (protected in some way from wind, etc) and water from your home to place on the altar (label it with where it is from). You may also bring offerings : food that a loved one who has passed on was fond of, a poem, an image — please do not bring anything valuable, as this altar will be outdoors.

The Procession will start at the old Borders parking lot at Sanbusco (look for the big puppets). Please arrive by 5:45PM. The Procession starts at 6PM.

We will wind through the Railyard and end up at El Museo Cultural at the site of the community altar (taking about 30 minutes).

Questions? Need more information? Call Bobbe at 505-988-9244

Literary Cat Bench Dedication

Saturday, October 1
10:30 am
Southside Library
6599 Jaguar Drive

This Caturday, um, we mean, Saturday, you're invited to the dedication of The Vanity Bench honoring the sophisticated literary calico cat, Vanity, with Peggy and David van Hulsteyn. This sunny bench at the Southside Library is a tribute to the feisty feline’s literary accomplishments. A reception will follow the dedication.

Vanity,the Eloise of the Cat World, produced two classics, Diary of a Santa Fe Cat and Vanity in Washington. The van Hulsteyns hope you can join them to celebrate Vanity’s felicitous life and to commemorate her tireless quest for a good nap and a good book.

Peggy Van Hulsteyn won the Southwest Writers Workshop Storyteller Award for Best Novel for her murder mystery in-progress. She was awarded first place for non-fiction by The New Mexico Press Women for her book, Mind Your Own Business, and she won a Certificate of Excellence in Humor for Vanity in Washington from the Cat Writers Association. Van Hulsteyn, who attended the University of Missouri Journalism School, holds a degree in English and journalism from Indiana University. She now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her physicist husband and two literary and bird-friendly cats.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library.

100 Thousand Poets for Change

Saturday, September 24
6:00 - 9:00 pm

Eggman & Walrus
130 W. Palace Ave., 2nd floor
Santa Fe, NM

Join poets around the globe in a demonstration & celebration of poetry to promote sustainable change! So far, 450 cities representing 95 countries are planning 650 events.

Contact Julie at julie@cybermesa.com if you would like to participate.

For more information, go to 100 Thousand Poets for Change.

Sponsored by Little Wing Productions, a roving arts & music collective.

E-Waste Recycling Drop Off Day

One Day Only
Saturday, August 27
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
1142 Siler Road
955-2215

Sponsors:
Keep Santa Fe Beautiful, the City of Santa Fe, and Albuquerque Recycling Inc.

You can bring:

• TVs ($10 disposal fee: cash only)


• CRT computer monitors ($5 disposal fee: cash only)


• Computers, servers and laptops


• Flat screen monitors


• Printers and scanners


• Fax machines


• Telephones and cell phones


• Palm Pilots and other hand-held electronic devices


• Lead acid batteries, computer back-up batteries, UPS batteries


• TV satellite equipment


• VCRs and CD players


• Stereo equipment


• Computer and TV game assemblies


• Cameras and video cameras

Not accepted:

• Coffee makers


• Alkaline batteries


• Hair dryers


• Bread machines


• Light bulbs of any kind


• Cardboard or paper


• Appliances including microwave ovens


• Household hazardous waste

Appliance Drop Off Day

Saturday, August 20
9:00 am to 1:00 pm
1142 Siler Road

Santa Fe residents can drop off refrigerators, freezers, ovens, dishwashers, water heaters, washers and dryers at Siler Road free of charge. Other appliances, including scrap metal rims (without the tires please) and metal construction debris will all be accepted. Vacuums and carpet cleaners will not be accepted.
After 1 pm, items can be taken to Capitol Scrap Metal at 1162 Cooks Lane.

Appliance Drop-Off Day is co-sponsored by Keep Santa Fe Beautiful (KSFB), the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County.

For more information, contact Montaño at 955-2215, or by email at Sfbeautiful@santafenm.gov. Visit Keep Santa Fe Beautiful on Facebook or online at http://www.keepsantafebeautiful.org/.

Call for Artists

The Southside Branch Library, at 6599 Jaguar Drive, is accepting applications from artists interested in displaying their work for one month. Applicants must live in the City of Santa Fe or Santa Fe County and be eligible for a Santa Fe Public Library card.

Please pick up and return applications at the Southside Library reference desk. The Art Committee will meet with artists to select and schedule art displays to begin in October of 2011. Applicants should be prepared to present their work on Friday, September 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in the café meeting room at Southside.

For more information, call John Pinkston at 955-2824.

Cut Down on Catalogs

I just signed up for Catalog Choice, a program supported by the Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency and the City of Santa Fe to cut down on unwanted mail. While the junk mail is merely a nuisance to me and my mouse-sized post office box, it adds up in the community, costing the City thousands of dollars each year, about $10 per household, in waste disposal. Signing up for this service is free, and you can add several addresses to ensure that [business name redacted] stops sending you unsolicited ads or the annual phone books.

The one drawback to Catalog Choice is, unlike the National Do Not Call Registry that blocks phone calls from telemarketers across the board, you need to actually know the names of the businesses and organizations that are sending you unwanted mail and request for each one to be blocked individually. This part of the service is free. Also, not all companies can be "blocked" in this manner. If you want to be across-the-board "unlisted", meaning that some of the biggest marketers will not have access to your mailing address, that type of membership costs a minimum of $20 per year.

So while it's a step in the right direction, staving off the onslaught of commercial mail still requires an investment of time and/or money. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by over a decade of clicking a button that reads "Spam" to keep this sort of thing out of my e-mail. But even if we just cut down on some of the unwanted mail that take up a lot of time, attention, and taxpayer resources, the savings in money and environment will help us all.

Back-to-School Supplies!

When you're doing your back-to-school shopping, please don't forget that your favorite nighborhood library can always use your cast-off or excess writing utensils. You can bring in last year's fashions, or if you happen to get a few new ones for us, great!

We'll ♥ you forever!

Pencil photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

New! OneClickdigital

One-Click Audio is now OneClickDigital!

"Downloading audiobooks has never been easier"

Our downloadable audiobooks are now available in an easier-to-use interface. We still have thousands of books for you to download and enjoy, and will be adding more every month. You will need to sign up for a new account on the OneClickDigital page, but will benefit from new features. If you have audiobooks downloaded right now, you may need to download them again from the new interface.

If you do run into problems, please be patient as we switch over services. There are still some bugs we're working out of the OneClickDigital system. As of today, July 20, the NetLibrary website, Media Center, and Download Manager will no longer be available to us. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Features of OneClickDigital:
All titles are iPod-compatible
Exclusive Recorded Books content
Over 10,000 titles from other publishers
Easy-to-use interface
Advanced search features with filtering and saved search

Also, stay tuned for eBooks, coming soon!

Rep. Luján’s Staff at La Farge

La Farge Library
1730 Llano St.
Thursday July 21
Noon to 2 p.m.

During Mobile Office Hours, Congressman Ben Ray Luján’s staff is available to residents who need assistance with casework, but may not have the means or time to travel to one of Luján’s six district offices. Staff will be on hand to assist residents who have questions regarding Social Security benefits, immigration applications, veterans’ services, and other federal programs.

Change in Library Hours

Starting July 18, 2011, the Santa Fe Public Library has chosen to close the downtown Main Library and the Oliver La Farge Branch Library at an earlier time. Main Library will close at 8:00 pm Monday through Thursday. La Farge will close at 8:00 pm Monday through Wednesday. All other hours, including weekends, will remain unchanged.

This measure is being taken to improve efficiency throughout the Santa Fe Public Library system in this new budget year.

Starting Monday, July 18, 2011, the hours for the Library will be:

Main Library
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday: 1:00 - 5:00 pm

La Farge Library
Monday - Wednesday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday: Closed

Southside Library
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday: Closed

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please call 505-955-6780 or email library@santafenm.gov for more information.

Help Santa Clara Pueblo

The Las Conchas Fire burned over 6,000 acres of land on Santa Clara Pueblo, threatening its watershed and putting Santa Clara at risk of flooding from the finally-started monsoons. Santa Clara needs help!

IF YOU CAN VOLUNTEER TO HELP the Santa Clara Pueblo, please call Ms. Heather Dasheno, who is the contact person for volunteer efforts at Santa Clara Pueblo. You may contact her directly at 925-519-6317 regarding opportunities to volunteer.

Ms. Dasheno said they will need people to sand bag beginning today, 7/13/2011. There is also a need for people to assist the kitchen staff with preparing food and serving food to volunteers.

New Online Services

If you're like me and consider the telephone to be a Nineteenth Century invention best kept in museums, we're taking steps to help you out. While we've had the general contact email address, library@santafenm.gov for years, we've added two more to help you get to the right person on the first try.

If you have questions about overdue items, holds, your patron record, or lost / damaged items, you can email circulation@santafelibrary.org directly. As always, you can renew your SFPL items online or by calling the Renewal Line at 955-6987.

If you have questions about our Interlibrary Loan services, need to inquire on the status of an interlibrary loan request, or would like to renew your interlibrary loan (ILL), you can email interlibraryloan@santafelibrary.org. Also, you can now submit your requests online! Request forms are available here. You can email these requests as an attachment, or print out the forms and bring them in to any library branch. You can still call the Interlibrary Loan Department at 505-955-6720 to renew items or ask questions and still be notified by phone, email, or postcard when your ILL request arrives.

So now you can do the library business you need to do, all from the convenience of email!

Image courtesy of Roland.