Rescheduled: Van of Enchantment at Main

Due to mechanical difficulties, the Van of Enchantment from the New Mexico History Museum is cancelled for Thursday, June 9, at Main Library. It has been rescheduled for Tuesday, August 2, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

You can also catch the Van of Enchantment at:

Southside Library
6599 Jaguar Dr.
Tuesday, June 14
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Please check our Summer Reading page for a full schedule of children's activities!

Van of Enchantment

The traveling museum known as the Van of Enchantment will be visiting the Santa Fe Public Library over the next few weeks. The current exhibit is Riding the Rails, exploring both the Santa Fe Trail and the railroads and their effect on New Mexico's development. Exploring the Van of Enchantment is free, open to all ages, and you don't need to register.

The Van will be in the parking lots of the respective libraries between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. The Van will be closed for the lunch hour midday at each location.

The dates of the Van's visit are:

La Farge Library
1730 Llano St.
Tuesday, June 7

Main Library
145 Washington Ave.
Thursday, June 9

Southside Library
6599 Jaguar Dr.
Tuesday, June 14

City of Santa Fe Literacy Bus

I attended a wonderful community celebration last weekend. It was the 25th anniversary of Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe and the unveiling of Santa Fe’s very own public transportation bus with a pro-literacy message of “Building a World of Readers, Artists, and Dreamers”. On the back of the bus a dinosaur is painted holding a sign that says: “Avoid Extinction: Read”. These are messages that warm every librarian’s heart. Led by nationally known graphic artist & cartoonist, Phil Yeh, twenty-five Santa Fe artists spent 16 hours to complete the masterpiece. When I see it on the streets I’m going to honk & wave; I encourage others to do the same.


by SAS @SS
Photos by Estevan Studios

Shakespeare on the Move

The New Mexico Rail Runner and UNM Department of Theatre Education and Outreach are teaming up to provide some great summer entertainment. Every Saturday afternoon in June, July, and August, scenes from Shakespeare's plays will be performed on the train between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. You can find full details here, including schedules and which types of scenes will be performed each month. The performances are free, aside from the train fare of course.

I'm sure the Love Scenes in June and the Comedic Scenes in July will be fantastic. However, I'm most looking forward to the Scenes of Treachery & Deceit in August. Hmmmm...swashbuckling swordplay on the train?! It sounds like a fantastic reason to take the Rail Runner, or as I call it, The Rail Funner, this summer.

The Not-So-Friendly Skies

As a result of watching a recent Frontline program about regional airlines (if you didn’t catch the program, you can watch it here), I got very interested in the regionals, and where they fly, and honestly, what their safety records are. I’ve never been a fan of flying, and it’s scary to have no idea what the credentials of your pilot are, or what the accident record of the line you’re flying is. In my perusal for information, I discovered that the PBS website has this nifty map from which I can’t tear myself away.

Call it a fascination with the morbid or maybe just a fervent desire to keep myself safe while palpitating through air travel, but I’ve been checking the details on every airline. Some are exemplary, and some are downright scary. In any event, if you’re planning a trip that involves an airplane any time soon, this is a valuable resource to find out in whose hands you want to put your safety.

If the regionals make you nervous, and the lack of any information of whether you’re booking a major airline or being sneakily shuttled off to one of their contract airlines infuriates, here’s a tip-off: pay attention to how many seats the plane has. You can see by checking a particular airport on the nifty map that the regionals consistently have smaller planes with less than a hundred seats. And do read the incidents and accidents reports – you may be unsettled by a long list of accidents, or pleasantly surprised by a complete lack of fatalities.

by AA @Main

Graphic courtesy of LucyTravels

The Pick-Up Picks Up

THE SANTA FE PICK-UP, the city’s year-old, free downtown shuttle, is offering rides to passengers every five-to-ten minutes, in addition to the regularly scheduled pick-up and drop-off times. People who want to shop, eat, or stroll around the Guadalupe District can do so knowing that a free shuttle will pick them up at the stop on Montezuma and take them to the Plaza, the state Capitol, Canyon Road or local hotels, according to W. P. Hon, Parking Division Director. The Pick-Up also has a stop in front of the Main Library at 145 Washington Ave.

“The five- to ten-minute service will begin at 10 a.m. until around 4 p.m., when there aren’t as many commuters,” explained Hon. “We’ll have all the shuttles in service for the commuters.” The Santa Fe Pick-Up was introduced last year and has steadily gained popularity among locals, as well as visitors and commuters using the Rail Runner Express.

For more information on The Santa Fe Pick-Up, contact Hon at 955-6611. Schedules are available on the shuttles.

GCCC Transportation Meeting Postponed

In this morning's post, we reported on a public meeting this evening at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road. That meeting has been rescheduled for February 16 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Transportation Meeting at Main Library

Santa Fe Metropolitan Transportation Plan
Public Meeting

February 5
12:00 noon to 5:30 p.m.
Main Library Community Room
145 Washington Avenue

Travelers to and within Santa Fe can voice concerns or share comments for improvements to roads, transit/rail, bikeways, or pedestrian ways at three public meetings on the Santa Fe Metropolitan Transportation Plan (SFMTP). Some of the transportation issues under consideration include: Corridor Studies for I-25, NM599 and St. Francis Drive; potential roadway and bikeway connections; consistent design standards along roadway corridors; expanding transit and local rail service; developing a comprehensive pedestrian plan that integrates a local Safe Routes to School Program.

An additional meeting will be held this evening from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road. The Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road, will have an additional meeting on February 16 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The approved SFMTP enables the use of federal funding for a range of transportation network improvements (including roads, bridges, bikeways, and pedestrian facilities), as well as for transit/rail facilities, operations, and program support. Once reviewed and certified by the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Federal Highways and Transit Administration, the SFMTP will guide future capital investment to improve all modes of transportation within the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Area.

The SFMTP is updated every 5 years to assess and prioritize improvements. The Santa Fe MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) is responsible for developing a list of projects, identified in the SFMTP that is fiscally constrained to reasonably expected revenues over the next 25 years.

For more information, please visit the Santa Fe MPO website.