COMING IN OCTOBER: Writer's Workshop by Steven Havill, author of the Posadas County Series

  When Steven Havill first moved to Raton back in the 90's, he had already published several books in his Posadas County series.  Set in southern New Mexico on the border with Mexico, they followed Sheriff Bill Gastner and Under-Sheriff Estelle Reyes in what were often referred to as 'police procedurals.' 
  But they were much more than that.  As residents of the area started reading his series, they fell in love with Posadas County.  With the sheriff's department, with the citizens and their families, with the school and businesses, with green chile burritos and, of course, with the solving of all sorts of problems and crimes, from an elderly woman who parked her RV on the local judge's lawn in protest (armed with a shotgun), to cattle rustling, accidental death, border crossings, murder and more.
  As readers discovered Posadas County, the list of people reserving his latest book grew longer.  People asked, "When is the next Havill coming out?"  The books just couldn't be written and published fast enough to satisfy readers.  One older man told me, "Tell Mr. Havill to write faster."  When I passed the message on, Mr. Havill dead panned, 'Tell him to read slower."  That, of course, was impossible.  So some of us re-read the old ones while waiting for the latest one.
  In the beginning, Mr. Havill told me that his books were more popular in the east than they were in the southwest.  But as time went on, I began to find his latest book in pre-publication lists printed for libraries.  That meant that the popularity of Posadas County, New Mexico,  had spread across the nation and people everywhere were enjoying Mr. Havill's books, and rightly so.
  On Saturday, October 24, 2015, Mr. Havill is returning to Raton to give another writer's workshop.  His workshops held while he lived in Raton helped more than one person develop, write and publish fiction that is on the library shelves along with his work.  We invite writers to attend another one of these excellent workshops and take advantage of Mr. Havill's experience, success and teaching skills.

Date: Saturday, October 24
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., one hour lunch break at 12:00 p.m.
Subject: - Writing and Publishing Fiction

  Please feel free to bring a sample chapter of your work.  Refreshments will be served.

FAMILY PASS - Your Ticket to 15 Exceptioal Museums and Historic Sites

  The library now has three Family Passes that provide free entry to fifteen museums and historic sites in New Mexico.  These passes are provided by the New Mexico State Library through the Department of Cultural Affairs.  The passes provide free entry for up to six people and check out for one week, with applicable fines or replacement costs for overdue or lost passes.  They are available for checkout at the library through August 31st, 2016. 
  The museums and historic sites are:
1. New Mexico Museum of Space History (Alamogordo)
2. National Hispanic Cultural Center (Albuquerque)
3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Albuquerque)
4. New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum (Las Cruces)
5. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (Santa Fe)
6. Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe)
7. New Mexico History Museum/ Palace of the Governors (Santa Fe)
8. New Mexico Museum of Art (Santa Fe)
9. Coronado Historic Site
10. El Camino Real Historic Trail Site
11. Fort Selden Historic Site
12. Fort Stanton Historic Site
13. Fort Sumner Historic Site/Bosque Redondo Memorial
14. Jemez Historic Site
15. Lincoln Historic Site
  A map on the back of each pass shows the general location in the state of each museum and site.  A Borrower's Agreement must be signed at the time of checkout (signature in blood not required - ink will do.)
  This is the year to travel our wonderful state and get in free to each of these great locations!

Updating the plumbing

The Arthur Johnson Memorial Library will be undergoing plumbing upgrades starting at the end of August through October.  The library will remain open.  If it becomes necessary to shut down, it will be posted on our blog, Facebook page, and also in the library to let you know ahead of time.  Thank you for your patronage.

Cyber Legal Fair

The library will host a free Cyber Legal Fair on Saturday, September 12, 2015, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  This program is being provided throughout New Mexico.  It will be held in the meeting room on the second floor.  A dozen lawyers from Albuquerque will be available online to give face to face legal consultations to individuals with questions concerning civil and criminal issues.  The library will provide the wireless computer access through multiple computers.  Fair representatives will be available to help those on the computers.  The Cyber Legal Fair will be here to help with any legal questions that might be on your mind, including domestic issues, wills, power of attorney, where to find representation, and any other issue you many need answers about.

2015-16 At the Library

Summer Story Hour 2015  "Every Hero has a Story" ended on July 28, 2015.  We here at the library would like to thank everyone who participated in our summer programs.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.

School will be starting soon here in Raton and we will be here for the students, teachers and parents to help find information, you need.   School will start on the August 24 &25.  Teachers may check books out on "program" for use in the class room.  Ask at the front desk.

We will be starting Pre-k story hour on Wednesday, August 19, 2015, from 10 to 11 am, and the Craft hour will began again on Friday, August 21, 2015, at 3 to 4 pm.  These programs are free to the public and open for all ages.  We do recommend that children under 10 be accompanied by an adult or older sibling.

We are currently working on getting a class together for Mr. Steven Havill to be held in October.  As more information comes available we will get it out to you. 

This fiscal year we are also planing to hold some free computer training classes.  Those classes will be:  Computers for the Very Beginner, E-mail, Publisher, and Word.  If you have any suggestions on computer classes you would like to see at the library please feel free to give us a call.

The Raton Science Cafe will be returning to the 2nd Thursday of every month starting on October 8, 2015 at 7 pm.

There will be other programs announced as we get them scheduled. 

Contact Us
E-mail: library@cityofraton.com
Phone:  575-445-9711
Fax: 575-445-8336
Address:  244 Cook Avenue
                 Raton, New Mexico 87740

Library Closed on Monday

The library will be closed on Monday, August 18, 2014 for building maintenance and will be reopening on Tuesday, August 19, 2014. Thank you, AJML Staff

Thank you, Colfax County!

On November 6, during the general election, Colfax County voted 'yes' on GO Bond B for Libraries.  In fact, every county in the state except five voted for this bond issue. 

For years now libraries across the state have depended on the various library bond issues that have been passed.  They have helped keep the level of library service up in public, school and higher education libraries.  In our county, this means that public libraries and school libraries have received extra money to be spent on their collections and computer needs, both of which are crucial to public service and student needs.  As public and educational funds have been harder to come by, GO Bond funds have help fill the gaps.

I am naturally very pleased that the Arthur Johnson Memorial Library will be able to count on these funds once the 2010 GO Bond fund are spent.  Believe me, it's takes a weight off my mind and enables me to plan for the future of this public library with that much more confidence. 

But I am just as pleased for the school libraries in the county.  I know that school libraries in Raton often have ONLY these funds to spend on their collections.  Despite the rumors that books are dead (so libraries must be, too), school libraries and librarians still meet a crucial need in the educational process, and any money that helps them do so is money well spent.

The report I received this morning on a county by county count of the vote on this issue shows that there were 2,581 'yes' votes and 2,313 'no' votes in Colfax County. That was a difference of 268 votes.  It may seem that this is not necessarily impressive - but it is.  In all the years I have worked in this library, Colfax County has never voted 'yes' for a library bond issue.  This is a first, and it tells me and other librarians in this county that the importance of functional libraries is recognized in a way that it never has been before.

Just as interesting is the fact that Colfax County cast 4,894 votes.  The 2011 New Mexico census shows 13,640 as the population.  About 26% of that are juveniles, who cannot vote.  That leaves 10,094 adults of voting age.  If you consider that some of these adults were unable to vote for various reasons, including not being registered to vote, it is quite possible that Colfax County had a 50% turnout of registered voters during this election.  The ideal, of course, is that everyone votes; but the reality is that Colfax County has had much lower voter turnouts than 50% in the past.  This shows public interest in more than just the GO Bond issues, but a real desire on the part of many citizens to particpate in the governing of this county, this state and this country by making decisions with their ability to vote.

So I just want to say, congratulations, Colfax County, on this turnout, and thank you very much for helping keep your libraries in the county funded!

And this year's Centennial Celebrations are:

The State of New Mexico

The Girl Scouts of America

Oreo Cookies

Fenway Park

Chevrolet

THE ARTHUR JOHNSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY, RATON, NEW MEXICO

We're in good company!

Banned Books Week 2012

The yearly Banned Books display is up at the Arthur Johnson Memorial Library.  Books bearing yellow "Caution: Banned Book" labels are set out so that our patrons can see for themselves what has been banned and challenged in other locations, not only in the United States, but throughout the world.

 Before reading was such a universal skill, those who could read and write had the power to control what was copied and for what purpose.  But the invention of the printing press and the increasing ability of the common person to read broke the control of a few over the many.   Education became a reality for people who, in previous times, would have had no opportunity to learn to read.  With this ability came the spreading of many opinions, many beliefs, many facts, many debates.

Unfortunately, this opening up of knowledge, opinion, fiction and fact to humanity did not change human nature.  People really do believe in the power of the written word, and while most of us are willing to allow others their right to choose their own reading material, some are not.  Books are challenged and banned in this country every year.  These challenges and bannings happen mostly to school libraries, although public libraries also face their share of challenges.  Often a person can understand why a parent may not want a child to read certain material. It is harder to understand why a parent would want to keep that material from all other children within their area.  Challenging the propriety of a book in a library anywhere on the basis that it is unsuitable for all children or teens usurps the parental authority of other engaged parents over their own children.  Challenging the propriety of a book for anyone of any age displays an attitude, however well meant, that says, "You are not able to judge for yourself."

People are often surprised that book challenges, bannings and even burnings still happen in the United States.  Regrettable though that is, even more extreme reactions happen across the world.  "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie (1988) resulted in world wide bannings, rioting and death.  This extreme reaction was based on religious belief.  Of course, religious belief in the United States has resulted in the burning of Harry Potter books by a church in our own state and a church in Greenville, Michigan, as well as Halloween burnings, by invitation only, of what a church in Canton, North Carolina called "Satan's bibles" - those that were not the King James version.  These book burnings in our own country all happened in the new millennium. 

Most often, book challenges and bannings occur from a desire to maintain certain standards, protect the innocent, even help create a (hopefully) Utopian society.  Anxiety and fear about the exposure of everyone from individuals to societies to 'unacceptable' material can manifest themselves through these attempts at censorship. 

Libraries everywhere stand in opposition to moving backward in time to when the few determined what the many were allowed to know. What we choose to read ourselves should be under our own control. 

This community has always displayed a respect for the rights of others to choose their own reading and viewing material.  Perhaps that is, in part, because this library makes no attempt to force anything on anyone. We do not take prisoners. We hold no one hostage.  Our goal, like the goals of public libraries across this nation, is to meet the varied needs and desires of each individual - even if they have been banned somewhere else.

Thanks to Zoo To You

Zoo To You was ready for everyone when the library opened the doors this morning.  As usual, it was set up in the children's section of the library and it was three steps from the vestibule to the animals, artifacts and poster displays.  This year Zoo To You brought a three banded armadillo from Brazil; a galah, or rose breasted cockatoo in Australia;  a tiger salamander; a western box turtle; a corn snake; and an alligator.  The artifacts, which are often confiscated items, included pelts, skins, a mounted skeleton of a viper, a stuffed sea turtle, feathers, eggs affected by environmental poisons and other items.

It's safe to say that the armadillo was the star of the show.  Much smaller than the armadillos found in Texas, this little fellow zipped around his large cage, going in and out of his house, exiting by pushing it up from the inside and crawling out, attempting an unsuccessful jail break or two, eating with his specialized tongue and entertaining all the adults and children.  An armadillo's shell is formed from keratin, which is what human fingernails and mammalian hooves are made of.  This particular species of armadillo is the only one that can roll itself entirely into a ball.

 The rose breasted cockatoo was a beautifully plumaged bird.  Shades of pink on the head and breast contrasted with shades of gray elsewhere.  In Australia these birds are common and can be found on lawns just like sparrows are found here. In fact, large flocks are nuisances to farmers, as they will descend on young wheat fields and decimate them.  Still, this  bird was like nothing I've ever seen and he seemed to know it, preening for everyone.

Corn snakes are found in New Mexico and are usually referred to as gray rat snakes.  They subdue their prey by constriction, just like a boa constrictor (although not that large), and are not poisonous.  The western box turtle and tiger salamander are also native to our country.
 
The alligator was about 18 inches long.  Every now and then he made little  "Ar! Ar!" noises, which the docents say alligators make as both territorial and danger signals in the wild. The Albuquerque Biological Park has three alligators now, all released illegally into the community in Albuquerque by former owners who no longer wanted them.  Alligators grow about a foot a year and can reach 300 pounds in ten years.  This small alligator is fed once a week.  In their natural habitat, alligators can go as long as two months without feeding, provided their last meal was a hearty one.
 
Well over 100 people attended this program and filed through, listening to docents Mary Ramsey and Sandy Ligon, who handled the animals to show off their various points and were a fund of information and encouragement when it came to examining all the creatures.  All the docents who travel with the Albuquerque Biological Park Zoo To You exhibits are volunteers.  Sponsors provide the funding for the program, which makes this one of the few traveling zoo exhibits that visits the public for free.

 Everyone who came seemed to find something of interest - but even if that had not been the case, the program would still have been a success simply because one little girl took her mother back home to bring library books to return so she could check out two books on display on armadillos and alligators.  She came back with a camera and took so many pictures of both of those animals, as well asthe  salamander. . .and the cockatoo. . .and the empty armadillo shell. . .and the docents, that her mother said they were going to be redecorating the walls of her room.

Someone is going to be dreaming about Zoo To You.