Register to vote at the Library

Beginning Saturday June 7, a voter registrar will be on hand at the Placitas Community Library each Saturday from 10-12 through the end of registration in October. It is quick and easy, so please bring your ID and stop by. The right to vote is one of the most precious rights we hold as citizens of the United States . Please exercise yours!

Preview Party/Unveiling of new painting by Darrly Wilson

Cowboy artist Darryl Willison has generously donating an original painting to the PCL Building Fund. Please join the Friends of the PCL at a Preview Party/Unveiling on June 14 from 5-8 at the Art Gallery 66 in Bernalillo.

ADULT PROGRAMS
 
Placitas Talks is taking a vacation.
 

PLACITAS LIBRARY BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP MEETS AT 4PM THE FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH. CALL TO VERIFY DATE AND LOCATION (867-3355).

ALL BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE FOR CHECKOUT.

Date - Title - Author

June: The Sixteen Pleasures - Robert Hellenga

July: The Lost Painting: Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece - Jonathan Haar

August: Garlic and Sapphires - Ruth Richel

CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS  

A Multicultural Celebration at the Placitas Library

On May 31st, from 10AM-2PM Placitas Community Library will host El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day).  Please join us in celebrating children, families, books, and our cultural diversity.  Children of all ages, and their families, are invited to attend.  At 11:00 we will be having UNM Press children's book author Cristina Ortega reading from some of her books. Dancers from High Spirit Dance Studio will be performing Mexican folk dances at 1:00.  We will be making multicultural crafts to take home.  Refreshments will be served. Come early to get a free children's book! Books will be distributed, one per child, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Summer Reading Program at the Placitas Library

The Placitas Community Library will again be offering a summer reading program for children, ages 3 – 10, though all ages are welcome. Two age groups will be available: preschool-early primary and later primary thru intermediate. Our program will be held every Thursday morning from 9:00 – 10:30 beginning June 5 and running through August7. Most sessions will include shared books as well as craft or art activities.

This summer's theme will be “Catch the Reading Bug.” It is not necessary to register beforehand. Simply come join us each Thursday and learn about the incredible world of insects through books and activities. Our summer schedule is printed below.

Summer Reading Challenge Program

The library will also be sponsoring the Summer Reading Challenge Program. Children of all ages are welcome to register at the library. Once they have registered they will receive a packet which includes a “Catch the Reading Bug' reading log in which they will keep a record of books they have read (or have read to them) during the summer. Everyone's reading will contribute to this summer's library goal of one thousand books read! Watch the large caterpillar in the children's room grow as we work toward our goal. We will celebrate everyone's reading at our Summer Reading Celebration with a party, prizes and more. (For those children who registered last month for the Summer Reading Challenge, they can now pick up their packets at the library.)

Call the Placitas Community Library, 1 Tierra Madre, at 867-3355 for further information on any of our children's programs.

Library Birth Bash a Great Success

The Library celebrated its fourth Birthday in April with the Rio Grande Zoo. About 50 children and adults were delighted and educated by a visit from the “ZOO TO YOU” van on April 26th. They brought several parrots, a hedgehog and an Australian porcupine. When was the last time you had the opportunity to touch a lion's mane? A great deal of fun and cake was had by all!

COMMUNITY OUTREACH
 

The seniors from the Senior Program at the Placitas Community Center visited the Library again in January to hear about new Outreach – Placitas Library

As we look forward to our planning and creation of our new building, we continue to reach out to our community with programming. Currently, we are working with the Village Academy School , providing twice monthly onsite library checkout for the students. We survey the interests and reading levels of the students and attempt to match them with appropriate materials that will open their eyes to the wonderful world of pleasure reading. Additionally, we are teaching classes on utilizing appropriate free and state funded websites. In this program, we seek to show the students how to expand their research skills and to accurately cite their sources.

Moving into to 2008, we look to serve the homebound residents of Placitas. We are working with the Placitas Senior Center to identify residents that may be either temporarily or permanently homebound. After an initial survey of needs, we provide home delivery of books and other media to the library patron. Please call the Placitas Library @ 867-3355 if you or someone you know would be interested in this service.

We also look to expand our adult programming, offering evening educational events on health care, politics, local history and of course, on the unique natural wonders of the Placitas Community.

MONTHLY BOOK SELECTIONS

Adult - Non-Fiction

Three cups of Tea: One man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations – one school at a time, by Greg Mortenson, 2006
On a 1993 expedition to climb K2 in honor of his sister Christa, who had died of epilepsy at 23, Mortenson stumbled upon a remote mountain village in Pakistan. Out of gratitude for the villagers' assistance when he was lost and near death, he vowed to build a school for the children who were scratching lessons in the dirt. Raised by his missionary parents in Tanzania, Mortenson was used to dealing with exotic cultures and developing nations. Still, he faced daunting challenges of raising funds, death threats from enraged mullahs, separation from his family, and a kidnapping to eventually build 55 schools in Taliban territory. Award-winning journalist Relin recounts the slow and arduous task Mortenson set for himself, a one-man mission aimed particularly at bringing education to young girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (371.822 Mortenson)

What would the Founders do: our questions, their answers, by Richard Brookhiser 2006

Why do Americans care so much about the Founding Fathers? …. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and Adams built our country, wrote our user's manuals--the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution--and ran the nation while it was still under warranty and could be returned to the manufacturer. If anyone knows how the U.S.A. should work, they did and they still do. Richard Brookhiser has been writing, talking, and thinking about the Founders for years. Now he channels them. What would Hamilton think about free trade? What would Franklin make of the national obsession with values? What would Washington say about gays in the military? Examining a host of issues from terrorism to women's rights to gun control, Brookhiser reveals why we still turn to the Founders in moments of struggle, farce, or disaster. Written with Brookhiser's trademark eloquence--and a good dose of wit--while drawing on his deep knowledge of American history. (973.309 Brookhiser)

If you find the Buddha, by Jesse Kalisher, 2006
Whether in the heart of Asia or a farm in the American heartland, the Buddha image never seems out of place. As a reminder to stop and live in the moment, it is as appropriate as a charm around the neck of a young Thai soldier as on a car dashboard. Photographs of the Buddha in various incarnations—traditional statuary, toys, garden ornaments, jewelry, tattoos—demonstrate that the Buddha is seemingly everywhere, if one cultivates the proper awareness. By turns beautiful, quirky, ironic, and meditative, Kalisher's images in If You Find the Buddha speak not only to the omnipresence of the spiritual icon, but also to our capacity to be surprised and delighted by the unexpected. With an insightful essay by noted author and traveler Jeff Greenwald, the striking photographs in this book delight and enlighten in equal measure. (779.8943 Kalisher)

Not a Drop to Drink: America's water crisis (and what you can do), by Kenneth Midkiff and Robert F. Kennedy, jr., 2007

In some parts of the United States, water is disappearing as consumption exceeds supply. In other parts, battles are raging that will determine both the cost and the quality of a simple glass of water. Not a Drop to Drink comprehensively examines the imminent crisis of America's water supply and explains what readers everywhere can do about it. In this straightforward, story-driven book, Ken Midkiff talks to crusty ranchers in Topeka, suited lawyers in Atlanta, and smooth-talking politicians in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Using regional and national case studies, he analyzes and presents the roots of the problem, and then says what we must do to solve it. Written by one of the foremost experts on America's water supply, this is a must-read book for concerned citizens nationwide. (363.6109 Midkiff)

Health at 100: the scientifically proven secrets of the world”s healthiest and longest-lived peoples, by John Robbins, 2007

In this revolutionary book, bestselling author John Robbins presents us with a bold new paradigm of aging, showing us how we can increase not only our lifespan but also our health span. Through the example of four very different cultures that have the distinction of producing some of the world's healthiest, oldest people, Robbins reveals the secrets for living an extended and fulfilling life in which our later years become a period of wisdom, vitality, and happiness.
Bringing the traditions of these ancient and vibrantly healthy cultures together with the latest breakthroughs in medical science, Robbins reveals that, remarkably, they both point in the same direction. With an emphasis on simple, wholesome, but satisfying fare, and the addition of a manageable daily exercise routine, many people can experience great improvement in the quality of their lives now and for many years to come. But perhaps more surprising is Robbins' discovery that it is not diet and exercise alone that helps people to live well past one hundred. The quality of personal relationships is enormously important. With startling medical evidence about the effects of our interactions with others, Robbins asserts that loneliness has more impact on lifespan than such known vices as smoking. There is clearly a strong beneficial power to love and connection  (613.2 Robbins)

Choosing the President 2008: a citizen's guide to the electoral process, by The League of Women Voters, 2008

The League of Women Voters' offering is an essential text for understanding the process, laws, and issues that impact a U.S. presidential election. In chapters grounded in history and statistics, Guldin covers political parties, media, money, campaigning, primaries, conventions, and election day processes. The results serve to demystify the election process and clearly explain how both fundamental and controversial issues can impact election results. This timely guide offers regular citizens and specialists alike sound information on the mechanics and implications of the political process. (324.6097 choosing)

Adult - Biography
 

A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier, by Ishmael Beah, 2007

This absorbing account by a young man who, as a boy of 12, gets swept up in Sierra Leone's civil war goes beyond even the best journalistic efforts in revealing the life and mind of a child abducted into the horrors of warfare. Beah's harrowing journey transforms him overnight from a child enthralled by American hip-hop music and dance to an internal refugee bereft of family, wandering from village to village in a country grown deeply divided by the indiscriminate atrocities of unruly, sociopathic rebel and army forces. Beah then finds himself in the army—in a drug-filled life of casual mass slaughter that lasts until he is 15, when he's brought to a rehabilitation center sponsored by UNICEF and partnering NGOs. When the war finally engulfs the capital, it sends 17-year-old Beah fleeing again, this time to the U.S., where he now lives. (BIO Beah)  

Never Again: securing America and restoring justice, by John D. Ashcroft, 2006

As a governor, senator, and attorney general, John Ashcroft never shied away from controversy, and he remains one of most polarizing figures of President George W. Bush's tenure. In NEVER AGAIN, Ashcroft offers opponents and supporters alike the rare opportunity to learn more about how 9/11, the Patriot Act, the execution of Timothy McVeigh, and other tragic and controversial events affected him politically and personally. Ashcroft addresses these issues and events candidly and without apology. BIO Ashcroft)

Ages 9 - 12 – Non-fiction

Freedom Walkers: the story of the Montgomery bus boycott, by Russell Freedman, 2006

Freedman begins this outstanding history by reminding his audience that the injustices of racial segregation did not happen that long ago in the United States. Throughout the book, he gives accounts of how much coordination and sacrifice went into conducting the Montgomery Bus Boycott–far more than students are likely to imagine from the usual popular and oversimplified versions offered in textbooks and on television. There is a refreshing emphasis on depictions of regular people and forgotten local crusaders working together to make the boycott possible and triumphant, from inspiring descriptions of drivers getting up at dawn to take others to work to accounts of well-known civil-rights lawyers working to find the right plaintiff to challenge unjust laws. Freedman's prose style pulls readers into the narrative, integrating the actual recorded words and deeds of the people to tell the story. The high-quality, black-and-white photographs range from everyday scenes of African-American boycotters meeting, waiting for carpools, and protesting to representations of more famous figures. (JUV323.1196 Freedman)

You Can Save the Planet: 50 ways you cam make a difference. by Jacquie Wines, 2008

This book is a call to action for children everywhere. The effects of pollution, global warming, and the destruction of our planet have never been so visible or measurable. The book introduces and explains massive global problems that need to be addressed now. (JUV 363.7056 Wines)

Ages 4-8 – Fiction

Nutsy the Robot Goes to Bed, by Mark Shulman, 2006 (EASY Shulman)

Read All About It, by Laura Bush, 2008 (EASY Bush)

We The People Bookshelf

The Placitas Community Library is proud to announce that we have been selected to receive the 2008 We the People Bookshelf, a collection of 17 books on the “Created Equal” theme. This program, presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities in cooperation with the American Library Association, encourages young people to read and understand great literature while exploring themes in American history. Look for this outstanding collection of books currently displayed in the children's room. This is the third year in a row that PCL has been selected!

Santa Fe produced radio broadcasts "Aspectos Culturales"

These weekly broadcasts, hosted by Roberto Mondragon, are dedicated to the preservation and sharing of Hispanic Culture. They also support bilingual language development, with music, interviews, and other aspects of Hispanic Culture. Mr. Mondragon brings alive the flavor of the New Mexican landscape. CDs of these broadcasts are available at the library for a three week check out period.