| Trinidad Carnegie Library Celebrates its One
Hundredth Year
The local public library is one of our democracy's most
versatile, accessible places. Every member of the community is welcome. Because
they have a special bond with their own communities and the people who live
there, libraries lead users into many worlds of knowledge and learning. The
democratic vision of free public access to education and information is still at
the heart of the nation's public libraries.
Through his generosity, Andrew Carnegie helped fund more than
3,000 public libraries nationwide. In going from poverty to riches, he became
one of the great American success stories. Born in Scotland, he came to America
an immigrant boy, earning $1.20 a week. Eventually, he would become a prominent
industrialist and one of America's greatest philanthropists. Within 50 years, he
would donate a third of a billion dollars to various philanthropic causes
through the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie believed that it was his moral obligation to repay the
country that had given him the opportunity to achieve prominence and amass a
staggering fortune. Why did he choose libraries as the instrument of his
generosity?
He believed that libraries could contribute to the success of
immigrants seeking a better life. Carnegie required the recipients of his
donation to follow certain stipulations. To be eligible, a community had to
demonstrate the need for a public library. Additionally, he required
municipalities to donate a building site, and, most importantly, he mandated
that they provide continuous fiscal support.
Carnegie Public Library in Trinidad at 202 Animas Street
Public libraries are a civic responsibility. Through tax funds,
the City of Trinidad supports the Trinidad Carnegie Public Library. The library
serves both the citizens of Las Animas County and the City of Trinidad. It is an
integral part of our civic fabric and a responsibility to the community. The
mission of our public library is to inform, educate, and culturally enrich the
entire community.
| We provide a diverse selection of library materials
and informational services ranging from interlibrary loan, a dynamic children's
library, with reading programs and educational material, audio books, adult book
clubs, increased support for our visually impaired patrons, cultural programs
celebrating the diversity of our community, a substantial Spanish collection and
a very proactive acquisition of new fiction, non-fiction and biographies.
Andrew Carnegie could not have imagined the impact information
technology would play in his legacy to the library community. Computers make
information access available to the community and the world. The library's walls
become transparent as computers allow patrons to go anywhere in the world
on-line. In the immediate future, the Trinidad Carnegie Public Library will
enable library patrons to search its library catalog from their home computers,
making it a virtual library available to all users regardless of location or
ability. |
Carnegie Public Library Director, Shawn Leche
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The staff strives to deliver quality service while presenting a
variety of programs in a welcoming environment. The Trinidad Carnegie Public
Library encourages lifelong learning, as well as knowledge through
self-education and the joy of learning. This year marks the centennial
anniversary of our Carnegie Library. Please join us throughout the coming year
as we celebrate the library's birthday through a diverse selection of programs.
Lobby of the Carnegie Public Library
Arthur Johnson Memorial Library
The Arthur Johnson Memorial Library, first established as the
Carnegie Library, has served Raton and the surrounding area for over 90 years.
Since 1967 the library has been located in the original U.S. Post Office, a
two-story building renovated as recently as 1996. It’s owned, operated, and
funded by the city of Raton, with supplemental funds provided by Colfax County
and the New Mexico State Library.
Arthur Johnson Memorial Library in Raton, NM
The library has a meeting room used by various organizations and
groups each month. Programming is varied and has included writers’ workshops
and grant workshops in the recent past, a Great Books Foundation reading group,
and a book signing by Cimarron author, Steven Zimmer. It also conducts a
Preschool Story Hour once a week throughout the year, a reading program for
adults from the Colfax County Workshop, and a Summer Story Hour for children of
all ages during the summer. Tours for various classes and groups are scheduled
in advance and conducted throughout the year.
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Arthur Johnson Memorial Library Director, Thayla Wright
|
The library carries a variety of materials from
books and periodicals to CDs, videos, DVDs, audio books and microfilm of the
Raton Daily Range, and the local census records. Patrons are able to order books
not held by the library through the OCLC, a nationwide database that allows
libraries to lend and borrow from other libraries across the country and around
the world. The library has had public Internet access since the early 1990s and
has increased the number of machines available to the public through various
means, including donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, donations
from local patrons and supporters, and through the budget process. Currently
there are eight public access computers available in the library. |
The Friends of the Library are an active group who raise money
for various library needs through an ongoing book sale, large twice-yearly book
sales, and sales of books and materials on e-bay. Another program the public can
participate in to benefit the library and its patrons is the Memorial Book
Program in which books are donated or purchased and paid for by patrons in
memory of friends and loved ones. The library contains a fine collection of art
work displayed throughout the building, including works from members of the Taos
Art Colony and WPA works. Listed as a stop on the Historic Walking Tour of
Raton, many people stop in just to admire the art.
Lobby of the Arthur Johnson Memorial Library in Raton, NM
This spring and summer the library will be repairing, painting
and landscaping the outside of the building, and pouring a new sidewalk. The
staff anticipates a fresh, attractive look for library patrons and citizens to
enjoy.
Spanish Peaks Library in Walsenburg
The cover story of the March 2004 issue of American Libraries,
the magazine of the American Library Association, is entitled “The Middle of
Somewhere, Rural Service Delivery.” Christine Watkins, in her article “Small
Libraries, Big Ideas” writes, “Rural libraries and their urban and suburban
counterparts are in different places, not on different planets. Clearly they
face different challenges, but small does not mean less.” Like all the
libraries in Huerfano, Las Animas, and Colfax Counties, Spanish Peaks Library
provides the same quality of materials and services as every other public
library, just not in the same quantity.
Spanish Peaks Library in Walsenburg
The Spanish Peaks Library is housed in an unassuming 1950s
structure on Main Street. It looks more like a residence than a hub of
information; it is an active place where children's programs, new books,
computers, tax forms, magazines, and local, state and national newspapers are
all available. A cheerful and helpful staff assists patrons to find
informational, educational, and recreational resources to meet their needs.
| There is a small but persistent Friends of the
Library group that holds an annual used book sale during the Black Diamond
Jubilee Festival in June. The Friends group also assists in other fund-raising
events and coordinates volunteer activities for the library.
The Spanish Peaks Library District Board of Trustees is now in
the process of securing funds to double the library’s size. Plans call for
moving the children's area from the basement to the main floor, adding community
meeting space, expanding the areas where library materials are shelved, and
increasing the number of computers available for public use. |
Spanish Peaks Library Director, Monica Kirby
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