We’re celebrating! Just a year ago, on November 4, Sedona Public Library opened its new branch in the Village of Oak Creek. Happy Anniversary! Nearly 200 community members joined us that day to celebrate this addition to the Big Park community. It’s been a great year, and we’re grateful to everyone who helped make it happen.
With the new location, expanded size, expanded hours (we’re open 28 hours each week) and services, Sedona Public Library in the Village has been busy. We’ve welcomed over 23,000 visitors to the library – an average of 100 people a day – all the while offering the best service to our grateful patrons. Many come in just to marvel at the spectacular view of Castle Rock, let alone the spacious comfortable setting.
We offer both a full adult and children’s collection of books, movies and other digital media, all resulting in over 33,000 checkouts in our first year! And we’ve registered over 350 new library cards to patrons at our new location. Do you have yours yet? It’s free and opens your world to so much! For instance, consider getting an Act One Culture pass that grants free admission for two to many museums and cultural places of interest in Arizona. And that’s just the beginning.
But what makes a library a library isn’t just the free books, Wi-Fi, computer use, and access to the newest literature or Hollywood blockbusters, it’s the programs and the meeting space. Programs at a library are a great way for people to connect with others who may share their interests or a way to open themselves up to new ideas. And we’ve got the space for you to do it!
Your Village Library has ample space including the children’s area for families to gather, small meeting rooms for individuals to study, and our new large Javelina Room. In May of this year, we broadened our renewable lease to include this large meeting room, which is a malleable space for up to 80 with great technology that can be used foranything from an HOA monthly meeting room to a place where we host Arizona Humanities talks. The possibilities are endless.
We couldn’t have achieved this expansion, or hosted our grand opening a year ago, without the help of so many in the community. A big THANK YOU goes out to Clark’s Market, whose Nonprofit Mondays and support from their customers and staff has resulted in nearly $12,000 in support for the Village Library. And there are the room sponsors including Donna Hawk, Patti Reski, Gordon Reiter, and an anonymous donor who donated a total of $17,000 to help make our meeting rooms hi-tech and available for you and your groups. And thanks to another few hundred donors who give regularly to the Village Library to make it all that it can be for the community.
It’s growing, and thriving, and just like our main branch in West Sedona, it provides many services. We have Technology Tuesdays with Marcy, our Information and Technology Librarian, offering free assistance for your technology questions. We also have Notary Public service for free on Wednesdays with Andrea, our Reference Librarian. There is Toy Potluck on Thursdays with Cindy, our newest library team member in Youth Services. And on Fridays we have Beginner Spanish Class with Jami, our Bilingual Outreach Librarian. Visit sedonalibrary.org and click the EVENTS tab and the SPL in the Village Calendar tab for more information about what’s going on at Sedona Public Library in the Village.
From hosting over 25 children this past summer in the Arizona Science Center’s Science Camp to hosting OsherLifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) classes in partnership with Yavapai College to providing our popular weekly storytime session on Tuesdays with Miss Marcia and Drumming with Harta (for families) on Thursdays, we’re busy! And then there was our successful Novel Night fundraiser this past October 1! We’d pat ourselves on the back for a job well-done, but our work isn’t finished yet! As the song goes, we’ve only just begun.
Residents agree that the new expanded Library in the Village is one of the best things to happen in Big Park in a long time. It’s no longer a place just to pick up your library holds. Come on in and see for yourself. We’re in the Big Park Community School at 25 W. Saddlehorn Road. We’re open Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is YOUR community library, and we’re here to serve. And if you want to plan a program or meeting, contact me today to see what we can do for you! Janmarc@lsedonalibrary.org
Sedona Public Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit sedonalibrary.org/donate or send your check to Sedona Public Library, 3250 White Bear Road, Sedona, AZ 86336. And remember, you can direct your gift to the Village Library as well. Thank you!
As published in the Red Rock News
Library News Column for Nov 11, 2022
Written by Jan Marc Quisumbing, Program & Marketing Coordinator