by Amy DiBello, ILLiad and Reference Librarian
During the summer, I visited eight public libraries to get to know libraries, staff, and community members. The visits were a mission to learn about the importance of interlibrary loan services to rural and tribal libraries, the risks and rewards of providing interlibrary loans, and how ILL requests influenced libraries’ collection development policies. All the libraries I visited are staffed with enthusiastic volunteers and librarians. Each branch is deeply valued by their patrons and have thoughtfully curated collections that reflect their history and interests. Talented, generous New Mexican artists are featured in library displays and art shows, and they support their libraries and communities with their sales.
Vista Grande Public Library is located at 14 Avenida Torreon in the Eldorado community of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Vista Grande is a 501(c)(3) non-profit library run almost entirely by volunteers. The director is Julia Kelso, Tracey Mitchell is the children’s librarian, and Leslie Fagre provides interlibrary loans as a supplementary service. Interlibrary loan requests do not include media items, because the library has a well-stocked audiovisual collection. Since Vista Grande is a non-profit library, not affiliated with the Santa Fe public library system, the members raise 60% of their operating budget annually. The library board and volunteers organize dynamic events for all ages, hosts book sales, and handle complex financial, information technology, and library operations. Vista Grande Library has an impressive Southwest collection and a peaceful atmosphere. The Eldorado at Santa Fe is an environmentally focused community with its own architecture, open space and trails, and conservation committees. Artists who live and work in the community contribute 5% of their sales to support the fire department, elementary school, and library.
The P’oe Tsawa Community Library is located in Ohkay Owingeh, (formerly known as San Juan Pueblo), New Mexico. P’oe Tsawa is a public, tribal library open to all New Mexicans. The lovingly curated Native American book collection for adults, teens, and children includes a compelling collection of graphic novels about contemporary Native American issues, such as the Standing Rock pipeline protests. Librarian Rexine Calvert describes the P’oe Tsawa Library as a community hub that promotes generational knowledge and traditions. Programs have included teaching patrons how to create their own regalia for dances and Tewa language story telling. P’oe Tsawa Community Library opened on September 30, 2005, as the Ohkay Owingeh Community Library. A year later, the library was renamed and dedicated in honor of Esther Martinez, a renowned linguist and community storyteller, who passed away due to a car accident. Esther Martinez’s Tewa name was P’oe Tsawa, which means Blue Water.
The Truchas Community Library is located on 60 County Road 75, in Truchas, New Mexico, and part of the Truchas Services Center, a network of arts, education, and community support. Services include a preschool, senior citizen center, food bank, and the public library. This artistic community makes the library and preschool a vibrant center of creative activities. The Truchas Library, housed in what used to be the Mission School, has a room reserved for gorgeous weaving and quilting projects. Virginia Padilla, the library’s weaving instructor, is also a Notary Public and certified with the New Mexico State Library. Julie Trujillo, the library director for over 20 years, is also the town notary and facilitates STEM education and the Early Literacy reading program with the preschool. Truchas Library provides notary, fax, copying, and research assistance to the close-knit communities of Truchas, Penasco, Chimayo, Cordova, and Ojo Sarco. Library programs include drawing, ceramics, educational lectures, a summer program for local children, and building a float for the Truchas Summer Fiesta and parade.
The Pueblo of Pojoaque Public Library is located at 101 Lightning Loop, Santa Fe, New Mexico. I met with Adam Becker, the library director and his coworker, librarian Vanessa Gutierrez. The Pojoaque Public Library is next door to the Boys and Girls Club and Wellness Center. To the right of the library is a Wellness Walking and Running Path. Current programs include the annual Summer Reading Program, story time for children, computer and digital literacy classes, and an adult book club. The Pojoaque Public Library is open to any New Mexican with a New Mexico ID and proof of their mailing address. Adults can borrow 4 books and 3 DVDs at a time. Children can borrow 3 books and one movie at a time. Their collection is similar to Poe Tsawa, in terms of a stellar Native American collection, including books on Pueblo Indian history, religion, and fiction. The most exciting news Adam and Vanessa shared is that a new library will open in the future. It will be part of a two-story building near the Poeh Cultural Center. This facility will include the tribal archives, a working arts center, the library itself, and art on display. Adam and Vanessa will personally help move the current library’s collection into the new building.
The Placitas Community Library is located on 453 Highway 165, Placitas, New Mexico, in Sandoval County. The small community of artists has a network of trails ideal for mountain biking and hikers. I met with Lynne Hynes, the library director of the Placitas Community Library. Lynne processes ILL requests as they come in and has an organized ILL system to track and distribute loans. In August, the gallery hosted “Sacred Spaces: Honoring Chacoan Culture” and Hampton Sides did a reading of his book The Wide, Wide Sea. The volunteers and two paid staff members handle finances, cataloging, website updates, circulation, reference interviews and advanced library tasks. The library has a list of volunteer opportunities for the community to consider. The library is primarily run by volunteers except for Lynne and Furman Kelley, Administrator. The collection was initially derived from donated books but is now extensively supplemented with book purchases. Weeding is underway, and the building has an extension added to the original library. Placitas Community Library hosts numerous programs, has a café/kitchen used for library and community events, and art exhibits. Next to the library is a walking labyrinth and a County Elections Bureau collection box where people can drop off their early voting ballots. Placitas Community Library also hosts adult programs that are educational, supportive of artists and writers, and local history. Artists who sell their works on library property donate 25% of the proceeds to the library.
The Edgewood Community Library is located on 171 B NM-344 in Santa Fe County but is geographically closer to Albuquerque. Edgewood residents and neighboring communities of Tijeras and neighboring East Mountain towns are eligible for borrowing privileges. The Edgewood Library is currently in a leased building, conveniently connected to city hall and next door to The Edgewood Community Library Friends Book Barn. The library’s community room hosts town events, including a recent bridal shower. The Edgewood Library has a spacious computer pod, and two telehealth booths that are separate from the reading areas. The two telehealth booths are small but afford privacy and have windows to spare patrons from feeling claustrophobic. Patrons need to bring their own laptop or device to communicate with their healthcare providers. Getting laptops and other devices is on the Edgewood Community Library’s wish list to aide telehealth appointments.
The Edgewood Community Library is run by volunteers and two librarians. The community first established their library in 1991 as a non-profit organization in a room in a strip mall. Mark Jensen, one of the first founders, provided a house rent-free for a decade, before it was relocated to an office building on Highway 344. During the 2024 fiscal year, Representative McQueen allocated $100,00 to the library, which provided improvements to the library, new furniture, books, supplies, and programming licensing. Christian Huey gave my colleague and me a tour of the library and we discussed interlibrary loan and telehealth issues. Interlibrary loan services are beneficial to their well-read patrons and conserve valuable physical space as the library continues to maximize their library’s transformation. I was fascinated with their touch screen catalog and easy access to Legos in the children’s room.
The Irene Sweetkind Library is next door to the town of Cochiti Lake’s town hall and Friends of the Fire Department at 6515 A Hoochaneetsa Blvd, Cochiti Lake, New Mexico. This compact, eclectic library has dedicated spaces for children and adults to read, socialize, and play games. The computer pod is surrounded by the works of local artists. The art community and the library have a cohesive relationship, with the library promoting and selling their art on site, and the artists generously donate 10% of their sales to the library. The friendly librarian, Sunny Thornton shared an excellent book of poems written by local children and discussed her children’s programming aspirations. Sunny has a friendly working relationship with Lynne from the Placitas Library, who has shared how the arts and libraries can mutually benefit each other through exhibits and sales to supplement bond money, grants, and donations. Patron feedback and purchase suggestions are instrumental to Sunny’s collection development practices. Interlibrary loan is reserved for esoteric requests and occasional gaps in the fascinating non-fiction collection. Volunteers are crucial to the library’s operations and Sunny is actively seeking more volunteers. Irene Sweetkind Library’s connections to the local schools and neighboring communities have guided their mission to be all inclusive to the neighboring communities of Cochiti Pueblo, Peña Blanca, Sile, and Kewa Pueblo. Irene Sweetkind is a community-driven library that depends on interlibrary loans to conserve space. Library patron feedback, purchase requests, and new book displays keep their collection relevant to reader’s needs and preferences.
The Santa Ana Pueblo Community Library is located at 2 Dove Rd, Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. I met with Cassandra Zamora, a creative, industrious librarian, for a tour of the Santa Ana Pueblo Community Library and to discuss interlibrary loan issues. Santa Ana Library offers a variety of outdoor activities for teens and adults. The library is connected to the Pueblo’s departments of education, senior affairs, social services, and natural resources. I met Cassandra’s associate David Marlow, the encouraging Credit Recovery Teacher, who directs an educational program to help juniors and seniors in high school pursue credits they need to graduate. Adult programs include embroidery, crafts, and sewing. The library has laptops and sewing machines that can be used in the library. Bikes are available for the Peak and Pedal adult outdoor program and the Tamaya Teen Hiking Club, which promotes youth language and cultural learning, by visiting cultural sites, national parks, and monuments. Interlibrary loan services are not in high demand, due to the library having such an outstanding collection, so Cassandra suggested that I put together updated brochures and bookmarks that can be distributed. Cassandra is currently weeding her collection and interlibrary loans help her with the limited physical space of the library and curtails any unnecessary purchases. ILL does not influence her collection development policies, but Cassandra wants her patrons to be aware of ILL as an option. The updated New Mexico State interlibrary loan brochure is now available on the interlibrary loan LibGuide.
I thoroughly enjoyed all my interlibrary loan outreach visits and hope to visit many more rural and tribal libraries in 2025. The fact that so many libraries I visited were run almost entirely by volunteers is a testament to how much New Mexicans are devoted to reading, learning, and enriching their children and grandchildren’s lives. Running library operations daily requires stamina and dedication to provide the best possible reference and circulation assistance to patrons. Public libraries are the center of New Mexico’s towns and villages intellectual and social lives. Every New Mexican should take a day trip to one of our rural and tribal libraries, get a library card, and enjoy the atmosphere of each one of these unique communities.
