For many, it’s hard to imagine living in a home without reliable internet, running water, or a laundromat within a few minutes’ drive. Yet for families in rural America, this can be a stark and long-standing reality.
Now, imagine those same families visiting their nearest library to charge cell phones and wash a few loads of laundry. While their fresh clothes take a tumble in the dryer, they might take care of some business online: applying for jobs, catching up on the news, or paying bills. And yes, of course, they might check out reading materials or useful equipment they can utilize once they’ve headed home. Because when your community lacks basic infrastructure, a library can’t be “just a library” as we’ve understood it for generations. It must be more.
To Emily Ortiz, Pecos sometimes feels like the “lost child of San Miguel County.”
Situated between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, N.M., Pecos doesn’t have the public amenities of either of the larger cities, yet it’s a hub for outlying communities like Rowe and Glorieta.
It made Ortiz think: “There’s so many rural communities in New Mexico that have libraries — and why not Pecos?”
A team of Pecos residents turned that idea into a reality. The Pecos Community Library and Resource Center, which opened to the public about 18 months ago and recently moved into a new space on Pecos Independent School District property, now offers a no-cost community gathering space, in addition to its collection of thousands of books.
While rural library advocates for years have pressured lawmakers for additional funding — often receiving just a fraction of their ask — a couple of rural libraries have recently opened or expanded in communities on the outskirts of Santa Fe, one in Pecos and another in La Cienega.
It’s proof positive that people want libraries in their small towns, said Shel Neymark, executive director of the nonprofit New Mexico Rural Library Initiative, which advocates on behalf of some 60 rural libraries across the state. He lauded organizers’ efforts in establishing both libraries.
“It’s not easy to start a library. Having helped start one myself, I know,” said Neymark, who was one of the masterminds behind the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center in Dixon. “My hat’s off to them.”
Let’s Talk New Mexico 4/23, 9am
Everybody loves libraries, and generations of New Mexicans have used them to read and check out books for over a century.
But, there’s so much more to a modern library than books. They provide vital community meeting spaces, internet access, food pantries, telehealth and even phone services in cities and villages all across the state.
As technology makes it easier to never leave home, New Mexico’s public libraries are more important than ever. And the smaller the community, the more essential the library.
As an author who enjoys talking about the joys of reading and writing, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many of our state’s rural libraries. They have a special place in my heart. Vibrant and as diverse as the little villages they serve, these libraries are more than places for books. They are welcoming spaces where friendships grow, children are nurtured, and the elderly acknowledged. They are havens for new parents and grandparents to bring youngsters for story hours and places where anyone can use a computer to apply for job. Many offer adult education classes, workshops in cultural preservation, summer reading programs, tutoring, music, teen nights, movies and, of course, books!
For Andie Manzanares, one of the pleasures of helping run Abiquiú’s rural library is watching patrons “connect the dots” — whether it’s kids stumbling on new ideas in a book or families flipping through the archive of genealogical records dating back centuries to trace their roots.
They are community pillars in some of New Mexico’s towns. However, for dozens of the state’s rural libraries to survive, advocates are now hoping state lawmakers can pitch in with a crucial life-line.
Every day is different at the front desk of the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center, in Dixon. Volunteers like Shel Neymark help the local mayordomo book the community room for an acequia meeting one minute, then assist a local senior in setting up a video chat with their doctor the next.
Every day is different at the front desk of the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center, in Dixon. Volunteers like Shel Neymark help the local mayordomo book the community room for an acequia meeting one minute, then assist a local senior in setting up a video chat with their doctor the next.
The head of the nonprofit New Mexico Rural Library Initiative asked state lawmakers this week to allocate $29.5 million in next year’s legislative session to further fund an endowment assisting 60 rural and tribal libraries.
