A Treat for the Eyes

--By Hanje Richards

If you love color, Mexican design, and/or are working on a decorating project, you will love this series published by Chronicle Books, all photography by Melba Levick.

These books are a treat for the eye and an inspiration for the decorator in you. For some, they might just be the perfect armchair travel books. These books can currently be found in the New Non-Fiction shelf at the library and will eventually be located on the third floor in Adult Non-Fiction.

In A Mexican Garden: Courtyards, Pools, and Open-Air Living Rooms This title features Mexico's patios, courtyards, and walled gardens. From private homes to luxurious resorts, the dazzling array of featured properties includes rustic coastal hideaways, elegant Spanish Colonial mansions, rural haciendas, and Modernist architectural masterpieces.

Mexicocina: The Spirit and Style of the Mexican Kitchen Melba Levick captures the

bright colors and bold shapes of the kitchens of Mexico, this time touring private historic homes, resorts, and cooking schools. San Pasqual Bailón, the patron saint of cooks and kitchens, blesses every last handmade copper kettle, Talavera tile, and neon sign.

Mexicolor: The Spirit of Mexican Design Showcases the profusion of multihued walls, tiles, ceramics, textiles, and folk art that fill the home; the riotous juxtapositions of vivid foods, flowers, supplies, and accessories that comprise the spectacle of the marketplace; the vibrant details that define everything.

Mexicasa: The Enchanting Inns and Haciendas of Mexico Highlights 21 small hotels, inns, and haciendas-- some ancient, some modern-- in several areas of Mexico. Some are historic sites, such as the Hacienda de Cortes, another offers cultural studies programs, while yet another features open-air structures adjacent to a nature preserve.

If the book you are looking for is not available, we are happy to put a hold on it, so we can contact you when it does become available.

I Just Read ...

... Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult.

In Handle With Care, which is currently available on our new adult fiction shelf, a family struggles with medical, legal, and ethical issues surrounding their youngest daughter’s OI (osteogenesis imperfecta) also known as "Brittle Bone Disease."

The author looks at how this serious medical problem affects everyone in and around the family from the 13 year-old sister, to the mother, father, the mother’s best friend and even the mother’s attorney.

The Copper Queen Library carries several of Picoult’s novels in the fiction section. Our holdings include Change of Heart, Picture Perfect and My Sister’s Keeper (soon to be a major motion picture).

Be sure to check us out!

......................................................................................-- by Hanje Richards

What In the Heck Is the Dewey Decimal System?

...and How Can It Help Me Find a Book?

By Hanje Richards

The Copper Queen Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system. This helps us arrange our collections and helps you find the materials you are looking for. This system was devised by Melvil Dewey in 1876. Mr. Dewey, with friend and fellow librarian Charles Ammi Cutter, founded the American Library Association. He also was an advocate of the metric system and reforms to English Language Spelling.

With thanks and apologies to Wikipedia:

The DDC system is made up of ten main classes or categories:

...000 – Computer science, information, and general works
...100 – Philosophy and psychology
...200 – Religion
...300 – Social sciences
...400 – Languages
...500 – Science and mathematics
...600 – Technology and applied science
...700 – Arts and recreation
...800 – Literature
...900 – History and geography and biography

Beyond the original ten classes, each class is further subdivided into ten divisions, and each division into ten sections, giving ten main classes, 100 divisions, and 1000 sections. In future blog entries, I will be highlighting each of the ten classes and some of the books that you find in them.

In the meantime, let me just say that at the Copper Queen Library (and many others) the Fiction and Genre Fiction (Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Western) sections, as well as audiovisual fiction, have been removed from the Dewey Decimal Classification System and are shelved separately -- alphabetically by the author's last name. We have also provided a distinct section for the Biography category.

The Dewey Decimal Classification system is used in our adult, juvenile, and young adult non-fiction sections and to organize our audiovisual (DVD, VHS, and recorded books) collections.

Of course, if you have trouble finding what you need, please ask at the Circulation Desk.

Happy Searching!

The Blog Is Back!

By Hanje Richards

Stay tuned for lots of great information. Updates will be made regularly to keep you informed on new and existing materials and services offered by the Copper Queen Library to its patrons.

New Fiction and Non-Fiction
We have added lots of new fiction and non-fiction recently, and I will be featuring some of the authors and titles that are on our new title shelves in the days ahead.

Movies, Movies, Movies
We have been adding new movies to our DVD collection like crazy! We don't have a special display space for new DVDs at the library like we do for new fiction and non-fiction (although we're working on it!), but here on the blog I will be highlighting some of the new titles and collections that we have added.

Children's Books
We have three separate sections for young people: Easy Books, Juvenile Books and Young Adult Books. We have added some new shelving in the Juvenile and Young Adult sections and hope this will make it easier for parents and children to find what you are looking for.

You can look forward to descriptions of some of the Juvenile and Young adult series that we have available, as well as some of the stand-alone titles that are new to our shelves this Spring.

Technology
Near the computers on the third floor, we now have a "viewing station" which patrons can use for up to two hours at a time to view DVD or VHS movies from the library's collections.

Another new tech addition is Wi-Fi at the library. Just ask at the circulation desk for the password, and you can use your own laptop or smart phone in the library.

18th Annual Chocolate Tasting Set for Valentine's Day

BISBEE, AZ – Looking for something delightfully, deliciously different to do on Valentine’s Day that will also help support a wonderful cause?

If so, the Friends of the Copper Queen Library cordially invite you to attend their 18th Annual Chocolate Tasting on Saturday, February 14 from 6-9pm at the Copper Queen Library on 6 Main Street in Bisbee’s Downtown Historic District.

This fundraiser, their largest volunteer effort of the year, helps the Friends purchase children’s books for the library and sponsor many educational and informational programs and presentations for the entire community throughout the year.

This year, with the generous support of area businesses and in conjunction with the Summer Reading Program's “Get Creative @ Your Library!” theme, the Friends also hope to assist the library in developing a “Children's Creativity Center” which will feature a wide variety of supplies and tools – everything from markers for the youngsters to media stations for teens!

How does the Taste work? Volunteer dessert makers, both commercial and domestic, will break out their secret recipes, create an amazing array of light and dark delights, and donate a delectable selection of their own specialty confections to be showcased and served on both the second and third floors of the historic library building (all floors are accessible by elevator).

The Bisbee Coffee Company has also generously agreed to donate locally roasted coffee for the occasion, and a special Valentine’s Day punch will be served as well.

For a $10 advance donation ($12 at the door), revelers will receive six tickets to trade for six tempting treats of their choice from table or tray and will have an added opportunity to participate in a raffle for an interesting and eclectic mix of prizes donated through the generosity of Bisbee's merchants.

Visit with friends, queue up for beverages, marvel at the library’s architecture and contents, or search for that perfect piece of chocolate while volunteer waiters circulate throughout the library with trays of superb sweets and live music from Nancy Weaver & Cool Jazz, a popular local trio, sets the evening’s mood. Enjoy the sweet, swinging sounds of jazz, then mix, match, and make your own special confection selection!

Or, “Chocolate-To-Go” might be the ideal way to guarantee a delicious Valentine's Day dessert for those who are already booked on this very busy weekend (or who wish to indulge privately), “To Go” boxes will be available for pick-up from 4-6pm at the Friends Bookstore with advance ticket purchase and a “To Go” call to (520) 432-3259 to place a to-go order. Please have ticket number(s) handy!

Taste tickets are available for advance purchase at the Copper Queen Library, the Friends Bookstore, the Bisbee Visitors’ Center, the Bisbee Chamber of Commerce, and Atalanta’s Music & Books.

“Will-Call” tickets may also be purchased in advance by mail (checks must be mailed to the Friends at P.O. Box 1857, Bisbee, AZ 85603 and received by February 11).

And, of course, tickets will also be sold at the door on February 14 starting at 6pm – but only while the limited supply lasts!

Come join in and celebrate Valentine’s Day, have some delicious fun, and support a wonderful cause!

As always, the Friends encourage anyone interested in baking or otherwise assisting (as prep crew, waiters, servers, decorators, bussers, or clean-up crew), or anyone needing more information to contact Pamela Hay at (520) 432-3259 or the Library Circulation Desk at (520) 432-4232. Hope to see you there!

Herpetologist Discusses Snake Safety on July 22

BISBEE, AZ – Local herpetologist Steve Reaves, former owner of the Tombstone Rattlesnake Exhibit, will be at the Copper Queen Library on July 22 at 5:30 p.m. to share information about “Snake Identification and Safety.”

Reaves has worked with reptiles for over 20 years and currently operates an invertebrate business that supplies venom to cancer researchers.

Topics will include making property less attractive to rattlesnakes, snake identification, rattlesnake behavior, venom effects, and the importance of snakes in maintaining ecological balance.

The presentation will include a display of live snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and centipedes.

This program is sponsored by the City of Bisbee and the Friends of the Copper Queen Library and is free and open to the public.

For further information, contact the library at 432-4232.

Neilsen Shares Bonita, “Buffalo Soldier” History

BISBEE, AZ – The National Park Service’s Kathrine Neilsen, stationed at Bonita Canyon/Chiricahua National Monument, will make a special appearance at the Copper Queen Library on July 15 at 5:30 p.m. to reenact scenes from the life of Mrs. Flora Cooper, wife of “Buffalo Soldier” 10th Cavalry “H Troop” Captain Charles L. Cooper as she and her family prepare to leave Bonita Canyon for the last time in 1885.

Throughout the ages, Bonita Canyon has served as home to prehistoric peoples, Apaches, homesteaders, miners, the Buffalo Soldiers, the Civilian Conservation Corps and, most recently, the National Park Service (NPS). Since their arrival, NPS scientists have prepared fascinating studies of life over time in the Canyon.

For example, following the Civil War, African American soldiers who remained in the United States Army were organized into segregated units, including the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments. Troops E, H, and I of the 10th Regiment established a semi-permanent camp in the Chiricahuas in 1885-1886 called Camp Bonita. This camp has been excavated and documented within the park at Bonita Canyon.

While most locals associate the 10th Cavalry “Buffalo Soldiers” with Fort Huachuca, in 1885 a temporary camp of the 10th Cavalry was also stationed in Bonita Canyon to protect the locals, guard the U.S. Mail, and keep Apaches away from watering holes.

Captain Charles H. Cooper commanded “H Troop,” and his wife and teenaged daughter lived with him in the little two-room cabin that would later become Fawaway Ranch.

Using NPS archeology and the memoirs of the Cooper’s daughter to give insight into life at Bonita Canyon, Neilsen presents her program costumed as Mrs. Cooper, remembering her life among the “Buffalo Soldiers” and packing her trunk yet again to leave Bonita Canyon for the journey to their next assignment.

These free program, held in the Library Meeting Room, is sponsored by the City of Bisbee and the Friends of the Copper Queen Library.

For further information about this or any library program or event, please contact the library at 432-4232.

Programs Celebrate "On the Road" 50th Anniversary

BISBEE, AZ – To scratch the itch of that summer travel bug and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac’s groundbreaking novel On the Road, the Copper Queen Library will sponsor a series of films, lectures, and book discussions throughout the month of July.

The celebration begins on July 7 at 5:30 p.m. with the first of four travel documentaries, Route 66: The Mother Road, Michael Wallis’ magical book brought to life in this story of our country’s most most famous highway.

Other films in the “Monday Night ‘Did You Know?… Documentary Film Series” will screen on subsequent weeks: the award-winning biography of the “King of the Beat Generation”, On the Road with Jack Kerouac (July 14); Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip, the story of eccentric Vermont doctor Horatio Nelson Jackson, who drove from San Francisco to New Your City in 1903 to become the first person to drive a car across the continent and mark the beginning of a new era in America (July 21); and Season of the Sand Blossoms: A Desert Wildflower Journey, “a film which captures that magical time when wildflowers bloom in an immense and little-appreciated land.” (July 28).

The celebration continues on July 9 at 6:30 p.m. with “Route 66: Across Arizona,” a presentation by Arizona Humanities Council Scholars Richard and Sherry Mangum.

This legendary cross-country highway is an important part of our nation’s – and Arizona’s – heritage. In the words of the famous song, Get Your Kicks on Route 66, “It winds from Chicago to L.A. / More than 2,000 miles all the way…”

Some 385 of those miles were in Arizona. This presentation takes a nostalgic trip through Arizona by examing the history of “The Mother Road” and discussing its profound impact on those who traveled it, on Arizona, and on American culture.

The Mangums are an award-winning husband and wife team from Flagstaff. They have written and published books about northern Arizona, and their research has uncovered scores of wonderful old photographs, maps, and other graphic materials that will be used to illustrate their presentation.

Finally, on July 16 at 6:30 p.m., Arizona Humanities Council Scholar August Schaefer facilitates a book discussion of Kerouac’s On the Road, which promises to be both interesting and lively. Copies of the novel will be available at the Circulation Desk for those wishing to participate in the discussion.

These free programs, held in the Library Meeting Room, are sponsored by the City of Bisbee and the Friends of the Copper Queen Library and are made possible in part by a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council.

For further information about these or any library program or event, contact the library at 432-4232.

Donations Assist Low-Vision Readers

Library Closed for July 4th Weekend

BISBEE, AZ –The Copper Queen Library will close at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, and will reopen at noon on July 7 in celebration of Independence Day.

However, starting at 8:30 a.m. and until all events are completed, the second floor balcony will be open to provide seating for viewing of the coaster races and the Iron Man Run at intermission.

Learn About Local Hikes on June 25

BISBEE, AZ – Join local hikers Elizabeth Carr, Stephen Sklarow, and Jeffrey Tratten on June 25 at 5:30pm in the Library Meeting Room to learn about hiking in the Chirichaua, Dragoon, Huachuca, and Mule Mountains.

Topics will include safety, equipment, local flora and fauna, day hikes and overnight camping, and places to swim and stay cool in secret mountain pools.

This program is sponsored by the City of Bisbee and the Friends of the Copper Queen Library and is free and open to the public.

For further information, contact the library at 432-4232.