In Memory

Richard H. Azar was the Library Director of the Arthur Johnson Memorial Library from 1993 - 1998.  He began working at the library at the age of 15. At that time the library was located in Ripley Park and named the Carnegie Library.  Richard worked at the library off and on for decades, both before and after its relocation to the present location, and took the Director's position in 1993 when Librarian Betty Lloyd retired.

While working under Mrs. Lloyd, Richard brought the first public computers into the library and the community.  Under his guidance and computer expertise the library moved from checking books out by hand to an automated system. The Arthur Johnson Memorial Library was the first library in the state to have Internet access.  The Friends of the Library purchased the first public access computer and Richard constructed the library's computer network which grew from one check out computer and one public access computer to a system that expanded as the community's needs grew.

 During his tenure as Library Director, Richard expanded the usable space in the library in 1995-1996 through the use of the Library Building Fund and an LSTA Grant.  Before renovation, the entire check out collection with the exception of the back issues of magazines and the basement collection was housed entirely on the first floor.  After the renovation, a full second floor, a periodical room, a microfilm/computer room, a  meeting room, an elevator, a new staircase, the revelation of architectural features and the repainting of the first and second floors provided Raton with a special, spacious library to use. Most librarians would have closed the library during this time of reconstruction.  Richard surprised everyone by providing library services during the entire period. Staff met patrons at the doors, took their books, brought them new books and materials, and conducted reference work in the midst of construction while the patrons waited in safely in the tiny front vestibule.  Staff wore hard hats and dust masks provided by their director, and the library served the public regardless of noise; ladders and tools everywhere; windows, ceilings, walls and floors removed; dirt; the smell of paint; and moving every shelf, book, piece of furniture and all the equipment a full four times before the job was done.

Richard began hiring teenagers as part time employees in the early 1990s.  The first two hired, Aimee Maldonado Feldman and Angie Manfredi, are professional librarians today.  This teen employee program lasted until it was no longer possible to hire them due to lack of funds.  As as result, some truly excellent young employees got their first on-the-job experience at the library because of the program instituted by Richard Azar.

If there was any one thing Richard's staff believed, it was that he knew just about everything.  Need a certain book?  Need to know how to locate a certain fact? Need trained on the computer or any aspect of library work? He was the repository of knowledge and expertise that everyone leaned on and learned from.  I personally owe him a debt of gratitude for providing me with a career in library service.  He hired me, trained me and provided me with the ability to do a job that I have enjoyed for almost two decades.

 Even though he resigned in 1998, he still worked for the library as a computer consultant, most often on a volunteer basis. More than that, he helped individuals and businesses as well.  His generosity with his time and expertise in many areas was a clear sign of his character.  His honesty, intelligence, fearlessness, and kindness will not be forgotten.

Thayla Wright,  Library Director

Fast Forward New Mexico FREE Computer Classes

Residents and small businesses in the Raton area will soon have the opportunity to improve their computer and Internet skills when the award-winning "Fast Forward New Mexico" training program comes to the Arthur Johnson Memorial Library in April, May and June.

The mission of Fast Forward New Mexico is to increase statewide broadband adoption and promote computer literacy and Internet proficiency in order to better prepare residents to participate in economic development and educational opportunities. The initiative also reaches out to entrepreneurs, artists and small businesses.

The eight Fast Forward New Mexico hands-on training courses are divided into two types of classes. The Basic Skills Series covers topics such as email, online job applications, and Internet searches and also educates people about taking online courses and purchasing the right computer. The Small Business Success Series teaches entrepreneurs and small businesses how to increase their profitability by using Internet tools to reduce costs and increase sales through e-commerce, e-marketing, and social media. Each class is 6 hours long and will be given three times in one week. Each class is 6 hours and is spread over two days: Thursday and Friday morning, or Thursday and Friday afternoon. The third time the class is given will be on Saturday morning and afternoon.

Basic Courses will begin on April 12 and are for people who have always wanted to learn how to use a computer and had difficulty finding someone to teach them. Students can learn how to set up a computer, search the Internet and use email.

Small Business Success Series classes will start May 3. Instructors will introduce students to new ways to improve and manage their business with technology, sell their products online and reach customers everywhere.

An Open House/Kick Off event to introduce the community to the training program will be held from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 31, at the library located at 244 Cook Ave. The public is invited to come and learn more about the free training and get assistance registering for classes. Refreshments will be provided by FFNM.

More information and registration for training classes is available at the library. You can also call the library at 445-9711. Registration can be done in advance of the Kick-Off event. People should try to register as soon as possible to ensure they have a spot in these popular classes.

Playaway Audio and Visual Story Books for Children

Audio and visual Playways are a new feature at our library. Picture books and chapter books in these new formats are available for checkout. Playaways are small, hand held audio and visual materials that come with ear buds. Each case holding a Playaway has instructions for use on the left inside cover of the case. They are simple enough to use that even I can figure it out, which means that your children will have them mastered after one use.

Audio books have been a part of our collection for some time, but have always required the use of a cassette or CD player. A Playaway is a small self-enclosed system that travels easily wherever you and your child may go. They are a convenient way to keep children happy and occupied with no external noise and little adult help needed except for very young children.
The library has purchased a selection of picture book Playaways with multiple picture books on audio Playaways and visual Playaways, and audio chapter books for children.

Playaways use ear buds for quiet use while traveling in the car, when adults are busy and children are waiting, times when noise is not appreciated, or just for drawing a child into the private world of books. The audio Playaways use rechargeable batteries which are checked out with the Playaway and must be returned in the case with the Playaway. The video Playaways use an internal rechargeable battery and are checked out with a charger that must also be returned. Ear buds will be sold at the desk for $1.00 each and will become the property of the person purchasing them. They can then be used by that person with any Playaway checked out thereafter. (Selling ear buds individually will prevent the spread of colds and flu.)

Adult audio Playaways are also available for purchase by the library, but due to the cost of each Playaway, the library has decided to begin with children's materials. The selection of Playaways available is displayed on laminated sheets so that parents and children can see what each Playaway holds and choose what they would like to check out. Desk staff will be happy to check out your choice after our Playaway Policy has been read and signed by the child's parent and notes stating this has been done have been placed on both parent's and child's computer record. A demonstration on how to use the Playaways will be given at your request.

Come in and see what we are talking about. Any child raised in this era of technology and gadgets will love to give a Playaway a try, and we will be interested in your opinion when you bring them back!

Learning to Read

I have heard and read a lot lately concerning children and teens with problems reading. This is not a new issue. In 1955, Rudolph Flesh wrote a book titled "Why Johnny Can't Read" (available at the library). That book was a best seller and is still in print today. Flesh addressed a problem that cropped up when the 'whole word' method of teaching took over the educational system. Instead of phonics (teaching the sounds of not only individual letters, but short vowel sounds, consonants and combinations spelled with two or three letters, vowels and vowel combinations spelled with two or three letters, the five long vowel sounds, and irregular spellings), children were taught to recognize words as a whole. Phonics was all but eliminated for a period, and eventually a generation of children grew up who did not have the tools to recognize that 'not' and 'knot' and 'bought' all had the same vowel sound but different spellings.

Reading is meant to be a smooth experience. With the right skills taught from the beginning, the eye will eventually recognize whole words without having to sound them out and a sentence will run smoothly together, its meaning clear because pauses to puzzle out a word are not happening every few words.

I know a couple in which the husband was taught by 'whole word' method and still has some difficulty reading and certainly has difficulty spelling; while the wife was taught from the beginning by a combination of 'whole word' with simple words such as 'a', 'the', 'it', 'Mom', 'cat', 'dog', etc., and with phonics to decipher all the consonant, vowel, and combination sounds that happen regularly. She reads well, spells well, and writes well.

So today's problem with children who are passed from grade to grade and read so haltingly that it translates into poor to non-existent spelling and writing skills is nothing new. But it is a larger issue as more and more children and teens seem to have this difficulty. The problem hasn't gone away - it has gotten much bigger. Part of the reason is not just the lack of phonics (because phonics did make a partial comeback), but with other factors that weren't identified in the 50s.

One issue was the way information dissemination changed. In the day, there was the printed word. If you lived at a distance from Washington, D.C., you read about what the government was doing in the newspapers. You read about what was happening with distant family in letters. There was no telephone. There was no radio. There was no television. And there was certainly no texting or tweeting with its own non-standard method of spelling. Reading was an extremely important skill and treated as such by teachers, parents and therefore, students. Spelling and writing naturally followed, since non-verbal communication was also a written skill.

With the development of technology and the spreading of news and communication by the spoken word, illiteracy was not such a severe problem. You could find out what was going on without having to depend on what you heard other people discussing. You could call your relatives. You could 'watch' the news.

So over the decades, functional illiteracy has increased. It often happens in family groups, from generation. Children whose parents don't read well or do not read regularly, and who see that it is possible to survive without reading, spelling and writing skills are much less likely to read well themselves. No matter what the teacher attempts to teach in the classroom (and math skills are vanishing as well with the invention of calculators and cash registers that figure totals automatically), unless the importance of these skills are on display in the home or are emphasized and proficiency encouraged by family adults, many children will not reach the level of their own individual ability, the level that almost any child who went to school a hundred years ago automatically achieved.

My parents were readers. They read for pleasure, they read for knowledge, and they read to their children. I remember learning to read myself and wondering impatiently in the first grade when I would be good enough to get past "See Spot run", and read the good stuff for myself. No more waiting for someone to read an interesting story to me. I wanted to do it on my own.

Perhaps that is what children, from a very young age, need to learn. Reading is fun. Books are hilarious or amazing or engrossing. Reading is cool. And while school might not be a child's first priority, because they love reading at least it won't be hard. Reading time will be fun, writing a paragraph easy, understanding the textbooks possible. Reading has a very important place in learning the skills necessary to get passing grades, earn a diploma, get a good job that you might actually enjoy, and of course, entertain yourself when there is nothing good on TV - or even when there is.

Reading to children who are still too young to read to themselves is a first crucial step to engaging them directly with the printed word. DVDs and video games are fun, but they will not help anyone learn to read, spell or write. Pick books, especially ones with pictures for young children, that interest your child. Not every child wants to hear about Cinderella. They might want to read about Scooby-Doo or trapdoor spiders or lightning or horses or dinosaurs or giant digging machines. We have books for young children on all of those subjects and many more, including wordless books where you and your child can make up the story to suit yourselves. To a little child, making up a story to go with pictures in a book is reading and it will introduce them to the concept of a story to be 'read'.

This library makes an effort to select and purchase books to entertain, interest, and aid children from birth through high school. Throughout the year pre-school story hour, summer story hour, and now Nature Tales are programs where children can be read to by adults and have a good time. Children can come to these programs at the library in Raton and get a head start on learning to read themselves. We invite you to bring them in.

Preschool Story Hour - Every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
Nature Tales - Twice a month on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. (Call 445-9711 for the next date.)
Summer Story Hour - Every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. during the summer.