Keeber's Kolumn

Library News, by David W. Keeber
Red Rock News
Date: November 23, 2007


Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. I know, I know, nowadays it begins closer to the 4th of July, but that is not the point of this column. Rather, it is the act of holiday giving that I would like to focus on. In our great nation, we see this season’s gift giving not in its original form, that of the three kings bringing gifts to the baby Jesus, but as a measure of the financial health of our nation. Percentage increases in sales over last year, what those numbers forebode, whether we will survive as a nation with or without sufficient consumption at this time of year – it’s all a bit too much.

I would suggest that the concept of gifting is appropriate, both at this time of year and throughout the rest of the eleven months, but that we consider shifting our focus to more meaningful gifts. How about we consider gifting a skill, our time, our attention and concern for others through actions that speak from the heart, rather than from the wallet?

What I am talking about is the skill of, the love for reading. That would be a gift that would not end up in the landfill, or being re-gifted (unless the reader decided to pass on their love of reading). It is an essential skill for getting ahead, for being successful in life. One could hardly find a more appropriate gift with more meaning.

So how does one give the gift of reading? Aside from buying someone the books they will read, it is rather easy. It won’t break the bank as there is no hard cost to this gift. All you need to do is to read to someone who doesn’t know how to read. Share your skill, your love of reading and you will have passed on this all important tool for life.

Do you have a grandchild, a niece or nephew? Is there a neighborhood child that you might help out? Try volunteering at your local library, or school, or better yet, give some time to an area literacy center. Yes, that means training and time, but such a gift should be something from your heart and your time and talent, freely given, may well be the most precious gift of all.

Simply sit down and offer to read to that young child (although, at the literacy centers, you may well end up with an adult who wants to finally learn to read – so much the better!). Show them how much you enjoy reading. Ask them to read to you. Help them to understand what it is that has just been read. Teach them to be critical readers. Your time, your talents, and your love of reading will provide the very best example for the listener.

Now, I know, it is much easier to simply head to the store and get “something” they would like, using a minimum of one’s valuable time. We are all pretty busy. But, if a gift is to have real meaning, and not just help the economists’ projections, it should reflect some aspect of you. Reading is just exactly that.

Try doing this simple exercise. Ask your grandchild, child, niece or nephew, or an acquaintance if you can read to them. Ask them to select the book they want you to read. Then, as you lead them through the pages and adventures within the book’s covers, catch a glimpse of their face. If they are not sitting in rapt attention, eyes intently focused on the page, well, I’ll eat my hat!

So this holiday season, whether you are gifting for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwaanza, or any other celebration, be a bit subversive and spend your personal capital on the gift of reading. I’ll bet that it will be a gift you see used year after year!

Keeber's Kolumn

Library News, by David W. Keeber
Red Rock News
Date: November 16, 2007


Wow! Last evening, Sunday the 11th of November, Sedona Public Library and the Friends of the Sedona Library held the Festival of Wreaths Gala and what a night it was! This year was the 9th such event and each successive year brings more wreaths, greater attendance and a more wonderful evening produced by the FOW committee. This year, they surpassed themselves in every way.

First of all, this year the number of wreaths submitted by members of the community totaled 160, including 39 from the third and fourth grade classes at Big Park School. That is a significant increase over years past. It is such a treat to watch the wreaths coming in during the drop off day. People are so proud of their offering and there are some really creative and fun examples of a pretty simple idea – a circle with some stuff on it! There are pretty ones, fun one (look for the wreath with the roundabout theme) and some truly novel ideas. Thank you to all the individuals and businesses that created and donated a wreath.

Second, the support the event received from local restaurateurs and wineries was amazing. The food was delicious and plentiful and the wines, examples of local vintners’ skills, were surprising. No one can say that our local wineries cannot stand with the best examples of this timeless art. We enjoyed wines from Echo Canyon, Javelina Leap, Oak Creek Vineyards and Southern Wine and Spirits Distributing. Restaurants that made the evening a success were Shugrue’s Hillside Grill, Pizza Picazzo, Heartline Café, Dahl & DiLuca Decadent Catering, Mulligans Grille, Wildflower Bread Company, Bashas’, Oak Creek Brewery and Grill and Bistro Bella Terra. If you frequent any of these establishments, please thank them for their support of the Sedona Public Library.

We also received support and donations from many local businesses and individuals in the form of raffle items. That list is so long as to be impossible to include here, but next time you are in the Library, pick up a brochure of that list and then please frequent their businesses as a way of saying thank you for helping out the Library. In fact, many of these businesses and individuals give extensively to many other organizations in Sedona and for that support, the entire community is better off. A very big thank you to all of them.

Lastly, SanDee Kinnen, chair of the committee that presented the Gala deserves many thanks for making the evening such a beautiful and successful one. Few who do not work on such projects can imagine what it really takes to create a successful event such as the Festival of Wreaths, but if suffice to say that it really is a year-long endeavor.

In the end, the entire Festival of Wreaths can be measured a success, both as the Gala evening and the sale of wreaths to the community. The funds from the Festival of Wreaths provides the Friends of the Library the wherewithal to support the Library, whether to purchase books and computers, or in any of a number of ways that organization has helped to make the Library successful. If you are looking for a great group to belong to and with which you can apply your creative skills for a worthwhile group, please consider joining the Friends of the Library. They are a great group and can use your help.

Such consistent support of the Library throughout the years by the community never ceases to amaze me. This place truly is the community’s library. Whether it was the original construction of the building (twice in the Library’s history) or the volunteers who help out every day, or the generous support of such events as the Festival of Wreaths or the book sales, Sedona loves this Library and helps it to succeed. Thank you, one and all, for making this such a great place to be!

On another note, the Library frequently gets requests for contact information for book discussion groups. We would like to build a list of such groups and request that if you have a book discussion club to please contact the Library with information about what sorts of books you like to talk about, how many members in your group, whether it is open, by invitation or a closed group, and whom is willing to serve as a contact person. Then, when people call us to ask, we have an accurate and up to date list. Please contact me directly with this information. Thank you.