A.K. Smiley Public Library

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

Established in 1894, A.K. Smiley Public Library has served generations of patrons in the City of Redlands and beyond. The only “admission fee” is curiosity. Lifelong learning is at the center of activity in the beautiful, historic building and attractive grounds!

COVID-19

New Public Hours

 

WELCOME BACK!

Your friends at A.K. Smiley Library have missed you.  A.K. Smiley Public Library, which has been closed to the public for nearly six months in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has resumed in-person services.  We have implemented new public health measures to help protect our patrons and employees.  In order to keep everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, please observe the following during your visit.

  • Facial coverings or masks covering the nose and mouth are required for all visitors over the age of two.
  • Visitation is limited to a maximum of one hour per day.
  • Please maintain 6 foot physical distance at all times.
  • Restrooms and the Will J Reid coffee bar area are closed until further notice.
  • Food and drink, except water in sealable containers, is prohibited.
  • Please exit the library through the Young Readers’ Room Door.
  • Library staff will ask all visitors the following questions regarding their COVID-19 exposure.  In the past 14 days, have you:
    • Been exposed to anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19?
    • Had an elevated temperature of 100.4 or above?
    • Had shortness of breath?
    • Lost your sense of taste of smell?
    • Experienced flu-like symptoms including headache, fatigue, or cough?

Our new temporary hours are:

Library

Monday 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Tuesday 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Friday 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Sunday Closed

Heritage Room (by appointment only)

Monday Closed
Tuesday 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Friday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Saturday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Sunday Closed
For information or to schedule an appointment, use the online portal, call (909)798-7632, or email heritage@akspl.org

 

Special Collections Research Appointment

In order to serve you in a safe and efficient manner, the Heritage Room has shifted to an appointment only system effective September 9, 2020. Researchers are asked to provide information about their research topic and list specific titles they are interested in accessing when scheduling an appointment. Please review the Library’s catalog to identify titles and shelf numbers to include in your request. All researchers are required to provide their own writing materials; pens are not allowed. No more than two persons are allowed per research appointment.

In accordance with Smiley Library’s COVID-19 reopening procedures, research visits are limited to one hour and researchers are required to wear face coverings at all times during their visit. Hand sanitizer is available for all Heritage Room visitors to use upon entry. Any person feeling unwell or exhibiting signs of illness is asked to remain at home. All surfaces will be sanitized between research visits.

Donations to the Archives, Museum of Redlands, and Lincoln Memorial Shrine will also be accepted with an appointment. Contact Special Collections staff for further information.

Appointments are available during the new hours of operation: Tuesday 2-5pm, Wednesday-Thursday 1-5pm, and Friday-Saturday 1-4pm. To schedule an appointment, please submit a request on our online portal, call (909)798-7632, or email heritage@akspl.org. Appointments are only finalized when confirmed by Special Collections staff.

 

Resilient Redlands Webinar Series

A.K. Smiley Public LibraryIf you crave opportunities to learn during your time at home, partake in the “Resilient Redlands” webinar series that will focus on topics related to Redlands history and the collections of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine. Webinars will take place at 11am on the second and fourth Saturday of each month and will be led by the staff of A.K. Smiley Public Library and Lincoln Memorial Shrine. Please check each week to register for the upcoming presentation.

Upcoming Webinars

December 12 –”The Smiley’s and Christmases Past”

Past Webinars

April 25 – “Intro to Redlands History”

May 2 – “From the Shrine’s Collections: Emancipation and Lincoln’s Letter to James Conkling”

May 9 – “The Great Crusade: Reflections on the 75th Anniversary of the End of World War II in Europe”

May 16 – “All Aboard for Redlands: How the Railroad Shaped Our Town”

May 23 – “From the Shrine’s Collections: The U.S. Sanitary Commission”

May 30 – “Redlands History in Motion: The Home Movie Preservation Project”

June 6 – “Reflections on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign”

June 13 – “From the Shrine’s Collections: Colonel Chapin and the 21st Connecticut Infantry”

June 27– “California Sunshine: Citrus Label Art of the Redlands District”

July 11 – “Grant’s First Great Victory: The Campaign for Forts Henry & Donelson”

July 25 – “Let’s Take a Walk Around the Block: A Brief Survey of Architecture in Redlands”

August 8 – “Hiroshima-Nagasaki: Reflections on the 75th Anniversary”

September 12 –“Booze, Brews, and Views: Redlands’s Uneasy Relationship with Spiritous Beverage”

September 26 – “Warriors & Patriots: Women of the Civil War”

October 10 – “Pure Gold Archives”

October 24 – “The Smiley Library Children’s Room Centennial: The Couple Behind the Gift”

November 14 – “Redlands and the Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919”

Watch previous webinars on Smiley Library’s Facebook page and the Special Collections YouTube channel.

Zoom Backgrounds

As an added bonus, Smiley Library is offering historic views of Redlands as virtual backgrounds for your Zoom meetings. Find them here.

Community Steps Up for Smiley Library

Demonstrating how important A.K. Smiley Public Library is to Redlands, dozens of members of the community pledged their own financial resources to save the Library from the most severe budget cuts in its 126-year history, raising $193,000 in two weeks.

“What an amazing testament to the people of our community who, rather than see drastic cuts in our Library’s hours and services, dug into their own pockets to keep it open” remarked Library Trustee Rosa Gomez. The gifts from the community, in concert with the entirety of the Library’s $126,000 reserve fund, make up the 2020 COVID-19 Emergency Fund needed to avoid many of the projected layoffs, if only for one year. “Fortunately the Library Board was able to cobble together additional reserve funds to contribute, but the challenge when you use one-time funds for recurring needs is that once they’re spent, they’re spent. We won’t be able to do this again next year,” Gomez continued.

“The Library hadn’t completely recovered from the cuts of the Great Recession, so the sudden 20% reduction from the City meant the loss of 16 positions and the elimination of 21 hours of service to the public,” commented Library Director Don McCue. “While this doesn’t fix everything for the upcoming year, it is a great help, allowing the Library to be open 48 hours a week instead of only thirty-five.”

“We’re confident that, as the City budget picture hopefully improves, the City Council will reaffirm its commitment to the Library by resuming the funding needed to preserve these important programs,” said Bill Hatfield, President of the Library’s Board of Trustees. “The Library is part of the soul of this community. When Albert Smiley gave the Library and park to the City of Redlands in 1898, it was with the expectation that it would be ‘faithfully and liberally sustained’ by the City. We, with the City Council, must continue to honor his vision and gift.”

An Important Message from Your LIbrary

As many of you are aware, the Covid 19 pandemic and the resulting effect on our economy has caused a severe financial crisis for government on all levels. The city’s proposed budget was released to the public this week and it includes extremely severe cuts to the library. Because of previous cuts, 98.5% of the library’s budget is committed to personnel. Accordingly any cuts to the budget will require reductions to the library’s employees. The current proposal cuts the library’s budget by $535,000. More than a dozen employees will need to be laid off which in turn will require a reduction in our hours of service to the public from the current 56 to 35 per week. Unfortunately, this will severely restrict our ability to provide services to our patrons.

All of the services at the Smiley of which we are so justly proud: One-on-one Adult Literacy tutoring; access to public computers and WiFi; services to young readers and young adults; access to print and electronic collections; and access to the magnificent local historical research of the Heritage Room and Lincoln Memorial Shrine, will be negatively impacted.

We have relied increasingly in recent years on our Friends of the Library support organization to provide funding for the library’s books and programming. The service hours reductions will also hurt the Friends ability to sell donated and deaccessioned books in their bookstore.

The Library board and the Friends of the Library are working diligently to advocate for restoring at least some funding to the Library which would save positions and hours of service. The City Council will be holding a special budget meeting next Tuesday morning. Although the public cannot attend thanks to Covid 19, the city is accepting accepting email comments about priorities until 5 PM on Monday evening May 11. If you are concerned about these cuts to your library, please contact your elected officials. publiccomment@cityofredlands.org.

Don McCue Les Kong
Library Director Pres., Friends of Library