News + Events
The Heritage Room Turns 50!
A.K. Smiley Public Library’s Heritage Room celebrates its golden anniversary on March 17th! This milestone event will be celebrated with a presentation on the Smileys and a special exhibition.
Learn About the Smileys
Don’t miss Smiley Library Director Emeritus Larry Burgess and Head of Special Collections Nathan Gonzales’s presentation on the enduring contributions of Smiley Library’s benefactors Albert and Alfred Smileys. The program will take place in the library’s Assembly Room at 11am on March 17. If you can’t make it in person, join us online on Zoom.
Special Exhibition
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Division of Special Collections by visiting a new exhibition in the library’s Reference Wing, the original location of the Heritage Room. Only available March 17-19, the special exhibition will feature highlights of the library’s special collections.
Program subject to change. For more information, please call (909)798-7632 or email heritage@akspl.org.
Spinet Quartet: March 15
The A.K. Smiley Library and Spinet Present Pianos Plus Eight-Handed Quartet
The A.. Smiley Public Library is proud to co-sponsor the “Pianos Plus” eight-hand quartet with the Spinet music organization on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:00pm in the Contemporary Club, located at 173 S. Eureka Street. All performers, Mary Lou Jones, Sally Rehfeldt, Toni Spagnola and Nelda Stuck, have been residents of Redlands for 20 to 55 years.
The program includes new pops quartet arrangements along with classic works from Brahms, Dvorak, Smetana, Chabrier and prominent contemporary duo-piano composer Kevin Olson.
Tie Dye Day: March 30
Teens, is your wardrobe pitifully lacking color? Then register for this free Teen Tie Dye event immediately!
Teen Tie Dye Day
125 W. Vine St., Redlands
Space is limited and registration is required so don’t delay…register through the link below! Registration will close Wednesday, March 23rd or when the event is full, whichever comes first!
Citrus Heritage Program on March 12th
Join us on Saturday, March 12th at 11am as Dr. Benjamin Jenkins presents a look at his recently published book California’s Citrus Heritage in the Assembly Room of A.K. Smiley Public Library.
An Archivist and Associate Professor of History at the University of La Verne, Dr. Jenkins will examine the impact of orange and lemon agriculture in California. Since its introduction to the Golden State in the 19th century, citrus has been an indelible part of California’s landscape. Its arrival in the Inland Empire in the 1870s gave rise to the citrus industry which placed Redlands at the center of what became an orange empire. Featuring beautiful historic photographs (including from our very own Special Collections!) and interesting stories, you will not want to miss Dr. Jenkins program.
Copies of California’s Citrus Heritage will be available for purchase at the conclusion of the presentation. This program is free and open to the public and will be live streamed on Facebook Live. All in-person attendees are required to wear a face covering for the duration of their time in the Library.
This program was originally scheduled for January 15. For further information, contact the Heritage Room at (909)798-7632 or heritage@akspl.org.
About the Author:
Dr. Benjamin Jenkins teaches United States and California history, directs the Public History Program, and manages the University Archives at University of La Verne. He received his Ph.D. in Public History at the University of California, Riverside, in 2016. His current research focuses on the interactions between citrus agriculture and railroad transportation in southern California. He has worked at Public History institutions such as the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and the Huntington Library. In addition to California’s Citrus Heritage, one of his most recent publications is The Digital Frontier: Archival Digitization and Modern Usage of the Human Record. He is currently completing a book manuscript titled Octopus’s Garden: Railroads, Citrus Agriculture, and the Emergence of Southern California.