 Building a Library, Dollar by Dollar, Book by Book Even though it’s only been a couple of weeks since I read about it, I don’t recall where I found out about one woman’s attempt to add books to her city’s library. Perhaps it was in an industry newsletter where I found the two small paragraphs that talked briefly about a small town and its struggling library. I wanted to write about her. So I contacted her and this is the result. Barbara Trujillo is the Library Director in a town you have likely never heard of—Cuba, New Mexico. A little northwest of Santa Fe, Cuba’s population was 1,358 as of July 2008, and primarily Hispanic (60.3%) with American Indians making up more than one-quarter of the balance. Unfortunately, Cuba is not a town that enjoys economic prosperity. The median household income in 2008 was $27,030; per capita income a mere $14,612. More than forty-one percent of the town’s residents lived below the poverty level in 2008, and there is no reason to think those numbers have changed for the better in 2010. Still they have a library thanks almost entirely to one woman. The Cuba Community Library not only serves the town, but also the surrounding areas,” says Trujillo. “We have a 60-mile radius on the people that visit the library and do their business here in Cuba. Small towns such as La Jara, Regina, Lindrith, Llaves, Gallina, Lybrook, Counselors, San Luis, the Cuba mountain area all the way down to Fenton Lake in Jemez, the reservation areas like Torreon, Ojo Encino, Pueblo Pintado. So all in all, we are covering a population of around 10,000 people, even though we are not getting any funding from any of these other places for the library. We only get funding help from the state. . . . [and] most of our books were donated, mostly old, though we have gotten a few with GO Bond Money.” “Cuba was not big on reading when I first got there,” Trujillo continued. “Maybe two patrons a day came in. Now I am getting an average of forty patrons a day just checking out books. Usage has continued to increase every day since I started working here. Computer use has also increased with people looking for jobs and schooling over the Internet, etc.” Trujillo was born in La Jara, another small town about ten miles north of Cuba. She attended Cuba High School from where she graduated in 1973. She then married and moved with her husband to Jemez Springs, and began working with the high school library there. During her time there, she also started a new library at the elementary school, traveling back and forth between them for fourteen years. She and her husband then moved to Rio Rancho where she worked at the circulation desk and later became the collection management clerk at the Ester Bone Memorial Public Library, ordering books, entering them in the system, and checking them out for patrons. Then in 2000, twenty-five years after she left La Jara, she heard about a opening in Cuba for a librarian and applied without asking any questions. She got the job. Because she had been interviewed for the position by the mayor in the mayoral office, she was confused, when on her first day she walked in to the building at the right address and didn’t see a library. She asked a volunteer where it was. Her confusion changed to shock when she was told it was “the small room that looked like a storage room. I told her that was no library.” But it was, and it wasn’t even the first version, which actually started in 1954 in a small room behind the clinic. “It was more like a shed,” Trujillo notes. “Then it was moved to a small room at the parks and recreation center. But it never grew. Nothing was getting done to make that library grow. “I made up my mind that I was going to work towards getting a new library built. I went through the process of making it a developing library until it became a public library. I got a library board. We went through the process of moving out from that closet to renting out a building. Later we had to move out again and rent a different building because rent was too high.We ended up moving three times before finally getting into our own building.” Ten years later, she’s receiving a lot of compliments from the town’s citizens for her determination to bring literacy and a love of books and reading to them. But it hasn’t been easy. The original funds came from the state, but those were designated for only the first phase which included a 3,000-square foot room, a circulation desk, bathroom, children’s area, shelving area, table area, computer area, and computers. She also obtained a library assistant who had formerly been a volunteer. She was able to get some county money with which she bought furniture, and won an LSTA grant that permitted her to buy some new computers. Unfortunately, there has been no more state money in the four years since then, and the second phase of the project—more library space, conference rooms, a new computer lab, and a multi-purpose room—is on hold. The town’s current mayor has applied for capital money to use on a new state police building and on parks and recreation, but the library must wait because the current mayor is supportive—up to a certain extent. She doesn’t have the time to write large grant applications and “given how the economy is going,” she continued, “I wonder if it is only a dream I have that someone would want to help us finish this library. We could name the library after them.” Her passion for reading and libraries is clear. “I always loved to read. In high school I would go and volunteer my help at the library. Then I would go home and read into the night until I finished the book. I like to do book processing and work with the public, to help them out with research. Working at the library. To me it is more like a hobby. I will still be here after I retire. My oldest granddaughter, who is nine years old, wants to be a librarian like her grandma when she grows up. She often comes to the library and helps me out.” I wondered what it was about this particular library that was so special to her. “It is something,” she wrote, “that I worked very hard to get for the people, even when some people kept telling me that it would never happen, that I could not do it. It is something that can never be taken away. Even when I’m gone, it will be there for the people, and they can say I really did do it, and that I cared.” Please help if you can: Trujillo is still trying to fill the Cuba Community Library with books. The need is acute, especially for books on the Southwest and New Mexico. Whether you are an author or a reader, if you have books or money you can donate, Trujillo would be most appreciative. She can be reached at or by e-mail at cubalib2001 [at] yahoo [dot] com. The address is: Cuba Public Library Upcoming Book Festivals: This relatively new festival is due to take place in Spokane and Cheney, Washington from Wednesday, April 14, through Tuesday, April 20. Get Lit! will be offering author presentations and readings that center on graphic novels, playwriting, screenwriting, songwriting, blogging, and spoken-word poetry; radio, music, film, and theater performances; art exhibits; community readings; writing workshops and contests; poetry slams; a small press book fair featuring seven regional presses ; and a book drive that supports a children’s literacy program. The North Texas Book Festival has moved and is now at the Denton Civic Center. Featured authors Gayle Ross and Rose-Mary Rumbley lead the line-up of one hundred authors and other participants on Saturday, April 17 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Friday, evening, April 16, is the Book Trails dinner ($25) where you can mingle with the authors and enjoy the presentation of the North Texas Book Festival awards and grants. In Maryland, the Bethesda Literary Festival will take place from Friday, April 16 through Sunday, April 18. Despite the festival having one of the most unreadable websites I have ever seen for a book festival, I was able to ferret out that thirteen authors are appearing including Helen Thomas, John Harwood, Gerald Seib and Eleanor Clift. The events begin Friday evening with two presentations. Saturday’s events begin at 10:00 am and include current events and political discussions, children’s story times, panels on women’s fiction, mysteries for teens and pre-teens, and a special Night of Improv. On Sunday, there is a special Authors’ Reception, a discussion on presidential insiders, a talk by Helen Thomas, the Open Door Reading Series, and more. Bowling Green, Kentucky, is hosting the Southern Kentucky Book Fest from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 17. More than 125 authors will be sharing their experiences via panels and talks throughout the day. There is also a pre-festival Kentucky Writers Conference on Friday, April 16, and this is particularly noteworthy as it is free. Authors who are going to be at the festival donate their time to teach, among other subjects, memoir writing, plot, poetry, using social media, and writing for children and teens to participants; all you need to do is sign up. From 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 17, Old Alabama Town in Montgomery will be the showcase of the Alabama Book Festival. Nearly fifty authors including Pearl Cleage and Daniel Wallace will be making appearances. Events include the awards ceremony for the PBS KIDS GO! Writers’ Contest, special children’s activities, exhibitors, a demonstration of letterpress, and a writing workshop for teachers. Flagstaff is the host of the Northern Arizona Book Festival on Saturday, April 17. Among the authors appearing are Rick Bass, Jana Bommersbach, Lisa Schnebly Heidinger, and John G. DeGraff III. Readings, signings, poetry readings, and a special evening event will make up this great day. The Latino Book & Family Festival will take place on the weekend of April 17-18 in Cicero, Illinois. Unfortunately, I could not get any more information at the time of writing but for those who are interested—this is a great festival to see and meet Latino writers—check out their website. The Pub House: Win This Book! Imaging Books & Reading: Of Interest: This Week . . . Until next week, read well, read often and read on!
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