Our Board of Directors are gearing up to make and serve you the most watering pancakes this side of the Rio Grande - really?  Yes, on Sunday, June 12. 2011 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Parish Hall next to the Catholic Church we will be serving breakfast as an annual fundraiser.  Please come and enjoy a few hours on Sunday morning with friends and family and support your local library.  Thank you!

It is time to start cleaning up your closets, attic, basement, garage, etc. and getting rid of those items you don't need.  Come sell them at the El Rito Library's Flea Market on Saturday, June 4, 2011 starting at 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Everyone is welcome to come and sell or buy.  A small 10% donation for the Library is suggested.  Bring you own tables and chairs.  Pack It In - Pack It Out.  Come One ~ Come All!

1ST ANNUAL COMMUNITY PLANT SALE AND SEED EXCHANGE - Help Support your local growers, artists, and the El Rito Library!

Held at the El Rito Library on Saturday, May 28, 2011 
                        from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Bring plants to sell, seeds to trade, or come to shop - Everyone is welcome!

•  Sample local foods made from native seeds (pintos, posole, chile)
•  Find out what’s happening at local farms, gardens, farmer’s markets and schools
•  Arts and crafts from local artists available
•  Locally grown produce available

Plants for sale include:

• Heirloom garden vegetables and flowers
• Perennial herbs and shrubs
• Native grasses
• House plants                         

Kid’s activities include:

• Making seed balls
• Sowing seeds in pots to take home
• Worm composting (Feed the worms!)
• FREE seeds for kids

Seed Exchange is FREE.  Must bring seed to get seed.  Envelopes will be provided.

Vendors must bring their own tables, chairs, and shade.  A donation to the library of 20% of profits is suggested.  All donations welcome and appreciated!

For more information or to participate please contact:

Marcela Barrionuevo
El Rito Library Board Member
505-685-4018 - macasaus@gmail.com

Have you ever wanted to learn how to scrapbook those special pictures but just didn't know how to get started?  Well now is your chance!  Angelica Armenta (who I consider a professional scrapbooker) will be coming all the way from Albuquerque to do this workshop.  If it is successful and people want to continue, we will be offering them every month.

The workshop is scheduled for May 14, 2011 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm.  Please let me know if you are interested so I can tell Angelica how many packages to bring.

The cost of the workshop is $25.00 per person and you will need to bring: 

1)   A 12" paper trimmer
2)   Two-sided tape (permanent)
3)   Pictures for layout (at least 9).  Everyone will leave with a completed 2-page layout.  Angelica
      will also have kits for sale. 

Come have fun!

On Thursday, May 5, 2011 from 1:00 to 6:00 pm the El Rito Public Library will be celebrating it's 25th Anniversary of being a full-service public library and the oldest independent library in Rio Arriba County.  There will be live entertainment and homemade posole, red chili and finger food.  Come be part of the celebration because we are celebrating YOU.  This milestone could not have happened without your loyal support throughout the years.

Ever wonder that the old large building with a heading of S.P.M.D.T.U. next to Martin's General Store was all about?  Well, now you will have a chance to know the history of this organization.  On Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1:00 pm the El Rito Library will be hosting a short lecture and booksigning.  There will also be a table with information on how to sign up to be a member by local community members (Hermanos).

In 1900 Celedonio Mondragon and several other San Luis Valley residents formed this organization to help prevent the usurpation of Hispanic land ownership and to combat discrimination against wage laborers.  The SPMDTU rapidly grew into a tri-state organization with sixty-five local concilios (lodges) in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.  Hispanic  mutual aid socieites proliferated at the turn of the twentieth century, providing such services as financial aid, burial funding, low-cost insurance, and fraternal support.  The SPMDTU consolidated relief and support services and became a powerful force in helping families survive the transformations wrought by the influx of Anglos, the federal government, and new technologies.  In the early twentieth century, the federal government became the primary welfare service provider for rural communities, but the SPMDTU has survived in the Southwest, continuing its traditions of fellowship and support.

The book, "LA SOCIEDAD - Guardians of Hispanic Culture Along the Rio Grande" was authored by Jose A. Rivera who is a research scholar at the Center for Regional Studies, University of New Mexico, and a professor of planning at UNM’s School of Architecture and Planning.  Rivera is also the author of Acequia Culture: Water, Land, and Community in the Southwest (UNM Press).  Daniel Salazar, whose photos are featured throughout this book, lives in Denver, where he is a member of La Sociedad’s Council No. 7. Salazar is a media artist and regularly exhibits his work in galleries, arts centers, and museums.  Jacket illustrations. Front: Portrait of La Sociedad founder.

The book will sell for $35.00 and royalties generated by books sales will go towards the El Rito Library and the SPMDTU Concilio Superior Building Conservation Fund (located in Antonito, Colorado).

On Saturday, April 30, 2011 starting at 1:00 pm the El Rito Library will be hosting the national celebration of kids and books.  We also will have a special guest - Indiana Bones and his Dragon Draco will be entertaining the kids for about an hour.  You can see his video right here:   www.storyteller.net/tellers/mmccartney

Don’t miss this rollicking adventure with a master storyteller!  Enjoy magical storytelling, cake and punch and plenty of surprises!  Travel on a journey through time with our very own New Mexican Indy as he combines archeology, action, adventure, legends, mythology and folklore to take us to a long ago place. Learn about the ancient stories of Greece, Rome, and our more recent ancestors in Mesoamerica and North America.  Indy will thrill and educate us with artifacts, fossils, lively puppets and a crack of his bullwhip!

We are gearing up for our 25th Anniversary on May 5th so we need help cleaning the library and the grounds.  Come volunteer on Saturday, April 16, 2011 starting at 10:00 am until 5:00 pm for one hour or one-half hour and help dust the bookshelves, wash windows, clean the computer stations, etc.  Any help is appreciated.  We will serve light refreshments and drinks.  All cleaning supplies will be available.  Thank You!