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We promote knowledge of the librarys' functions and resources. Friends’ funding supports library staff who purchase quality books, technology and material, offer meaningful programs and unique opportunities for growth. Only one in three toddlers in Santa Cruz County have access to a preschool experience. The public library system is the key to those opportunities along with access to books for all young people.
The Santa Cruz County community; teachers, school staff, preschool teachers, daycare providers, home visitation preschool specialists, social service agency staff, parents and even middle and high school students have learned how to motivate apprehensive readers to become confident readers. These trained community members are all working on getting resistant readers (birth to high school) reading in English for school success and the home languages (mostly Spanish here on the border) to ensure the transfer of family values, traditions, customs and even family recipes.
What's happening at your Library?
Free Little Libraries: Librerias Gratuitas
What and where are they? ¿Qué son y dónde están?
Please gift your books to your neighborhood free little libraries. Many community members do not have home libraries, we can help them with books we already have in our homes. They serve our community when in their hands and not shelved. Favor de compartir sus libros a las librerias gratuitas. Muchas familias no tienen acceso a libros en sus casas, podemos apoyarlos con libros que tenemos en nuestras casas que no nos hacen falta. Mejor que estos libros estén en las manos de nuestra comunidad que arrumbados. * Sponsored by the Nogales/Santa Cruz Friends of the Library/Library Fans 1. AJ MITCHELL Elementary School, 855 N Bautista St, Nogales 2. CHALLENGER Elementary, 901 E. Calle Mayer, Nogales 3. CITY HALL, 777 N Grand Ave, Nogales 4. COLEGIO PETITE, 850 N Morley Ave, Nogales 5. EL RANCHITO Market, 7 Avenida Pastor, Rio Rico, AZ 6. GARRETT'S Supermarket, 1060 Yavapai Dr, Rio Rico 7. LITTLE RED Schoolhouse, 7 Duquesne Rd, Nogales 8. MARY WELTY Elementary School, 1050 W Cimarron St, Nogales 9. MEXICAN CONSULATE, 135 W Cardwell St, Nogales 10. MONTE CARLO Market, 409 E Baffert Dr., Nogales 11. NOGALES COMMUNITY FOOD BANK, 2626 N Donna Ave, Nogales 12. NOGALES RECREATION CENTER, 1500 N Hohokam Dr, Nogales 13. RIO RICO COMMUNITY CENTER, 391 Coatimundi Dr, Rio Rico 14 RIO RICO FITNESS CENTER, 389 Avenida Coatimundi Rio Rico 15. SAFEWAY Store, 465 N Mariposa Rd, Nogales 16. ST. ANDREW'S PRESCHOOL, 969 W County Club, Nogales 17. VILLA'S Market, 631 W Mesa Verde Dr, Nogales 18. WEST GATE SUBDIVISION, 1 Woodland Dr, Elgin Community sponsored √ AJ Mitchell Elementary Upper (Intermediate) building, Nogales √ AJ Mitchell Lower (Primary) Elementary buildings, Nogales √ Calabasas School, 131 Camino Maricopa, Rio Rico √ Coatimundi Middle School, 1412 W Frontage Rd, Rio Rico √ Mendibles Street "El Rincon del Arte", Nogales √ Nogales High School, Nogales √ Tubac Post Office, 2255 Frontage Road, Unit B, Tubac √ 9 Lochiel Road, Lochiel √ 170 3rd Ave., Patagonia √ 455 W Crawford Street, Nogales √ 477 Pennsylvania Ave, Patagonia √ 3160 State Highway 83, Sonoita COMING SOON Family Dollar Store, 1283 W Frontage Rd, Rio Rico Food City, 450 N Grand Court Plaza, Nogales Housing Authority, 951 N Kitchen St, Nogales Nogales Market, 1977 N Grand Ave Nogales Sonoita Fairgrounds, 3142 State Highway 83, Sonoita Tumacacori Post Office, 1910 E Frontage Road, Tumacacori
BOOKS & MORE BOOKS IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
OUTSIDE SAFEWAY STORE
465 N Mariposa Rd, Nogales, Arizona
IN FRONT OF COLEGIO PETITE
850 N Morley Ave, Nogales, AZ
ON ST ANDREW PRESCHOOL PORCH
969 W County Club, Nogales, AZ
BIBLIOTECA DEL BARRIO
Mendibles St, Nogales, AZ
NOGALES CITY HALL
777 N Grand Ave, Nogales, AZ
WEST GATE SUBDIVISION
1 Woodland Dr, Elgin, AZ
Nogales High School students building community libraries.
Nogales International newspaper, May 18, 2013 article Nogales High School students have been putting their woodworking skills to good use for the community this semester, building Little Free Libraries to put around town and encourage kids and grown-ups alike to read more books.
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Nogales High School Senior Project, Fall 2023
Nogales International article, November 30, 2023
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Santa Cruzer Mobile Library
Santa Cruz County School Superintendent's office, together with South 32 are fund the Santa Cruzer with dedicated, book-loving, knowledgeable staff who travel to schools, parks, and community events, bringing a wide range of educational tools.
Learn MoreFriends of the Library Volunteers
Ed Delci
President
Ed has been a Friend of the Library since 2006, almost 20 supporting the libraries and is also serving on the City of Nogales Library Board.
Marva Thwaitts
Treasurer
Marva has been a member of the Friends since 2010 and this is her second year as Treasurer. She is retired after working for Nogales Unified School District for 25 years.
Juanita Havill
Secretary
Juanita has been on the Board for several years and this is her second year as Secretary of the Board. Juanita is also a member of the City of Nogales Library Board.
Beatriz Ruiz
Volunteer
Beatriz is a retired teacher who taught twenty five years at Challenger Elementary and is a new member of the volunteer team. She has been a Friend of the Library since 2023.
Analizabeth Doan
Volunteer
Analizabeth was born/raised and retired in Nogales with half a century experience as a bilingual educator and researcher. She has been a Friend of the Library since 2021.
Roxanna Lopez
Volunteer
Roxie just began volunteering with Friends.
Celia Concannon
Volunteer
Celia has been volunteering with Friends for two years.
Reneé Curren
Volunteer
Renee Curren is a long-time resident of Rio Rico and retired teacher. She loves books, music and the outdoors. Her volunteer work is driven to foster literacy and community.
Corinne Cole
Volunteer
Corinne is an active member of the art scene in Ambos Nogales.
Jennifer Toombs
Volunteer
Local Authors
Paul Hathaway
Rancher, author and historian
Paul has published two historic fiction about the history of the Pimeria Alta region since the 1700's. Book 1 is "The Prospector's Secret-Treasures of the Pimeria Alta" and Book 2 is "The Prospector's Secret-At the Saber's Edge”
Roni Capin Rivera Ashford
Bilingual educator and author of bilingual children and YA books
Bilingual books Roni has written are Miguel and the Alebrijes; My Tata’s Remedies / Los remedios de mi tata; Hip, Hip, Hooray, It’s Monsoon Day! ¡Ajua, ya llego el chubasco!; My Nana’s Remedies / Los remedios de mi nana; What Color is Your Hand? ¿De qué color es tu mano?; and Raulito: El Primer Gobernador Latino De Arizona / The First Latino Governor of Arizona.
Juanita Havill
An American children's picture book author
Juanita Havill is best known for the Jamaica books. She has also written a young adult novel, Eyes Like Willy's. Havill’s latest book, “Call the Horse Lucky.” “Grow,” is Havill’s novel in verse. She is currently living in Sonoita, Arizona with her husband Pierre. Juanita is a volunteer for Friends of the Library and on the Board of the Nogales Library Board.
Ivan Rzeslawski
Author, Poet and Musician representing the USA/Mexico border
Ivan has lived his life on both sides of the USA/Mexico border. The family business was international produce trade with Mexico until the tragic death of his father who was the head of the company. Ivan travels throughout the USA and Mexico sharing his poetry and music.
Alberto Álvaro Rios
A US academic and writer who is the author of ten books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. Rios was named Arizona's first state poet laureate in August 2013, a position he continues to hold.
His memoir about growing up in Nogales, Arizona, called Capirotada, won the Latino Literary Hall of Fame Award and was designated the OneBookArizona choice for 2009. Ríos is the recipient of the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, the Arizona Governor's Arts Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Walt Whitman Award, the Western States Book Award for Fiction, six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction, and inclusion in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.
Soma Han
Soma is an artist, author and blogger.
Soma Han was born in the agricultural southwestern part of the Korean peninsula. She was the ninth child of the village elder, a Tao master and teacher of Buddhism, a descendant of the aristocratic Han family.The first king of the Chosun Dynasty, founded in 1392, took as his bride a daughter of the ancient Han lineage and began one of the longest family dynasties in history. Known for their intelligence, their strong character and their keen perception, seven Han women were chosen as queens by Yi family kings during their 500-year rule. Soma’s father was a direct descendant of this royal line. She now lives in Rio Rico, Arizona. Soma is author of Maya and the Turtle.
John C Stickler
Published Author, Editor, Journalist
John is married to local author Soma Han and together they have written and published two Korea-themed children’s picture books: the nonfiction Land of Morning Calm: Korean Culture Then and Now (Lee & Low) and Maya and the Turtle: A Korean Fairy Tale. Soma illustrated both titles in watercolors. Today John and Soma are retired and live near the artist colony of Tubac in Southern Arizona.
Charlie Sweeney
8year old author and illustrator
Charlie is the author of his book "Going to Mexico/Viajando a México". His book is bilingual youth fiction of 28 pages.
Daphne Russell
Retired TUSD teacher, author and education evolutionist
Daphne Russell has led a literacy initiative to address literacy trauma and promote a thirst for reading. She provides resources and offers compassionate approaches to helping individuals overcome reading apprehension. Her book "Read or Die" explains her theory in action in a middle school classroom in Tucson, Arizona. Daphne's new program is call the Awakening Accelerator. Though Daphne lives in Tucson, the suburb of Santa Cruz County, she has worked with hundred of professionals (teachers, social service agencies, home visitation specialists, Head Start programs; children, parents and staff and with the pubic library staff. She now counts as one of us.
Jay Rochlin
Author, artist and avid desert cyclist
Created the School of Journalism's first online journalism course — Border Beat — which earned national recognition. Teaching areas included online journalism, feature writing, multimedia storytelling, photo journalism. Served for 20 years as editor of the University of Arizona's alumni magazine. Jay's is author and editor of the following children's books: Will You be My Desert Friend?: Hera wants to be friends with all the desert animals and plants, The Slow Bicyclist's Book, I'll Try That!: 106 ++ Things to Try Before Age Six, and adult books like The Wheelman and Race and Class on Campus: Conversations with Ricardo's Daughter.
Maritza Lynn Higuera
Bilingual author
A bicultural change-maker passionate about connecting communities across borders. Through her bilingual books for children, We Love Nogales Podcast, Fundación Honoris Causa, Public Safety Global Alliance & MORE Latinoamérica, Higuera helps deliver books, hands on information, medical and safety equipment, support youth with hands-on STEM education at her M&M Family Orchard ranch, together with partnerships that make a real impact from Arizona to rural Mexico. Rooted in service, driven by heart.
Governor/Ambassador Raul Castro
A Mexican American politician, diplomat and judge. In 1964, Castro was selected to be U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. In 1968 he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Bolivia. In 1974, Castro was elected to serve as the 14th governor of Arizona. In 1976 he became U.S. ambassador to Argentina. Prior to his entry into public service, Castro was a lawyer and a judge for Pima County, Arizona. He retired to Nogales, Arizona and purchased a home on Crawford Street to enjoy an international view, a reflection of his life.
PARTNERS
Community Foundation for Southern AZ
Funding for Let’s Read Santa Cruz/Friends of the Library was provided by South32 at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
Paula and Cabot Sedgwick Family Foundation
Santa Fe Ranch: Education - Community - Environment
Work with Nogales High School Carpentry class to build and distribute Free Little Libraries throughout Santa Cruz County
Humberto Schultz Lopez Family Foundation
Funding for Let’s Read Santa Cruz/Friends of the Library was provided by Humberto Schultz Lopez Family Foundation
South 32
South32 works closely with local officials, Tribes, and community members to share value, build trust, and support a resilient regional economy. We’re committed to making a positive difference, investing over $3 million in local non-profit groups, social services, and schools.
Visit the Nogales-Santa Cruz County Public Libraries
Library card application
If you are 13 years or older you can sign up for a library card. If you are not 13 years old yet, your parent or guardian can fill this out so that you can get your own library card.
Learn MoreFRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY
OneAZ Credit Union
825 N Grand Ave #104
Nogales, AZ 85621
Join us
- 518 N Grand Avenue Nogales, Arizona 85621
- +1-520-470-9495 - Friends of the Library
- letsreadsantacruz@gmail.com
- Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm Friday 9am to 4pm
"Books Save Lives" VISCERAL reading method: Help others become readers
VALIDATE
Validate who they are, their thoughts, experiences, what they can do, all things that represent their significance as a human. Emphasize you care about them and are there to help them. Your focus is on them and it is genuine. You might share about yourself; family, school, likes, dislikes, travel, languages.
IDENTIFY
Find out all you can about their reading trauma, when it may have occurred and how it has affected them. Identify something to ‘hook’ them into trying this out with you. Motivate them to read by giving them someone else to "help" like a sibling, parent, friend, teacher. Looking for beliefs about themselves they may have, their perceptions of their abilities in school, on tests, in math, in Language Arts, with peers, with adults, with their parents/guardians. What are their outside interests? You’re listening for school based trauma.
SUPPORT
Let them know you are there to help and that no issue is too big. Discover any additional ways that you can determine to help this young person choose to read and be successful in this endeavor. Be sincerely grateful the young person is willing to trust you and that you have the opportunity to help them. "We have a plan and if you trust me, there’s a chance all of your classes are going to be easier for you."
CONNECTIONS
Practice having them make connections and to think while they are reading, taking turns going back and forth until the young person is making their own connections easily. Consider the possibility the young person in front of you does not believe their thoughts are important. Ask if they have ever heard of connections. "Describe any thoughts you have about the words or sentences you are reading as you’re reading, after you’ve read them or before you even started reading." Ask them not to read out loud, to read in their heads. Reading fluency is tested in schools kindergarten to eighth grades, making connections has never been a goal in the reading process. Speed and trivia have been more important not making connections to what they are reading.
EASE
Hand them a stack of books to look through in order to find one that they know all of the words. The section "Books for Resistant Readers from 4th grade to High School" above is a great place to find books for older resistant readers. Attempting to help the person forgive books for being used as weapons, for being directly tethered to shame and self-doubt. Help this young person let go of their “illiterate” identity by allowing them to successfully read on their own with complete comprehension. Offer them a life-changing opportunity of agency. This is not the time to ‘sound words out’. This is the time to "give" them the words to help them move swiftly through their reading so they can make "connections" and become an independent reader.
REITERATE CONNECTIONS
It is not about the topic or about answering (trivial) questions about what they read, it’s about the importance of selecting reading material a young person can connect to. Make sure the young person can connect with the words. That they are making sense of what is in front of them and they can tell you about what they are reading with enough detail that you feel confident they are actually reading, thinking while they read, making predictions, providing evidence to prove themselves wrong, etc. Read one sentence at a time and repeat until they "get" it and can "connect" to it, if it's relevant to them.
ALLOW
Provide the time necessary for the young person to read with the knowledge that you’ll continue to be there for them and circle around to see how they did without any expectations. In a perfect world you would provide at least 20 minutes of silent real reading, either at school or parents can do this at home. Create purposeful, peaceful time for this young person to figure out how to make books come alive, like spark plugs in a car, they need that jolt. Allow for that jolt and trust that every child will experience that jolt.
LINK
Share any opportunity that can possibly help this young person as they traverse their reading journey. Let them know that your support is not the end. Explain how they can find reading material they can link to; their public library, other readers, best seller lists (New York Times, Powell's City of Books, NPR, Indie Bestsellers List, Goodreads, Amazon) and even author interviews on YouTube of authors they have enjoyed. Remind them that they are worth it and that reading will change their life if they allow for the magic to happen. Let them know they are like an octopus...reaching out all over the place to find the right book.