The Alamogordo Public Library has a history of innovation as a critical component to the fabric of Alamogordo dating back to 1900. The Alamogordo Public Library first opened on March 1, 1900. Its early permanent home was the corner of 10th Street and New York Avenue, then anchored by the First National Bank of Alamogordo now Roadrunner Emporium. The Alamogordo Woman's Club and Public Library entrance we the present days Blush Beauty Salon Building on the 10th Street side of 928 New York Avenue. The origins of the library were funded by the Alamogordo Woman's Club.
Now, almost 123 years later the Alamogordo Public Library is going through a major renovation of its image ensuring its relevant and serving the 21st Century needs of Otero County New Mexico's citizens. From Jan. 10-12 the library will be celebrating a rebranding and enhanced offerings launch. There are three days of hosted authors workshops, meet and greets, meet the author events and a kickoff of refreshments, special announcements and more.
Tuesday, Jan. 10 renowned Taos Artist Angus McDonald will host an interview and meet and greet from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and then a special book signing from 12:30-1 p.m. McDonald studied with American Artist Norman Rockwell. He owned the Reata Fine Art Gallery in Taos for several years in partnership with artist/actor Andersen Kee. The Alamogordo Public Library is fortunate to have him join the library events.
Wednesday, Jan. 11 is a festive event to celebrate the library's new and improved services, along with their fresh new logo and brand relaunched. Musical guests: Scott & Johanna Hongell-Darsee. Scandinavian and Celtic music. https://www.hongelldarsee.com/ Special events at 4 - 4:45 p.m. Refreshments and announcements. 4:45 - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 12, writer workshop: Crafting a good story takes both art and skill. In this workshop, we'll explore the elements of story craft from idea generation to revision and everything in between. Learn about story structure, plot, voice, point of view, character development, setting and more. Bring your writing tools and start crafting your next story. Stay after the workshop for a meet & greet and book signing with Amy Rivers.
More details and hours of operations are found at http://alamogordolibrary.com/478/Alamogordo-Public-Library
The history of the library and its founding dates to 1900.
Alamogordo was unusual for a Southwestern town at the time in that it was a planned community, the planning being carried out by Charles Bishop Eddy's and John Arthur Eddy's Alamogordo Improvement Company. The Eddys saw a library as being necessary for their community and they gave financial support to the Alamogordo Woman's Club to start the library. Ownership passed to an offshoot, the Alamogordo Library Association, and then to the Civic League. The Civic League retained ownership of the library until 1958 when it was sold for one dollar to the City of Alamogordo.
Alamogordo Public Library is a city-owned library, but library cards are free to all residents of Otero County.
The Eugene Manlove Rhodes Room, constructed as part of the 1987 expansion, holds the library's collection of Southwest books and materials. Within the room are a bank teller wall rescued from a bank in Vaughn, New Mexico and desks and other pieces of furniture from the early 1900s. In 1958 the Civic League purchased W. H. Hutchinson's collection of Eugene Manlove Rhodes materials and donated them to the library. The collection consists of books, correspondence, clippings, some magazines, and a few original manuscripts. These items and some other Rhodes-related items collected by past library director June Harwell have been photocopied, cataloged, and scanned into computer files and are available to researchers.
