For many people who live in New Mexico the nearest library might be three hundred miles away. Luckily, the New Mexico State Library runs two excellent rural library services: Books by Mail and three bookmobiles that serve different regions of the state.

If you live 20 minutes outside of the city limits of any city in New Mexico, or if you live within city limits but are homebound, or if you can only read large-print books, you can sign up for Books by Mail. The Books by Mail collection contains more than 30,000 titles, including books in Spanish, audiobooks, eBooks, and more.

For schools and small communities who want to browse the shelves or access the internet from the bookmobile’s portable satellite terminal, check out the New Mexico State Library website to find out when and where a bookmobile will be stopping near you. And don’t forget to chat with the bookmobile librarian to find out what reading events and projects are offered during stops in your community!

“I care about people first. I care about what's going on in their lives,” says Berdina Nieto, the New Mexico State Library Books by Mail librarian and rural services outreach specialist. “Patrons will call just to get their book order and then tell me what's going on in their world, and then I'll do the same.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Books by Mail

Bookmobiles

New Mexico State Library

Cimarron City Library

Santo Domingo Pueblo

RECOMMENDED EPISODES

EC0602: Adventure Begins at Your Library: Explore New Mexico Tribal Libraries and Youth Programming

EC0601: From Goatheads to Grand Canyons: A Love Letter to the Landscape with New Mexico State Poet Laureate, Lauren Camp

EC0306: Healthy Escapism: The State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled with Tim Donahue and Berdina Nieto

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Encounter Culture, a production of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, is produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at El Palacio Magazine

Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann

Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz

Recording Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe

Editor & Production Manager: Alex Riegler

Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota)

Theme Music: D’Santi Nava

Instagram: @newmexicanculture and @elpalaciomagazine

For a transcript and full show notes, please visit podcast.nmculture.org