Growth of library system reflects public’s commitment
Devin booker scores 34 points in dismantling of Portland
A what-if a lot of us like to indulge: If we could have dinner with famous or influential people in history, who would they be?
Philip Bonfanti can think of two, one of them Madora Ingalls, wife of the then-superintendent of the Yuma Territorial Prison who started a library in prison in the 1880s in early effort at penal reform. The other would be her daughter, Addie, who was the librarian in charge of the Yuma Carnegie Library at the time of its opening on Feb. 24, 1921
Bonfanti documented Yuma library history in a 1996 master’s thesis from which the Yuma County Library District drew information for its website dedicated to the library’s centennial, https://yumalibrary.org/100years/.
For Bonfanti, today a community college administrator in Mississippi, the two woman reflected a commitment to public libraries and learning that has endured in Yuma over more than a century.
Nestled by itself on the west bank of the Colorado River, far removed from the cultural or intellectual meccas of the early 1900, Yuma was nonetheless “a pretty progressive town,” says Bonfanti.
In that era, the Yuma City Club, an organization for civic-minded women, pursued a mission of bringing about a place where people, above all women, could gather to read and socialize. Their efforts led to the opening of the Yuma Reading and Rest Room, the precursor of the Carnegie Library.
The library, located at the site of today’s Heritage Library at 350 3rd Ave., was only one of four in the Arizona funded with philanthropic grants from the Carnegie Corporation – the other three were located in Prescott, Tucson and Phoenix – and one of about 1,700 nationwide.
It was the women’s organization, in its zeal to promote a well-informed citizenry, that played key role in the city securing the $10,000 grant and acquiring the site for the library, Bonfanti said.
The library started out modestly, opening its doors with a budget of $600 and a collection of a little more than 1,000 volumes that had been donated. Bonfanti suspects Addie Ingalls Kline, as the first librarian, was motivated more by avocation than vocation.
“There was the sense of public service that I have to assume Addie was raised with by her parents, certainly by her mom,” he said. “I think a library was not only an acceptable career for a women in the early 1890s, but it was also (the inspiration for mother and daughter) to promote women and education for women and activities for women.”
Addie Ingalls Kline served as head librarian until 1957, an era in which the library underwent remodeling and expansion funded with voter-approved bonds and book lending to patrons increased nearly tenfold.
For Bonfanti, the evolution of a single library to today’s system of eight branches scattered around Yuma County reflects a lasting commitment by the public to knowledge and learning.
In the 1980s, as financial problems constrained county government’s financial contributions to its libraries, the board of supervisors formed a countywide district within which a property tax would be collected to finance future library operations.
Within a year, its opponents of the district collected enough petition signatures to force a public vote to determine its fate. Voters overwhelmingly approved the district.
Less than two decades later, in 2005, voters approved a $53.7 million bond issue to build new library branches and upgrade existing ones.
Bonfanti notes taxpayers are paying off those bonds at a time when some people question the continued relevancy, given the availability of knowledge and information on the internet and from other sources.
“The library system continues, it has expanded, it has survived votes to get rid of the system. Even in a time when people question the validity or the need of libraries, the citizens voted to approve $53 million for new libraries,” he said.
“Yuma says, ‘No, we think they’re relevant.”
Bonfanti, who lived with his family in Yuma in the 1990s, was the law librarian at the prison here when he wrote his thesis for his master’s from the University of Arizona. Today he is executive vice president of student services and enrollment management at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
In 2009, he and his son, who was born in Yuma, returned here for a nostalgic visit. Unbeknownst to Bonfanti, the new libraries financed by the 2005 bond issue had just opened their doors or were soon to open.
Had he known, he could have seen for himself what became of the Yuma Reading and Rest Room and the Yuma Carnegie Library.
PHOENIX — Devin Booker’s 17-footer to beat the halftime buzzer brought the 3,000 fans to their feet. His 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in the third quarter earned an even bigger roar from the socially distanced crowd.
Because of shots like those, no heroics were needed in the fourth.
Booker took a seat on the bench and got comfortable. This one was over.
Booker scored 34 points, Deandre Ayton added 19 and the Phoenix Suns kept rolling with a 132-100 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
There’s been some talk over the past few months about whether Booker should earn his second straight All-Star selection. He certainly looked worthy in a dominant performance
against the Blazers.
Booker finished 12 of 17 from the field and hit both his 3-point attempts. He was 8 for 8 at the free throw line.
“There’s no doubt about it,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “Nobody can debate Book’s not an All-Star, end of story.”
Said forward Mikal Bridges: “You see what he does game in and game out: leads us to wins. He deserves it — that’s all I have to say.”
Phoenix has won nine of its past 10 games and put this one away late in the third quarter with a fast flurry. Booker made his 3-pointer with two seconds remaining and then — following a quick Portland turnover — Cam Johnson hit another 3 at the buzzer to give the Suns a 100-71 lead.
The 32-point win was the Suns’ largest margin of victory this season.
“Everyone’s locked in,” Booker said.
Portland has lost two straight following a sixgame winning streak. The Suns improved to 20-10 on the season while the Trail Blazers fell to 18-12.
Booker poured in points all night, scoring 17 as the Suns pushed ahead 32-26 in
the first quarter. The sixthyear guard was up to 22 points by halftime, including an off-balance 17-footer at the buzzer that gave Phoenix a 63-54 advantage.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 16 points in the first half and finished with 24. Nassir Little added 18 off the bench.
It was a fairly tight game until the third quarter, when the Suns had a 37-17
advantage.
“It went off track in the third quarter, which is an understatement,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
Stotts said he was confident his team would get back on track after the rough night.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Travel to face Denver on Tuesday.
Suns: Host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.