Sedona Public Library’s Community Read and Online Services Continue

By Anne Marie Mackler, Development Director

Sedona AZ (March 27, 2020) – The COVID-19 situation may have temporarily closed our doors at White Bear Road and in the Village at Bell Rock Plaza, but we’re still offering a tremendous slate of online services including access to our robust digital collection. And it certainly can’t stop you from participating in our annual Read Around Sedona initiative!

It’s our fourth annual Read Around Sedona, and we’re excited to feature Dragonfly’s Question by local sustainability leader and author Darcy Hitchcock. This initiative invites the community to collectively read the same book, and Hitchcock’s novella is a perfect choice for this goal. It’s also perfect for Earth Month as the book looks closely at sustainability.

The novella tells the story of a father and daughter who have opposing views on sustainability, and their discussions make the topic more approachable than it often seems. Hitchcock is the author of 10 nonfiction books on sustainability, but she loved writing Dragonfly’s Question, her first work of fiction. “The muse hijacked me to write this novella,” she said.

If you haven’t checked out Dragonfly’s Question, Hitchcock’s book is available for .99 cents on Kindle through Amazon.com, and the paperback is available for $9.95, plus shipping, at Lulu.com. The proceeds from your purchase will be donated back to the Library.

Hitchcock is scheduled to read and discuss her book on Tuesday, April 28, at 10:30 a.m. in the community room. If our doors are not yet open, we hope to host an online forum with the author. Either way, the discussion will be informative and heartfelt, focusing on the story, the issues, and how fiction can be pivotal in community change. Stay tuned for details.

A special Read Around Sedona program is planned for Earth Day, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Library with Master Gardeners from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Yavapai County. We will re-schedule this fun day if we have not yet resumed normal programming at the scheduled time.

To learn about what else your Library continues to offer please see the list below. Digital options are vast. Visit our website at sedonalibrary.org. If you have questions about our services please email reference@sedonalibrary.org.

You can access Sedona Public Library’s digital collections from your e-reader, smartphone or computer. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines for FREE. All you need is your Library card and PIN.

LIBBY AND OVERDRIVE

OverDrive provides thousands of ebooks and downloadable audiobooks. The Libby app is the easiest way to access OverDrive. It’s available for Android, iOS, and Windows 10.

KANOPY

The online streaming service Kanopy (and Kanopy Kids) is offering unlimited access to select films for 30 days starting March 16. Enjoy a selection of over 30,000 films, including new releases, independent and international cinema, classic movies, and documentaries.

TUMBLEBOOKS FOR KIDS

TumbleBooks are talking picture and chapter books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they’ll love. Graphic novels, videos, games and puzzles included!

RBDIGITAL MAGAZINES AND BOOKS

RBdigital brings you digital versions of over 130 popular and specialty magazines to read on almost any device.

FOR TEENS

We have plenty of online things to do and places to go for teens. From homework help in numerous topics to comics and anime sites, as well as music and sports sites.

ONLINE TOOLS AND DATABASES

Many informational databases can be found at sedonalibrary.org/tools–databases.html. You’ll just need to enter your zip code for access to most of them.

Please visit our website often, where we will keep you posted with digital opportunities, updates, and other news. In the meantime, get a copy of Dragonfly’s Question, enjoy our services online, and continue to support the Library you love.

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Derek von Briesen on March 27, 2020 2:03 am

Ted Grussing,

Yes, we may be living in a ‘post-truth’ world now (god, I hope not), but there are times when facts really do still matter. The stats you use to make an argument matter & should be used accurately.

I’m assuming–in the middle of the worst global novel infectious disease pandemic in over a century (see: 1918 Spanish Flu)–that your inaccurate listing of combined flu/pneumonia mortality at 7.1% is an attempt to buttress the common but incorrect argument that COVID-19 is really about the same as a seasonal flu.

You even ‘strengthened’ (?) the argument by combining two different diseases together (influenza & pneumonia).

Why? I guess adding pneumonia to your flu argument, gives a much higher number . . .

Compared to the inaccurate 7.1% mortality rate you list for flu & pneumonia combined, the .7%-3% mortality rate of COVID-19 is no big thang, just another media-driven nothingburger.

But a closer look reveals . . .

Influenza mortality rate is roughly.1% depending on the severity in any season.

Yes, pneumonia mortality rate is between 5% & 10%, ***OF HOSPITALIZED CASES.***

***Actual worldwide pneumonia mortality rates are considerably smaller at 1.7%***(total cases globally – 140-150 million; total deaths, 2.56 million in 2017).

So, the actual combined flu/pneumonia mortality rate is 1.8%.

Nothing to sneeze at, but really as we look at what we’re all going thru right now, a pretty meaningless comparison.

So why gin up the combined stat?

To suggest that somehow COVID-19 is no big deal?

That a never-seen-before virus, no no human immunity, with a mortality rate of, let’s just say for argument sake (most studies are arriving at around this figure based on testing, death rates so far), of 1%, sweeping the world, decimating health care systems in China, Iran, Italy, Spain, New York is no big deal?

The last time we had a global pandemic this serious, the Spanish Flu in 1918, between 30-50 million people died; 675,000 Americans died. The virus circled the globe three times, seasonally, before sufficient mutation of the virus combined with herd immunity to bring it to an end.

Tell the people who have lived/are still living thru the worst of this now (China, Iran, Italy, Spain, New York) that it’s no worse than the seasonal flu.

Tell the health care providers dying on the front lines, the countless millions of people around the globe huddled in voluntary and involuntary quarantine for weeks and months on end.

Tell that to the folks who have lost their jobs.

Suggest it’s no big deal to those kids that can’t visit their parents, their grandparents where they live.

Tell that to the grieving survivors who can’t even bury their loved ones. Whose loved ones are presently being stored in refrigerator trailer trucks backed up to hospitals, or in a re-purposed ice arena in Spain that’s now a morgue to deal with the crush of 500-1000 bodies every f-n day!!!

Arguments can be, and are being, made on both sides of the economy vs. life question, but not for a second should anyone make light of how serious this situation is for all of us.

Ten days ago, the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, one of the most respected groups of infectious disease computer modelers on the planet, published a report that literally changed British (Boris Johnson) policy overnight, and so profoundly impacted our Task Force scientists that it pretty much turned the overall tone around, Monday, March 16.

In it, they predicted total deaths, without mitigation efforts, for Great Britain would be 510,000, and for the United States, 2.2 million. 81% of Americans would contract the disease.

With the kind of mitigation efforts we’re now making (but might relax as soon as Easter?), the total predicted deaths for the U.S. would still tally 1.1-1.2 million.

And that would pertain for the world something on the order of, Oh my f-n god, . . . a death toll of 28 MILLION!!

And that’s with disciplined, months-long mitigation efforts until a vaccine is discovered and circulated.

When was the last time you saw ‘just the flu’ act like that?

I’ll give you the answer: 1918.

Keep flying your plane, Ted. Keep turning out them great pix. Keep grinding them gemstones.

But if you’re gonna wax philosophical about what we’re all going thru right now, at least get your facts straight.

And furthermore, pointing us to flu stat CDC links does nobody any good at all.

At best, it produces a false sense of security; at worst, it’s a subtle bit of disinformation at a time when our lives all depend on making INFORMED CHOICES.

Your choices may be different than mine, but for god’s sake, counselor, at least point folks in the right direction.

Lots of things we can all do to make it thru this. Relax, breathe, love, walk, stay connected, stay informed, stay healthy, make the most of your days.

1:59AM, March 27, 2020
per Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center:
537,042 confirmed cases, COVID-19;
24,110 deaths

2 Comments

Derek von Briesen on March 27, 2020 2:03 am

Ted Grussing,

Yes, we may be living in a ‘post-truth’ world now (god, I hope not), but there are times when facts really do still matter. The stats you use to make an argument matter & should be used accurately.

I’m assuming–in the middle of the worst global novel infectious disease pandemic in over a century (see: 1918 Spanish Flu)–that your inaccurate listing of combined flu/pneumonia mortality at 7.1% is an attempt to buttress the common but incorrect argument that COVID-19 is really about the same as a seasonal flu.

You even ‘strengthened’ (?) the argument by combining two different diseases together (influenza & pneumonia).

Why? I guess adding pneumonia to your flu argument, gives a much higher number . . .

Compared to the inaccurate 7.1% mortality rate you list for flu & pneumonia combined, the .7%-3% mortality rate of COVID-19 is no big thang, just another media-driven nothingburger.

But a closer look reveals . . .

Influenza mortality rate is roughly.1% depending on the severity in any season.

Yes, pneumonia mortality rate is between 5% & 10%, ***OF HOSPITALIZED CASES.***

***Actual worldwide pneumonia mortality rates are considerably smaller at 1.7%***(total cases globally – 140-150 million; total deaths, 2.56 million in 2017).

So, the actual combined flu/pneumonia mortality rate is 1.8%.

Nothing to sneeze at, but really as we look at what we’re all going thru right now, a pretty meaningless comparison.

So why gin up the combined stat?

To suggest that somehow COVID-19 is no big deal?

That a never-seen-before virus, no no human immunity, with a mortality rate of, let’s just say for argument sake (most studies are arriving at around this figure based on testing, death rates so far), of 1%, sweeping the world, decimating health care systems in China, Iran, Italy, Spain, New York is no big deal?

The last time we had a global pandemic this serious, the Spanish Flu in 1918, between 30-50 million people died; 675,000 Americans died. The virus circled the globe three times, seasonally, before sufficient mutation of the virus combined with herd immunity to bring it to an end.

Tell the people who have lived/are still living thru the worst of this now (China, Iran, Italy, Spain, New York) that it’s no worse than the seasonal flu.

Tell the health care providers dying on the front lines, the countless millions of people around the globe huddled in voluntary and involuntary quarantine for weeks and months on end.

Tell that to the folks who have lost their jobs.

Suggest it’s no big deal to those kids that can’t visit their parents, their grandparents where they live.

Tell that to the grieving survivors who can’t even bury their loved ones. Whose loved ones are presently being stored in refrigerator trailer trucks backed up to hospitals, or in a re-purposed ice arena in Spain that’s now a morgue to deal with the crush of 500-1000 bodies every f-n day!!!

Arguments can be, and are being, made on both sides of the economy vs. life question, but not for a second should anyone make light of how serious this situation is for all of us.

Ten days ago, the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, one of the most respected groups of infectious disease computer modelers on the planet, published a report that literally changed British (Boris Johnson) policy overnight, and so profoundly impacted our Task Force scientists that it pretty much turned the overall tone around, Monday, March 16.

In it, they predicted total deaths, without mitigation efforts, for Great Britain would be 510,000, and for the United States, 2.2 million. 81% of Americans would contract the disease.

With the kind of mitigation efforts we’re now making (but might relax as soon as Easter?), the total predicted deaths for the U.S. would still tally 1.1-1.2 million.

And that would pertain for the world something on the order of, Oh my f-n god, . . . a death toll of 28 MILLION!!

And that’s with disciplined, months-long mitigation efforts until a vaccine is discovered and circulated.

When was the last time you saw ‘just the flu’ act like that?

I’ll give you the answer: 1918.

Keep flying your plane, Ted. Keep turning out them great pix. Keep grinding them gemstones.

But if you’re gonna wax philosophical about what we’re all going thru right now, at least get your facts straight.

And furthermore, pointing us to flu stat CDC links does nobody any good at all.

At best, it produces a false sense of security; at worst, it’s a subtle bit of disinformation at a time when our lives all depend on making INFORMED CHOICES.

Your choices may be different than mine, but for god’s sake, counselor, at least point folks in the right direction.

Lots of things we can all do to make it thru this. Relax, breathe, love, walk, stay connected, stay informed, stay healthy, make the most of your days.

1:59AM, March 27, 2020
per Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center:
537,042 confirmed cases, COVID-19;
24,110 deaths
Derek von Briesen on March 27, 2020 2:08 am

Sorry,
this was intended for comment on Ted Grussing post. please delete.