Armacost Library Display at A.K. Smiley Public Library

In preparation for Geography Awareness Week, Armacost Library's GIS and maps intern Stephanie Milner and outreach librarian Melissa Cardenas-Dow erected a small display of maps and images highlighting the storytelling power of maps. The display features images of maps from Armacost Library that are significant to books available at A.K. Smiley Public Library.

Geography Awareness Week 2012 display
at A.K. Smiley Public Library

The entire display consists of images of maps and books that show the historical past of California. In the middle of the display is a bridle trail map of Redlands from 1941. This map, from A.K. Smiley's Heritage Room collection, depicts different trails in and around the city of Redlands. Many of the trails have been used for centuries. Some are now part of private property and are closed to the public. Others are part of the Redlands Conservancy's Heritage Trails Project, which preserves and maintains historic rural spaces in Redlands for city residents and visitors to enjoy.

Surrounding the bridle trail map from A.K. Smiley's Heritage Room are images of maps from University of Redlands, Armacost Library's Irvine Map Collection. All are paired with books from A.K. Smiley's circulating collection.

A City of Redlands map from 1957 brings geographical context to Redlands Remembered: Stories From the Jewel of the Inland Empire by Joan Hedges McCall (2012). A map of the territories of Gabrielino and adjoining Native American tribes complements The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles by William McCauley (1996). A map of Carmel-by-the-Sea, a small city in the Monterey Peninsula of central California, is paired with Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island. The real-life California coastal location has long been lauded as the inspiration for Stevenson's book. The Elephant Quilt: Stitch by Stitch to California! by Susan Lowell and Stacey Dressen-McQueen (2008), a tale chronicling young Lily Rose's journey from Missouri to California, is supported by images of an 1861 map of Missouri and a 1954 map of California.

University of Redlands Armacost Library's Irvine Map Collection is currently being reorganized. Upon request, maps in the collection are still available for viewing and study.

The A.K. Smiley Public Library map display, and its sister display located at University of Redlands Armacost Library, are part of the GIS Day community events in Redlands, California.