As an educational institution, Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu has always had a Library, ever since the Ranch became the property of the Presbyterian Church in 1955.
Today, the Library, which is open 24 hours a day, is a quiet, comfortable center for reading and study, located in a fine old adobe building just across from the Dining Hall. The Library now has over 16,000 volumes, organized by the Library of Congress cataloging system. Collections focus on program areas of the Ranch, but there is also a large leisure reading collection of American, English and Spanish literature.
 Other notable subject areas in the collection include:
- Southwest research collection.
- Religion, which includes most current books published by Westminster/John Knox Press.
- Art, especially books on watercolor technique.
- Current Santa Fe and Albuquerque newspapers, plus a representative collection of popular magazines in religion and current affairs.
- The Library also maintains a "Paperback Book Exchange". Guests may take any of the paperback fiction books they want from this collection. We also hope that guests will leave paperbacks, which they no longer need, for others to read.
CHILDREN'S COLLECTION:
 There is a large children's book collection. The Children's Room is also used by the summer Children's Activities Program for storytimes and related activities. Considering that Ghost Ranch is one of the few places left which does not have easy access to television (because of the Ranch's remote location) children often find they have more time to read. The result is that the Children's Room is the most heavily used part of the Library during the summer.
ARCHIVES:
In 1995, concerned that valuable papers and historical records would be lost, the Library staff created a secure location for these materials. The purpose of the archives is to collect, organize, preserve and make available for researchers items of administrative, legal and historical value concerning Ghost Ranch and its area of impact in northern New Mexico.
In 2000, Barbara Schmidtzinsky, an old friend of the Ranch, who is also a trained archivist, entered into a full-time volunteer commitment to organize materials in a professional manner. Ghost Ranch has now received two grants from the New Mexico Historical Records Advisory Board to continue the archival work.
As the year 2005 approached, a "50th Anniversary History Project" began under way, coordinated by Lesley Poling-Kempes, author of Valley of Shining Stone: the Story of Abiquiu (University of Arizona Press, 1997). The archives played an important part in this project to produce a trade book with the definitive history of the Ranch for the past 50 years, as well as creation of various public exhibits and eductional forums for the 2005 anniversary. This new trade book, simply called Ghost Ranch, by Lesley Poling-Kempes, was published in 2005 and is available for purchase at the Trading Post.
R & R and STUDY LEAVE:
The Ranch welcomes visitors who come here on sabbatical or study leave, and the Library can be an important resource for them. If you are planning a study leave at the Ranch, please contact the Ranch librarian who can reserve study areas in the Library and also borrow, through Interlibrary Loan, materials not available at the Ranch.
GIFTS TO THE LIBRARY:
The Ranch welcomes visitors who come here on sabbatical or study leave, and the Library can be an important resource for them. If you are planning a study leave at the Ranch, please contact the Ranch librarian who can reserve study areas in the Library and also borrow, through Interlibrary Loan, materials not available at the Ranch.
GIFTS TO THE LIBRARY:
Gifts of money for the purchase of books and furnishings are always welcome. Books purchased with gift money are annotated with the name of the donor. Gifts of books are also welcome. However, please contact the Librarian first so that potential gifts can be evaluated against the Library's needs.
Revised 10/26/06
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