Do you know that Arizona has more species of hummingbirds and owls than any other state in the U.S.? That Jerome procured a post office in 1883 or the first neon light flickered through the desert from a California car dealership in the early 1920s?

That is but a small sample of what can be learned at the Apache Junction Public Library’s popular lecture series back for its sixth season.

Beginning Tuesday, Jan. 10, local favorite Vera Walters leads off with “Museums of Arizona.” Her exhaustive list of institutions — from the renowned to the obscure — is sure to include a destination for every interest, according to a release.

Lectures will continue at 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Feb. 21 at the library, 1177 N. Idaho Road. On Jan. 17, Scott Warren presents “Assembling the Southwest: The History and Geography of a Region,” a richly illustrated look at how the Southwest and its cultural and natural icons became distinctive in our collective imagination.

Join Marshall Shore for his Jan. 24 presentation, “Arizona’s Vintage Signs: Lighting the Future.” With the rise of Arizona and automobile travel, restaurants, motels, curio shops and gas stations needed large, bright signs to make an impression. This informative and entertaining visual presentation explores the social significance of the rise of commercial neon signs.

On Jan. 31, Jay Mark presents “Jerome – Too Stubborn to Die: How the Town Survived Numerous “Near-Death” Experiences.” Fires, landslides, floods, labor strikes, polluted air, epidemics, Depression, recessions and financial collapse might have spelled the end of a lesser community. Mark recounts how Jerome not only survived these calamities but thrived.

February lectures include:

• Feb. 7 – Nanibaa Beck presents “Metalsmith Matriarchs: Makers, Memory, and Reciprocity.”
• Feb. 14 – Natalie J. Stewart-Smith presents “Flying Through Arizona: The Story of the First National Women’s Air Race.”
• Feb. 21 – Vera Walters presents “Birds of the Sonoran Desert.”

The winter lecture series is part of the Arizona Humanities AZ Speaks program, funded by the Friends of the Apache Junction and free to the public. For more information call 480-474-8555 or go to ajpl.org.