From Our Corner

R-71 case: Reed, McKenna delighted with ruling

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Washington's big win in the Supreme Court is great news for the cause of open government and transparency, say Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna. Ironically, the situation that prompted the federal case, still remains uncertain. Protect Marriage Washington, a group that sought to overturn the state's new domestic partnership law last fall, sued Reed in an effort to block him from releasing petitions, as is… Read more

It's raining initiatives ...

As we've noted, the initiative process is alive and well in Washington, with little apparent "chilling" due to the state's policy of releasing signatures of signers. (The U.S. Supreme Court has just held the disclosure policy in an 8-1 ruling written by the chief justice.) We've seen a record number of initiatives filed this year (75 initiatives to the people and 4 initiatives to the Legislature), and we're seeing… Read more

Washington Adds 50,000 Newspaper Pages to Chronicling America

The Washington State Library recently contributed another 50,000 historic newspaper pages from nine newspapers to Chronicling America, making Washington State’s contribution to the program a total of 16 titles and 92,000 pages. People can read and research issues from these and other newspapers around the U.S. for free at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. [caption id="attachment_2835" align="alignright" width="232" caption="100 Years Ago. Tacoma… Read more

WSL Updates for June 24, 2010

Volume 6, June 24, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) GRANTSTATION SUBSCRIPTION EXTENSION

2) SAFECO SUPPORTS QUALITY OF LIFE

3) DITTO UNION PACIFIC

4) IPADS IN THE LIBRARY

5) YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION AND HOW TO PROTECT IT

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1) GRANTSTATION SUBSCRIPTION EXTENSION

The Washington State… Read more

Costco booze measure first one in

Image As expected, the I-1100 signature petition sheets were delivered to our Elections Division office at about 12:30 today, making it the first initiative this year to turn in sigs. I-1100, backed by Costco and other retailers, would privatize liquor sales in Washington. A spokesman for 1100 said that they collected more than 396,000 signatures in only 27 days. A minimum of 241,153 signatures from Washington registered voters is needed to make it… Read more

There's a lot to draw from here

Image It isn’t a high-profile part of election season, but it sure matters when you look at your ballot. It is the lot draw. Secretary Reed recently certified the list of 2010 Primary candidates who filed with the Office of Secretary of State. In doing so, he gave the final blessing on the candidate lot draw that determines where candidates’ names will appear on the ballot.… Read more

When “Old Ironsides” visited Olympia

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This week in 1933 marked the occasion when the USS Constitution visited Olympia. The stop happened during a 10-day West Coast swing that year for “Old Ironsides.” This photo, provided by the State Archives, comes from a collection documenting the famous ship’s visit. It includes photos, historical notes and detailed descriptions of all aspects of the Constitution.

U.S. Honor Flag visiting State Capitol

Image The U.S. Honor Flag plans to fly over the State Legislative Building tomorrow, June 23rd. The ceremony is open to the public and begins at 11 a.m. and runs for about 45 minutes. This special flag started at Ground Zero soon after the recovery efforts of 9-11. It has supported our military in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's also flown above the U.S. Capitol, several presidential libraries and many state capitol buildings. Also, this flag has been… Read more

Happy Father's Day!

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A father with children fishing on Lake Washington during the 1950s. Photograph courtesy of the Washington State Archives.

There are a wide selection of photos to choose from in our State Digital Archives collection and best of all, they're free!

A great day in D.C. for a great library

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Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Visiting Washington, D.C., is usually pretty special in itself. But on Friday, it was even more so for Danielle Miller, Jan Walsh and Sue Ammeter. Miller is program manager for the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library in Seattle. Walsh is Washington State Librarian and Miller’s boss. And Ammeter is chair of WTBBL’s Patron Advisory… Read more

Clippings, June 11, 2010

Library News Why do libraries charge for library cards? The quick answer is that it's one way the library is able to buy the items you borrow. People who want library services but are living outside the tax boundaries will be asked to purchase a nonresident card. (Concrete Herald, 6.2010) The Camano Island Library Advisory Board is accepting applications for its student position for the 2010-2011 school year. Board members are required to attend all regularly scheduled meetings. Deadline… Read more

Lynne Greene Award and Profile

Lynne Greene, who recently won the Governor's Volunteer Service Award, has been director of the Davis High School Library for 27 years. Greene traveled to the Governor's Mansion in Olympia in April to receive the award.

And she's up for another honor this summer. Her two staffers are nominating her for the Washington Library Media Association's 2010 Librarian of the… Read more

"Hey, buddy, can you sign this petition?"

Image If you’ve been to a Costco, a Wal-Mart or some other large store in recent weeks, you may have been asked that question. With so many initiatives filed this year (a record 79), and a number of initiative campaigns planning to turn in signatures by the July 2 deadline, people are seeing lots of signature gatherers in front of stores and other locations encouraging folks to sign their petitions sheets. As has been the case in previous years,… Read more

Didyaknow...?

...This year commemorates 100 years since the first Father's Day. It all began June 13, 1910 Image when Sonora Smart Dodd, from Spokane, Washington attended church and heard about a holiday honoring mothers. She thought fatherhood should be honored as well and have… Read more

New forecast: State's bottom line recovering

Image It's entirely due to the recently approved $800 million tax package, but the new state revenue forecast is finally showing some positive numbers. The new report today from the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council shows revenue growth of $558 million during the next fiscal year and an additional $1.9 billion in following 2011-13 biennium. Arun Raha, the council… Read more

WSL Updates for June 17, 2010

Volume 6, June 17, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) MORE ELLUMINATION! 2) SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIBRARY CLIPPINGS NEWS SERVICE 3) LSSC PORTFOLIO MENTORS AND EVALUATORS SOUGHT 4) GETTING STARTED WITH A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN 5) BEYOND SLIDESHOWS - TIPS FOR WEB-BASED PRESENTATIONS 6) LEGAL REFERENCE IN NON-LAW LIBRARIES 7) ATTEND THE OCLC AMERICAS REGIONAL COUNCIL MEETING… Read more

Initiative drives = more voter registrations

Image As has been the case in previous years, efforts by various initiative sponsors to gather enough signatures has a side effect – a sharp increase in new voter registrations in Washington. In the past two months, nearly 10,200 new registrations have come in thanks to initiative drives. In a typical week, our Elections Division receives between 300-400 new registrations, or close to 1,800 a month. Here is how the initiative drives affect voter… Read more

Audience-Focused Presentations: Notes from a Webinar

The Washington Library Association hosted a great webinar today with Mary Ross, who talked about how to effectively create audience-focused presentations. The tips that Mary suggests seem spot on, and I'm including them with my notes below in the hope that they will be useful to Washington library staff who want to step up the interactivity and quality of their… Read more

Clippings, June 4, 2010

Library News The Friends of the Longview Library need a logo, and they want the public to design it. The new Friends logo will be used for projects related to the work of the Friends and to benefit the Longview Public Library. The winning logo designer will receive a $50 gift certificate from the location of his or her choice. The winning logo will be announced and displayed at the library in late September.… Read more

Clippings, May 28, 2010

Washington State Library News Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed was in White Salmon Friday, May 14, taking a tour of the White Salmon Community Library and meeting with White Salmon librarian Jennifer Hull. Reed has a professional interest in libraries, as the Secretary of State's office oversees the Washington State Library. (Photo) (The Enterprise, (White Salmon) 5.20.10) Library News A city (Spokane) library branch faces closure at the end of the year as a result of Mayor Mary… Read more