From Our Corner

Session's a wrap: Now the people speak

Image Washington's election-year, deficit-plagued legislative session is now history. After 90 days of debate and wrangling, the Democratic-controlled Legislature… Read more

From Your Corner: How Ellensburg got its name

“E-burg,” as it is affectionately known, is both the home of Central Washington University and the seat of Kittitas County. Image Located in the heart of the Kittitas Valley, the town of 17,230 is renowned for the Ellensburg Rodeo, considered one of the top 10 professional rodeos in the nation and held every Labor Day weekend. It’s also known for its gusty winds that blow in from the Cascades,… Read more

Clippings, April 2, 2010

Library News The Friends of the Mukilteo Library, a part of Sno-Isle Libraries, purchased and donated some 75 new chairs for the public meeting room. (Photo) (The Mukilteo Beacon, 3.17.10) Conner Woodruff died at age 12 last November because of complications from swine flu. Since then, his family has been taking donations to raise money to buy books for the libraries at Robert Gray and Miller Jr. High School for his classmates to enjoy. Conner was an avid reader, consuming up to three… Read more

April 27 special election coming up

Image Some Washington voters are receiving their ballots for the April 27 special election. Mail ballots are being sent out to a number of local voting jurisdictions in about 15 counties for this election. Measures facing voters include emergency medical… Read more

Light at end of tunnel for lawmakers

Image Time runs out Tuesday on Washington's 30-day special session of the Legislature – and the Democratic leaders believe they've pretty well nailed down agreement on an $800 million tax package and a budget rewrite. Rank-and-file lawmakers have been back in their home… Read more

Ask-WA(tch): Statistics for Q1, 2010

The Ask-WA(tch) blog series fell off the map in 2010 due to other priorities. To make it up to you, here's a catch-up statistical analysis with our numbers for the first quarter (January - March) in 2010, and a comparison against the first quarter of 2009. Sorry, no catching up on kudos, comments, or ROCKSTAR… Read more

How to explore your family tree

Image It seems like more and more people are getting into genealogy. Last weekend, the News Tribune had a nice story about South Sound women exploring their family… Read more

5 Questions about the new Nancy Evans book

One of the Legacy Project's oral histories has become the program's first printed book. The biography and oral history of Nancy Evans, Washington’s remarkable former first lady, is now available for purchase. John Hughes, the Legacy Project’s chief oral historian, wrote the biography and conducted the oral history interviews with Mrs. Evans. Here’s his take on… Read more

ALA: Keys to Engaging Older Adults

The American Library Association's Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS) recently released a new toolkit, now available in print and as a free download. From their press release: Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library responds to the needs of librarians across the country who provide services to the older adults in their… Read more

WSL Updates for April 8, 2010

Volume 6, April 8, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) WOMAN'S DAY ALA LIBRARY STORIES CONTEST 2) IMAGINE, PROGRAM, SHARE - LIBRARY PROGRAMMING WITH SCRATCH 3) INNOVATION FOR LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) WOMAN'S DAY ALA LIBRARY STORIES CONTEST WomansDay.com announces their annual ALA Contest: "Why is your library important to your community?" From… Read more

A Nation Without School Librarians

Image From the desk of Rand Simmons A Google map details the sad status of school libraries and school librarians across the United States. Pointers indicate where communities and states… Read more

It's a homerun! Online voter registration, that is

Image A new report from the independent Pew Center for the States gives top marks to… Read more

Partnerships That Work

Image Sometimes partnerships pay off. Fort Vancouver Regional Library's partnership with Partners in Careers, made possible through a Renew Washington grant, has been a great success. Partners in Careers is an agency that works with refugees, low income seniors, and… Read more

Neel Parikh Awarded 2010 Sullivan Award

Image The American Library Association recently announced that Neel Parikh, Director of the Pierce County Library System, was awarded the 2010 Sullivan Award for "Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children." Parikh has provided outstanding leadership within Washington State in… Read more

Your Top 10 influential books? Here are mine ...

One of the side benefits of recuperating from my recent surgery has been long blocs of reading time. I got four thick books as get-well gifts (including Douglas Brinkley's "Wilderness Warrior," about Teddy Roosevelt, from staff) and right now I'm plowing through an amazing book called "Citizens of London" by… Read more

Watergate, Elvis & Everest

Egil "Bud" Krogh tells great stories on himself – all with the punch line of hoping people will learn from his mistakes and lapses of integrity. Krogh, a young Seattle attorney who was just 29 when he became a top official in the Nixon White House, became head of the notorious "plumbers" who used national security as their justification for breaking into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office to… Read more

Clippings, March 26, 2010

Washington State Library News The Washington State Library and the library community are celebrating the approval of an $84 million grant award that will provide high-speed broadband Internet access to 57 public libraries where broadband connections are limited. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved the award. The State Library is a partner in a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant application in Washington. Northwest Open Access… Read more

Taking count: Is your Census tally in the mail?

Image Sure you knew this was a special day: Today is Census Day – no foolin' – and how are you celebrating? Nationally, about half of us have returned our no-frills, no-stress… Read more

How Libraries Stack Up: 2010

Image Check out this great new report from OCLC:

This new report examines the economic, social and cultural impact of libraries in the United States. As the current economic environment is impacting library budgets and library usage is increasing, particular attention is paid to the role that libraries play in… Read more

WSL Updates for April 1, 2010

Topics include: 1) DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOKS PORTAL LAUNCH 2) ROUND TWO BROADBAND APPLICATION FILED 3) CURRENT ISSUES – LIBRARY TRENDS WITH GEORGE AND JAMES 4) NEW STUDY DESCRIBES PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET USE 5) YOUTH PROGRAMS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FUNDED 6) AMERICA – THE STORY OF US CONTESTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOKS PORTAL LAUNCH No April fooling! The Washington State… Read more