From Our Corner

WSL Updates for February 24, 2011

Volume 7, February 24, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS - AUTHORS, ILLUSTRATORS, AND LIBRARIANS, OH MY!

2) SIMPLY WASHINGTON - NEW & IMPROVED

3) LIBRARY LEGISLATION TRACKER

4) DOE GRANT - IMPROVING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL LIBRARIES

5) FREE WEBJUNCTION COURSES - MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

… Read more

WA census numbers arrive; next step redistricting

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Library Legislation Tracker - February 18, 2011

Courtesy Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association(WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted to the WLA web site and we will also post it weekly on this blog. For information on the legislative process or becoming involved see the WLA site referenced above. Click below to view the tracker… Read more

A very historic letter, by George

Image Even though we no longer officially observe it due to the creation of Presidents Day, today, February 22, is George Washington’s birthday. In honor of the birthday of our nation’s first president, and the namesake of our great state,… Read more

High court rejects challenge of campaign reporting law

Image Secretary of State Sam Reed welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court's action today that upholds Washington’s voter-approved campaign disclosure law. Attorney General Rob McKenna’s office defended the… Read more

Charities and Nonprofit news: resource updates, Facebook and Spokane event

Image Our office’s Corporations and Charities Division has been even busier than usual, updating some helpful resources, adding a Facebook page, and scheduling an educational event in Spokane in May. The division recently published its new Charities and… Read more

“So I bade my children and friends farewell…”

In 1841, a stubborn 64 year old Methodist preacher named Joseph Williams left his home in Ripley County, Indiana to travel to the Oregon Territory. His family and neighbors all advised against it, pointing to dangers, hostile Indians and wild beasts. “But my mind leads me strongly to go: I want to preach to the people there, and also to the Indians, as well as to see the county.” [caption id="attachment_4392" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Methodist Mission, Oregon, 1834"]… Read more

Clippings, February 11, 2011

Library News Anne Lowe, president of Endicott Community Club, recently presented Caroline Morasch, Endicott librarian, with a check for $5,856 from proceeds of the German dinner and silent auction last November in Endicott. The proceeds will go toward the renovation of the present library in Endicott. (Photo) (Whitman County Gazette [Colfax], 1.27.11) Libraries serving the Reardan community and local students have teamed up to share resources in order to benefit students. The Reardan… Read more

`Governing Washington' conference draws crowd

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Pollster Stuart Elway (second from left) answers a question as other panelists listen

Secretary of State Sam Reed and the Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public… Read more

Gov signs emergency budget cuts

Image Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed the Legislature's $360 million plan for emergency budget cuts to help the state weather the next four months. She vetoed the plan for a 3 percent pay cut for non-… Read more

Feds Release National Broadband Map

Image The US Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released The National Broadband Map, http://www.Broadbandmap.gov. The National Broadband Map is a tool to search, analyze and map broadband availability across… Read more

It's Simply Washington! And it's free!

Image Our online publication Simply Washington … Read more

WSL Updates for February 17, 2011

Volume 7, February 17, 2011 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FREE GENEALOGY EVENT - BING CROSBY'S FAMILY HISTORY

2) WLA ANNUAL CONFERENCE - REGISTER NOW

3) PUBLIC RECORDS & OPEN MEETING FORUM

4) FREE WEBWISE CONFERENCE

5) HOST THE KING JAMES BIBLE TRAVELING EXHIBIT

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

… Read more

Prez primary bill: Say it again, Sam

Image Weeks after he testified in the Senate on a bill to suspend our state’s Presidential Primary in 2012, Secretary Reed appeared before the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee to urge it to approve the House version… Read more

You can donate a state flag to Washington soldiers

Image For years, soldiers from Washington have been flying their state flag while deployed to faraway places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. But they were required to buy those flags due to a quirk in state law that… Read more

Senate to Baxter: You complete me

Image During the first five weeks of this year’s legislative session, the Senate was short one member. Longtime 4th Legislative District Sen. Bob McCaslin abruptly retired in early January, a few days before… Read more

Love is in the air...

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Photograph taken in Yakima, inside apple country, courtesy of the Washington State Archives.

...or rather hay fever from the apple blossoms in full… Read more

Library Legislation Tracker – February 11, 2011

Courtesy Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association(WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted to the WLA web site and we will also post it weekly on this blog. For information on the legislative process or becoming involved see the WLA site referenced above. Click below to view the tracker.… Read more

Clippings, February 4, 2011

Washington State Library News The Whatcom County Library System has been awarded $25,000 to continue the work begun in 2010 in community relationship building between libraries and low-income and minority residents. Under the federal Library Services and Technology Act, the funds come through a competitive process within the state of Washington. One of the cooperating partners is the Washington State Library. {Editor’s note: this is a Renew Washington LSTA grant} (Lynden Tribune, 1.19.11)… Read more

Coyote Ridge Corrections Center Library makes the news

Image Library Snapshot day was a huge success for those of us who deal with the inmates and patients of Washington prisons and psychiatric hospitals; we see results everyday. However, it is nice when… Read more