From Our Corner
Broadband Stimulus Funding
First item I wrote to Tamara Jones this morning to inquire if there will be grant opportunities for Washington libraries at the state level. Ms. Jones is the Government and Association Liaison at the Department of Information Services (DIS). If you wish to contact her directly her telephone number is 360.902.3557 and her email address is [email protected]. When I receive a response from her, I'll post it to the blog. Second item In the meantime, ALA… Read moreJeannie--a coworker with style
Jeannie is a remarkable woman who I have had the pleasure of working with for about 3 1/2 years. In that time we have formed a great working relationship, but also a wonderful friendship. Jeannie has 15 years of experience in prison libraries and I have found her a valuable resource. I remember when I first started working in the prison library Jeannie was the one person I could count on to make me laugh, and to resure me that it would all be ok. So a year ago when I decided to move… Read more
Country is cool
Washington’s Rural Heritage program (see news release), creatively run by the folks at the Washington State Library, is a free online showcase for collections of photos and other cool materials that help tell the story of our rural past. Evan Robb, project manager, sends us some examples that illustrate the enormous value of digitizing older photos. The first photo, taken in 1945, is from the Stevens… Read more
Library Legislation Tracker - March 10, 2009
Courtesy Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association State Bills of Interest. 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… Read more
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Image It's not often I have an excuse to look at a Penny Arcade comic at work, and to be sure, I only took the chance today because LISNews proffered the link for me. Now, having had the joy of a little PA (as we in the webcomics world like to call it) in my day, I thought I could,… Read more
Washington State flag proudly flown in Afghanistan
Image The 81st Brigade shows off the WA State flag in Afghanistan, which was donated by the Office of Secretary of State. Learn more about the flag program at http://www.sos.wa.gov/flag/.Thumbs Up To You, Libraries!
By now, we're all used to seeing stories in the paper and online about how libraries can help during tough economic times. Sure, these days, everyone is writing about it. The Consumerist, a blog out of New York, got the scoop on all of them, though (at least for this particularly tough economic time), by posting how libraries can help out back in July of… Read more
Unemployment and Economic Hardship Resources
The staff of the Washington State Library has compiled a list of helpful online resources for those currently affected by the recent downturn of the economy. For links to unemployment information, job and retraining resources, and federal economic stimulus programs, click here!
We need your opinion!
Image Washington Rural Heritage is rolling out new promotional bookmarks in time for WLA 2009 in Spokane.… Read more
Did you know…
Image A Volkswagen slug bug could fit inside the chandelier that hangs inside the Capitol Rotunda? Yep, sure does, but only the older style bug, not the newer body style type. The chandelier was designed by the Tiffany Company in New York and is 8 feet in diameter and 25 feet long. It weighs 10,000 lbs. and only cost the state a whoppin' $10,000 in the 1920s.New hope for presidential primary reform
One of Secretary of State Sam Reed's longtime goals, to replace the out-of-control, front-loaded system of presidential primaries with a rotating regional primary, could be within reach. Image Reed, a leader of primary reform efforts by the National Association of Secretaries of State, says optimism is growing that the Republican and Democratic national committees will hammer out an agreement that can be in place in time for the 2012 cycle.… Read more
Trivia anyone???
There are times that I wonder why I work in a library? Especially a prison library. Then I remember my patrons, or at least the good ones. Like the guy who comes in every week looking for the answer to the trivia contest. He asks advice, but he loves the search for the answer. He can spend the whole hour looking up the answers in the books - it is only as it comes to the end of his time in the library that he resorts to me looking up the… Read more
Library Legislation Tracker - March 6, 2009
Courtesy Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association State Bills of Interest. 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… Read more
Supremes decline to order simple majority vote on taxes
Image A fresh opinion from the state high court, turning down Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown’s request to overturn the two-thirds supermajority requirement for tax hikes in the Legislature. In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the high court side-stepped the request to rule on the constitutionality of the supermajority requirement approved by voters as Initiative 601 back in 1993 and reiterated in Tim Eyman's I-960 in 2007. The court, using a separation… Read morePhone it in ... your consumer complaints, that is
Image Your Top 20 consumer gripes? The folks over at the attorney general's office have toted up the 25,000-plus consumer complaints they received in 2008 -- and, drum roll, please! --last year's list was topped by phone companies. The Office of the Attorney General, along with the Office of Secretary of State and a few other agencies, is being increasingly vigilant in warning against unscrupulous charities and corporations. AG Rob McKenna, who… Read moreTracking that `Obama Claus' money
Image Have you noticed that we no longer hear the big dogs talking about "stimulus" money from Uncle Sam? The Obama White House, Congress and Governor Gregoire's office now like the sound of the word "recovery." Tomato, tomahtoe. So the White House and Gregoire have set up websites that help us track how much "recovery" money we get from the Other Washington. Some, including health care and transportation dollars, already have begun to flow.… Read moreWSL Updates, March 5, 2009
Volume 5: March 5, 2009 for the WSL Updates mailing list
Topics include:
1) CANCELLATION OF LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAY
2) FIND-IT! WASHINGTON & FIND-IT! CONSUMER WILL BE DISCONTINUED
3) RECOVERY SITE & STIMULUS LINKS FOR WASHINGTON STATE
4) GRANT CYCLE OPENS FOR WASHINGTON RURAL HERITAGE
5) HARD TIMES: BLOG AT THE WSL WEB SITE, DISCUSSION AT WEBJUNCTION
6) ASK-WA GOES ON THE ROAD (OR WANTS TO)
7) TARGET STORES OFFER LOCAL… Read more
Resources for Washington Library Staff on Hard Times
Image The Washington State Library is aware that these trying times are putting special pressures on libraries and their customers, and we are thinking about ways to help. We will start by gathering resources and sites on job-finding, resume-writing, and… Read more
Ask-WA: Tips & Tricks for Serving Multiple Patrons in Chat
One of the benefits of being part of a large national cooperative is that we can share expertise not only within the state, but globally. And by share, of course, I mean that we can benefit from the hard work all the other states are doing while we sit around and … Okay, so we’re working hard too. Anyway, AskAway Best Practices meetings cover… Read moreSecretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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