From Our Corner

Have a Creepy Halloween!

[caption id="attachment_149" align="alignright" width="199" caption=""Eels Clinging to Rock at Kettle Falls""][/caption] This Kettle Falls photo made our skin crawl with anticipation for our upcoming collections. We're discovering incredible images all the time and are dying to unveil them on-line! Keep… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 31, 2008, Part 1

Clippings, October 31, 2008 The Roslyn Library Board held a planning retreat, facilitated by librarian Erin Krake. Discussion topics included facility improvement, expansion of open hours, programming, including the new early literacy program “Ready to Read in Roslyn”, and marketing. The article includes an introduction to the board members and a color photo of them. (Northern Kittitas County Tribune [Cle Elum]. 10-16-08) Elections: Reasons for the Timberland Regional Library levy lid lift… Read more

Western State Hospital – Reminiscing

I have been employed by the State Library Institutional Services department at the branch at Western State Hospital for nearly 27 years. Annually, this state psychiatric hospital houses 900-1000 citizens in western Washington. It is reputed to be one of the larger psychiatric hospitals “west of the Mississippi.”

And lately, I’ve been reminiscencing a great deal. Before 2004, the hospital’s branch library was staffed by a professional librarian… Read more

The Jim Crook Collection @ San Juan Island Library, 10/26/08

Mike Vouri, historian and Chief of Interpretation at San Juan National Historical Park will be presenting on the life of Jim Crook this coming Sunday, October 26th, at the San Juan Island Library. Library director, Laura Tretter and Kevin Loftus from the San Juan Historical Museum will also be present to talk about the… Read more

Newspaper Gem – Seattle Baseball Misery

From the desk of Mary Paynton Schaff Quick, Seattle baseball fans, where did the following headline appear?

Fans Demanding Scalp of Seattle Manager

Hm, the wording doesn't sound too far off from some disgruntled bloggers we know. In 2008, the hometown Mariners went 61-101, becoming the first team to lose over 100 games despite a $100+ million dollar payroll. It's easy to imagine a particularly bitter writer… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 24, 2008, Part 2

Clippings, October 24, 2008, Part 2 “Officials at Sno-isle Libraries are considering buying fewer books in 2009 to bring next year’s budget in line. Sno-Isle Libraries is considering cutting the budget for purchasing materials by $320,000.” They library’s trustees received their first draft of the budget last month.” The budget trouble was expected. Library residents approved an increase to Sno-Isle’s property tax levy in 2003, but district officials expected the levy rate to drop to the point… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 24, 2008, Part 1

Clippings, October 24, 2008 , Part 1 Buildings: “How much scaffolding does it take to change a light bulb at the Seattle Central Library. Scaffolding? Yup, in September workers had to use a large scaffolding to reach light bulbs and electrical components they were replacing in the 48-to-52-foot-tall third-floor ceiling in the iconic 1000 Fourth Avenue library.” Estimated cost will be $120,000. Two years ago the ceiling was reached with a “Denka mobile lift”, for $18, 305, but it appeared to… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 22, 2008

Clippings, October 22, 2008 Elections: “The Timberland Regional Library has made as many ‘invisible cuts’ to its budget as it can, and now will have to cut services, including Sunday hours this winter”, reducing its materials budget by $367,000 in 2009, instituting a hiring freeze and no longer using substitutes.. The district will seek a levy lid lift in the spring. (The Daily World [Aberdeen], 10-4-08; Nisqually Valley News [Yelm], 10-2-08)) Buildings: Up for bid: Kirkland Library… Read more

WALE CONFERENCE – SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Prisons

Children's Books

Visiting Day. By Jacqueline Woodson. Scholastic, ©2002. Gentle illustrations enhance this children's book about a child's prison visit to her father.

Novels

On the yard. By Malcolm Braly. NYRB Classics, ©1967 The author used his experience as an inmate of both juvenile and adult institutions to create a picture of the complex and frightening world of American prison life… Read more

Upcoming fall events at the state library

Save the date for the following fall programs at the Washington State Library! An evening program on Wednesday, November 19, at 6:30 PM will feature Al Eufrasio and Jeff Davis, co-authors of Weird Washington, with seating in the main Reading Room on WSL’s 2nd floor. Two brown-bag luncheon programs will also be offered. Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 12:10 PM our genealogy librarians Kathryn Devine and Kim Smeenk will present “Tracking Kurt Cobain through Washington Vital Records.” They… Read more

WALE CONFERENCE – SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY MENTAL HEALTH

Children's Books

The Face at the Window, by Regina Hanson. Clarion Books, ©1997.

Exceptional children's picture book that illustrates empathy for the mentally ill.

Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, by Bebe Moore Campbell. Putnam, ©2003

Nicely illustrated children's picture book that explains mental illness to the very young.

… Read more

Never enough time, bored doesn’t exist here

From the time the door unlocks until it locks again at the end of the day the library drives the moments for self away. I need to write a blog entry, and have two requests for information, twenty-two Interlibrary Loan requests to search for and find, new books on the way, emails to answer and a four man crew to watch over and train. I am lucky to have the crew, or I wouldn't be able to process the circulation of items and the patron requests. When I consider working in a Public Library, and… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 15, 2008, Part 2

Clippings, October 15, 2008, Part 2 The Pierce County Library System is repeating last year’s successful library card drive, which brought in 5,532 new users, hoping to reach 8,000 new card holders. Incentives include a drawing for a Wii or a computer flash drive. Present card holders can enter by bringing in a friend or family member. People who haven’t used their card in two years are eligible to get a new one. (The Herald [Puyallup], 9-25-08) Letters and Editorials: Sam Reed’s… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 15, 2008, Part 1

Clippings, October 15, 2008, Part 1 [Late news: Susan Hildreth, California State Librarian, will be the new director of the Seattle Public Library.(Seattle Times, 11-25-08) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008432129_librarian25m.html The Castle Rock Public Library has lost its annual maintenance levy election, missing 60% by 4 votes. (Daily News [Longview], 11-25-08)… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 10, 2008, Part 2

Clippings, October 10, 2008, Part 2 The Vashon Maury Island Community Council has voted to include a question about the location of the Vashon Island Library (King County Library System) on a ballot to be sent to all island residents. Whether the library should move from its current site, which is probably necessary if a larger building is desired, whether to move out-of-town to a commercial site for which the library would be the major tenant, and whether a local ballot could influence KCLS… Read more

Clippings, Oct. 10, 2008, Part 1

Clippings, October 10, 2008, Part 1 “The city of Grandview and Yakima Valley Community College took a big step toward replacing Grandview’s overtaxed library this week when the federal government announced a $600,000 grant for the project. The Department of Housing and Urban Development grant means the $4 million joint college-city library project is now about $1 million short of the local component being fully paid for.”(Tri-City Herald [Kennewick], 9-29-08)… Read more

WALE CONFERENCE – Institutional Library Services from the Prison Perspective pt. 2

My Work Day: I unlock the library and start turning it on, taking off my jacket and stuff to stay awhile, change the backup tape, put a new battery in the radio on my belt, type in passwords for the computers and the level of user, go unlock the book return box and switch bins. When movement is called the crew will report in, I log the time and greet them, the talk dwells on whatever happened since the last we saw each other - dreams, visits, plans for today's work and… Read more

WALE CONFERENCE – Institutional Library Service from the Prison Perspective pt. 1

Earl Dungey - McNeil Island Corrections Center Library

And many have done a "little time" They include Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, St. Paul, Christopher Columbus, and writers Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Miguel Cervantes. How one gets inside a prison isn’t as important as what they do there and after they are released, or so this illustrious list of names would have you believe.

… Read more

WALE CONFERENCE – Institutional Library Services from the Hospital Perspective

Rehab, Recovery and Re-Entry: the role of Institutional Library Services in Washington State

Presenter:

Kathleen Benoun - Western State Hospital Patients Library

Over the ages, many have flown over the cuckoo's nest. People who have been hospitalized for psychosis include philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche, King George III, singer James Taylor, Mary Todd Lincoln, Vincent Van Gogh and sci-fi… Read more

A Prison Library Service

We try to be the best library service, and don't dwell on the fact that we are the only library service inside the prison - we compare ourselves with all Libraries as such. I have worked at Tacoma Public Library and at Pacific Lutheran University's Mortvedt Library. While I have to admit they have much larger collections, awesome budgets and dedicated professional staff… Read more