From Our Corner
In case you get calls about your voter registration…
Image When a big election approaches (like the one this fall), it isn’t uncommon for advocacy groups and campaigns to contact people and ask whether they are registered. Lately, staffers in our state Elections Division have fielded several calls from voters who… Read more
WSL Updates for August 23, 2012
Volume 8, August 23, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list Note: WSL Updates will be on hiatus next week. Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend! Topics include: 1) APPLY FOR A POSITION ON THE LIBRARY COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON 2) DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR NWILL 2012 3) ARE YOU READY? 4) TIPS FOR COPING ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 5) JOIN THE ACCESSIBILITY HACKATHON 6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK… Read more
From Your Corner of Washington: Capitol Lake
Photograph courtesy of Jonathan LeFaive
It isn’t rare for you to see the sky looking like this around this time of year in Olympia, but it’s still just as nice every time you happen to catch it. This photo shows a great view of Capitol Lake to the backdrop of our state Legislative Building and a colorful pink sunset. We invite you to e-mail your photos and stories to us as part of an ongoing feature called “From Your Corner of Washington” – we want to gather images of… Read moreArchives treasure #3: GamScam Documents
Image Here it is! The last of this months’ three “Archives treasures” is a… Read more
Redemption through Reading
According to a recent Reuters news item, the country of Brazil is offering a novel way for prisoners to shorten their sentences: read a book!
Inmates in 4 federal prisons can read up to 12 works of literature, classics, science, or philosophy, and shorten their incarceration by 4 days per book, up to a… Read more
High desert hardships and romantic conflict in Little Century
Image Little Century: A Novel. By Anna Keesey. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. 336 p.) Recommendation by: Carolyn Petersen,… Read more
Archives treasure #2: Toxic waste clean-up files
(Photos courtesy of State Archives)
As Washingtonians, we live in one of the most beautiful and scenic states in the nation, one which consistently places high value on our environment. Our environmental legacy is a major part of this state’… Read moreA cleaner Capitol dome
Looking out our windows at the beautiful blue summer skies, we have often been surprised to see droplets of water falling before us. One of us would remark, "So, the sky is blue, but it appears to be raining. How weird!" But we then realized that it isn't raining! It's Capitol dome cleaning time!
From Your Corner: Tumwater's name
Image The falls (above) of the Deschutes River at Tumwater Falls Park are a gorgeous attraction for visitors, but you may not know that they are also the site of the oldest American settlement in Puget Sound country. Founded in 1846, the historical… Read more
New digital resources from Asotin County Heritage
Asotin County Library has recently added over 100 newly digitized photographs to the Asotin County Heritage collection with the assistance of a grant from the State Library's Washington Rural Heritage initiative! [caption id="attachment_8332" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Oliver Brodock poses with his cat outside his… Read more
Clippings for the week of August 10, 2012
[caption id="attachment_4996" align="alignright" width="227" caption="Image courtesy North Pend Oreille Heritage collection"] Image [/caption] Washington State Library News Steve Willis, central library services program manager of the Washington State Library in Olympia, must have great fun delving into old publications. Take this gem he uncovered from the Walla Walla Union, circa… Read more
Archives treasure #1: Columbia Basin Commission files
Image
(Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives)
As we’ve done since January, we’re featuring three rare, interesting or just plain cool items or collections found in our State Archives. The first of the… Read moreA new stamp for Washington
Image A cool and classy new stamp featuring Washington’s state flag will soon be available to purchase. As part of its “Flags of Our Nation” stamp series, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the new Washington State stamp… Read more
Chronicling Washington: WSL receives additional funding for newspaper digitization project
Image (Image courtesy of the Washington State Library.)
We are pleased to announce that the State Library has received an extension of funding from the National Digital Newspaper… Read more
Libertarians seek to block GOP ticket from WA presidential vote
Image The Libertarian Party of Washington is asking Thurston County Superior Court to rule that Republicans do not have major party status in the state, and that the Romney-Ryan ticket does not qualify for an automatic place on the state ballot this fall. The… Read moreLibraries offer advice on purchasing eReaders
Image “If you are going to circulate eReaders to middle schoolers, consider buying “bomb proof” covers for each eReader device.” This is the advice that a school librarian tendered after participating in the eBook Pilot project which concluded in May, 2012. The objective of this pilot project was to distill the experiences of academic, public, and school librarians as they experimented with circulating eReader devices and training staff and the… Read moreFace to Face with a Ghost in Centralia
Image From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: This week's newspaper on microfilm picked at random is the Centralia Daily Chronicle for Feb. 9, 1909. The reporter who covered this ghost story must… Read more
Nominate a company that does good in the community
Image If you know of a corporation that does good things for your community, you have a couple of weeks left to nominate it for Washington’s highest civics award. The Office of Secretary of State is accepting nominations for a 2012 Corporations for Communities Award, and the deadline to nominate a company is Aug. 31. Nomination forms can be found here on the Secretary of State’s… Read moreNew section launched on voter page for FAQs
Image Our Elections Division has just made voting even easier by launching new website information explaining how voters can accomplish tasks that election staffers are frequently asked about. Links to the information can be found… Read more
Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
Image
