From Our Corner

Grateful for Another Day

[caption id="attachment_6989" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Western State Hospital Library"] Image [/caption] The last few years have been difficult for all due to the state of the economy. In spite of shrinking budgets and the uncertainty of the future… Read more

Suddenly, some rosy economic news for WA

Image Light at the end of the tunnel: Washington economists are projecting a $96 million increase in the state's revenue. Coupled with news that state government will save $330 million in lower caseload costs and… Read more

WSL Updates for February 16, 2012

Volume 8, February 16, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) TWO WTBBL WEBINARS: YOUTH SERVICES AND DIGITAL DOWNLOADS 2) FREE BOOKS FOR DISCUSSION KITS OR COMMUNITY READS 3) DOES YOUR LIBRARY NEED A MAKEOVER? 4) IT’S ALMOST TIME TO TURN THE PAGE 5) HAS YOUR LIBRARY’S FACEBOOK PAGE FLATLINED? 6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) TWO WTBBL WEBINARS: YOUTH… Read more

Spotlight on D. Shawn Schollmeyer

Image You can occasionally take the girl out of the northwest or the library, but you can't take the northwest libraries out of the girl. After growing up across the northwest in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, Shawn's travels to the… Read more

New number (R-74), same challenge (of gay-marriage law)

Image Referendum 74 is the new number for Washington’s gay marriage challenge filed by opponents of the new marriage law signed by the governor on Monday. It turns out that R-73 was assigned last spring to a campaign challenging last year’s medical marijuana… Read more

Gregoire OKs gay marriage; ballot challenge launched

Image

Joseph Backholm pays the $5 filing fee as he files R-73 Monday afternoon.

Feb. 14 UPDATE: The referendum number has been changed to R-74. Challengers of Washington’s newly signed gay-marriage bill have filed a referendum… Read more

2012 Proposed Legislation Affecting Libraries 02/10/2012

Courtesy of the 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. Those bills in the… Read more

Results are in on "State Library jewel"!

Image Earlier this week we asked you to vote on the "State Library jewel" you found most interesting. The poll has closed, and the winner of our… Read more

Heads-up on business ID theft

Image We just received an alert from the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office about a business identity theft case that should serve as a potent reminder for us all. The Mississippi official says it’s an international internet scheme that… Read more

How Washington fares with other state libraries

Image The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) released its report on the State Library Survey for fiscal year 2010. The data… Read more

WSL Updates for February 9, 2012

Volume 8, February 9, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) RFP FOR SERIALS SUBSCRIPTION AGENT 2) PRISONERS CONTACTING PUBLIC LIBRARIES 3) MOVING AHEAD WHEN THERE’S NO MONEY IN THE BUDGET 4) DIGITAL CONTINUITY – CALL FOR PAPERS 5) SERVING DEAF PATRONS IN THE LIBRARY 6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) RFP FOR SERIALS SUBSCRIPTION AGENT The Washington… Read more

FAQ on pending gay-marriage referendum

Image UPDATE: Washington's gay-marriage legislation, Senate Bill 6239, easily cleared the House 55 to 43 Wednesday after 2 1/2 hours of… Read more

Clippings for the week of January 27, 2012

[caption id="attachment_4996" align="alignright" width="227" caption="Image courtesy North Pend Oreille Heritage collection"] Image [/caption] Library News Dayton Memorial Library, a part of the Columbia County Rural Library District (CCRLD), is one of the best places to download e-books. CCRLD hosted an e-reader “Show and Tell” in January. (Blue Mountain News, [Dayton] 1.2012.)… Read more

Archives’ Curtis collection gets NPR’s attention

Image

Photo courtesy of Washington State Digital Archives

If you created a short list of great photographers from the Pacific Northwest,… Read more

When You Need a Friend: Gayle Shonkwiler

Image In times like these, folks need all the friends they can get. That goes double for librarians who work in the state’s correctional and psychiatric institutions. Since the 1960s when the U.S. government provided start-up funding to establish… Read more

Vote for your favorite "State Library jewel"

In the Office of the Secretary of State, we’re fond of putting things up to a vote. Two weeks ago we asked what your favorite “Archives treasure” was, and now we'd like to know which “State Library… Read more

2012 Proposed Legislation Affecting Libraries 02/03/2012

Courtesy of the 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.

Friday 02-03-2012… Read more

“State Library jewel” #3: suffrage leader's scrapbook

Image Early this week, we began our “State Library jewels” blog, created in order to give the State Library a chance to brag about some of the most interesting items that reside along its many shelves… Read more

Nearly 10,000 domestic partnerships registered in WA

In July of 2007, Washington lawmakers created the domestic partner registry within the Office of the Secretary of State. In 2008, the rights and responsibilities of domestic partners were expanded, and in 2009, the “everything but marriage” law was adopted and withstood a referendum challenge. From 2007 through 2011, 9,659 couples (19,318 individuals) have filed for Domestic Partnership through the Office of… Read more

Spotlight on staff: Laurie Fortier

Image Laurie Fortier leads a team of individuals that receive, retrieve, catalog, and maintain our federal and state publications. Acting State Librarian, Rand Simmons, describes Laurie as "passionate about her work and very… Read more