From Our Corner

Library Development: Serving Libraries

Image Library Development staff at the Washington State Library have long compiled information on our activities to share with our advisory committee, the Library Council of Washington. We do this four times a year in conjunction with the… Read more

Eight New Titles Added to Washington Classics

From the desk of Judy Pitchford Digital Collections has added 8 more titles to our Classics in Washington History. Image Under Exploration and Early Travel - From New York… Read more

Free Evening Event at State Library, 3/7/2013

Image The Wolves of Washington March 7, 2013 @ 6 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30)Presented byCindy Irwin, Director of Education and Volunteer ServicesDiane Gallegos, Executive Director Come learn about the return of wolves to the state of Washington after being gone for almost 80 years! We will discuss how this top predator may benefit the natural ecosystem in our state. You will also learn about the plan Washington State has to promote the existence of… Read more

From Your Corner: A sign of spring in Olympia?

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(Photograph courtesy of Patrick McDonald)

If the blue skies and sunny weather in Olympia aren't enough to indicate that spring might be upon us, the sight of blooming flowers surely is. These crocuses were spotted growing near… Read more

WSL Updates Special Edition for March 4, 2013

WSL UPDATES SPECIAL EDITION FOR MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013 Note: The next regular edition of WSL Updates will appear on Thursday, March 7, 2013. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRANT CYCLE OPENS – EARLY ACHIEVERS OUTREACH PARTNERSHIP The Early Achievers Outreach Partnership (EAOP) initiative, funded by a Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant awarded to the Department of Early Learning (DEL) by the U.S.… Read more

High court overturns supermajority for taxes

Image The Washington Supreme Court, in a bombshell decision handed down just days before Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers tackle a multibillion-dollar budget gap, invalidated a popular voter-approved requirement of a two-thirds… Read more

Clippings for the week of February 22, 2013

[caption id="attachment_4996" align="alignright" width="227"] Image Image courtesy North Pend Oreille Heritage collection[/caption] Library News Sno-Isle Libraries will be the first library district in the Pacific Northwest to launch a new eBooks service from 3M Cloud Library Systems, which is fully integrated with library customer accounts. The new eBook service will make it much… Read more

WA elections official honored as tech `doer, dreamer, driver'

Image Shane Hamlin, Washington's assistant director of elections, has been honored as one of America's Top 25 "Doers, Dreamers & Drivers" for digital government. The award, announced… Read more

Washington Libraries and Microsoft IT Academy

Image From the desk of Rand Simmons Imagine walking into your local public library, community college library, or tribal library and registering to take one of Microsoft’s IT course … for free! Through a partnership with Microsoft, the Washington State… Read more

Free Drinks on the House, Courtesy of a Train Wreck

Image From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Here's an account from the May 23, 1891 issue of the… Read more

So, what DO you buy for a 160th anniversary?

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(Map courtesy of Washington State Library)

Unless you really excel at Washington history, you probably didn’t know that this Saturday marks the 160th anniversary of the creation of… Read more

EveryoneOn: March 21, 2013 Kicks Off the National Campaign

Image 3.21 EveryoneOn and Connect2Compete http://www.everyoneon.org/ and http://www.connect2compete.org/… Read more

WSL Updates for February 28, 2013

Volume 9, February 28, 2013 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) FIRST TUESDAYS – LIBRARY AS INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER 2) LOOKING FOR EXAMPLES OF PUBLIC LIBRARY POLICIES? 3) OLA/WLA 2013 – EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION STILL AVAILABLE 4) CIVIL WAR READ-IN 5) EARLY LEARNING GRANTS FROM BOEING 6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) FIRST TUESDAYS – LIBRARY AS… Read more

2013 Proposed Legislation Affecting Libraries 02/25/2013

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. For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above. The first phase of the legislative session is over, the first bill cut-off has been reached. Bills that were not… Read more

Found in Digital Archives: 1960 photo of Capitol by night

Image This year’s legislative session has reached the stage when the House and Senate members are spending many hours daily, and sometimes into the night, debating and voting on bills that survived the recent… Read more

How Washington Territory looked in 1884

Image Did you ever hear of Chehalis County? Did you know that Ellensburg’s name once had an “h” at the end? Were you aware of a town called Ainsworth where Pasco now stands? You can discover all of these little factoids by… Read more

Study: WA has one of top elections websites in U.S.

Image Over the years, your state Elections Division has been recognized as a national leader in innovation and voter… Read more

2013 Proposed Legislation Affecting Libraries 02/22/2013

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.

Bill Title Sponsor… Read more

A Monument for Melody Choir and Hobo the Dog

Image From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

This item on page 1 of the Jan. 17, 1907 issue of the… Read more

SecState/Foley Institute Forum: Women & Politics

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State Rep. Maureen Walsh (left) answers a question from the audience as former Sen. Lisa Brown, political scientist Richard Fox, political consultant Cathy Allen and AP… Read more