The winner of the 2012 Teen Video Challenge for the state of Washington has been announced!  Own the Night by Teeler brought home first place this year.  His video was created at the Story Lab at the Tacoma Public Library.  He will win $275 and his library will receive $150 from the Collaborative Summer Library Program(CSLP), the organization sponsoring the contest.

The video and accompanying song were created by Teeler.  The beat was provided by PeonBeats and remixed by Teeler.    Teeler would like to show his appreciation to students at the Seabury Middle School and the Tacoma Public Library StoryLab.

There was stiff competition this year as we had six well made and creative entries submitted by teens from across the state.  In addition to Teeler’s winning submission, there were videos from:

San Juan Island Library

Mill Creek Library

WSL Updates Special Edition for Monday, May 14, 2012

Topics:

1) GRANT CYCLE RE-OPENS – TLA50 INITIATIVE

2) TEEN VIDEO CHALLENGE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

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Image courtesy North Pend Oreille Heritage collection

Library News
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal recently remodeled and moved into Heron Hall on the east end of the tribal campus in Blyn. Now the library will begin the more profound undertaking of becoming a center for lifelong learning, focusing on developing 21st-century literacy themes and skills within the tribal cultural context. Siri Hiltz, tribal librarian, said she hopes the new location and focus will meet the needs of the community and help library users become more self-sufficient information creators and consumers. (Photos) (The Sequim Gazette, 4.11.12) http://www.sequimgazette.com/news/article.exm/2012-04-02_new_location__new_focus

The Chewelah City Council tabled discussion on annexing into the Stevens County Rural Library District due to insufficient information. Annexing would give the library district control over the Chewelah Public Library rather than the city, but would add another layer of taxation for city residents. (The Independent, [Chewelah] 4.12.12)

Cathlamet town officials are looking for support from Wahkiakum County commissioners for a plan to assist temporary relocation of the Blanchard Bradley Library and encourage connection to an unused sewer main. The town wants to relocate the library temporarily later this year while the old Town Hall is remodeled. (The Wahkiakum County Eagle, [Cathlamet] 4.12.12) http://www.waheagle.com/news/article.exm/2012-04-12_town_proposes_cut_in_sewer_connection_fee

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

Although this article found on page 3 of the Feb. 24, 1905 issue of The Marysville Globe wasn’t exactly local in nature, it had the potential to have a local impact.  Plus it was interesting. So I decided to track down the story behind the story.

By 1905 Washington State was a decade and a half old. Olympia had already survived numerous attempts to be replaced as the capital city beginning with the formation of Washington Territory in 1853. The Legislature had left the old wooden capitol building, holding their last session in that structure in 1903.

The foundation had been built for a new legislative building in the mid-1890s, roughly on the same site of the present dome, but an economic downturn halted construction. John Rogers, the Populist Party governor who served from 1897-1901, felt it was more prudent to buy the Thurston County Courthouse and convert it to a legislative meeting place. So in 1905 the Legislature met for the first time in what is now the home of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in downtown Olympia. This would serve as the State Capitol Building for over two decades.

The Olympia Hotel, a grand structure that stood just southwest of the present Sylvester Park, burned to the ground on Nov. 16, 1904. By some accounts, this was the real State Capitol Building, where deals were made, laws were decided, and lobbyists reigned supreme.

One of those lobbyists was a gentleman named George Stevenson. More on him later.

This was the setting for the following pair of articles, printed next to each other:

CAPITAL REMOVAL

 HOUSE DECIDES IN FAVOR OF TACOMA

 Voice Was 55 to 36 in Favor of Removal, 3 Being Absent or Not Voting Unless Vetoed by Governor Matter Will be Voted On by People of the State

“Olympia, Feb. 18.–The capital removal bill has now passed both branches of the legislature and unless vetoed by the governor will be placed before the people for their approval or disapproval. The bill was taken up by the house as a special order at 10:30 yesterday morning, was read, the rules suspended, and the bill placed on final passage, adopted and passed. Ayes, 55; noes, 36; absent and not voting, 3.”

“A motion for a reconsideration of the vote will be made.”

“The passage of the bill was bitterly opposed by Booth and Todd of King county, as well as by the Thurston county delegation.”

“Mayor Wright of Tacoma, who appeared before the committee a few nights ago, offered on behalf of Tacoma to present to the state for capitol site purposes Wright park, now a city reservation worth at least half a million dollars, and containing 60 acres.”

“Mayor Wright also offered to provide in Tacoma suitable temporary quarters for all state officers, for the supreme court and state library to be used free of charge to the state until such time as a new capitol building is completed.”

GOVERNOR AGAINST IT

 Said He Will Veto Capital Removal Measure

 “Olympia, Feb. 20–The story is currently here and generally believed that Gov. Mead has stated to his personal friends and political advisors that he will veto the capital removal bill.”

“‘I do not believe the state should further saddle itself with such a burdensome debt at this time,’ is what the governor is quoted as saying.”

“Notwithstanding that there is a question whether the governor has the power to veto the bill, there seems to be no question in Gov. Mead’s mind regarding his authority on the matter.”

Now, back to George Stevenson. He was a campaign manager and lobbyist who had convinced the Tacoma area timber and real estate interests that moving the capital campus to their home region would be mutually beneficial. Although Stevenson was able to persuade the Legislature, the newspapers of the state rose up against the idea. One Olympia newspaper ran a cartoon of Stevenson feeding an overstuffed swine named “Tacoma.”

Gov. Mead vetoed the bill, thus ending the last attempt to move the Legislature out of Olympia. Historian Gordon Newell humorously describes Olympia’s subsequent call for a two year economic boycott of Tacoma, and Tacoma’s gesture of apology by sending down boatloads of citizens and dignitaries, and the resulting reconciliation in his wonderful book, Rogues, Buffoons & Statesmen.

Volume 8, May 10, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) 2012 WALE CONFERENCE – REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

2) TAKE 25 FOR MISSING CHILDREN

3) ARSL CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIPS

4) LUCY LOVES CHILDREN!

5) A MATTER OF WHEN, NOT IF

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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Office at WSP-EC

It was a typical year for both of the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) Branch Libraries, the East-Complex (EC) and the West-Complex (WC).

In January 2011, our newest Library Associate, Molly Mooney had been on the job for 4 months.  Her training was going well and she enthusiastically participated in special projects:  working with our ILS Wiki pages and Library-Snapshot day.  In March the WC was open full-time again for the first time since February of 2010 and everyone was happy.  In April we said good-by to Molly when she decided to leave ILS.  The WSP libraries were back on half-time schedules.   With all of the going to and fro between EC and WC, Jean still wasn’t getting enough exercise and had to join the gym.

By May we had applicants for the vacant position at WC and in June Laura, Melisa, and Jean interviewed candidates.  In July Matt Roach accepted the position and was at WSP for two days before starting CORE in early August.  Matt was also a very enthusiastic new employee and training was well underway when ILS received the bad news. 

After nearly 30 years of operation the EC Library was being closed.  Jean’s position was going away which resulted in very bad news for Matt, who lost his job.  Even so, Matt gallantly worked through October and November to help pack up the EC collection.   His last day at WSP was November 30^th.   The day before that he accepted a job at the State Library, so everyone was happy about that.

The EC library closed for good on November 30, 2011.    When it was all over about 2/3 of the collection had been packed up.  The rest was left for WSP to distribute to the Minimum units.   Using a golf cart pulling a trailer, WSP staff made several trips between EC and WC to move all of the boxes of books, library furniture and equipment which took up every available space in the WC library storage room.  

Now begins the work of unpacking, sorting and cataloging materials for WC.   Here’s hoping the year 2012 will be just as typical as 2011 was.

Image courtesy North Pend Oreille Heritage collection

Washington State Library News
Are you one of the millions of baby boomers who aren’t even dreaming of retirement yet, much less planning for it? The Everett Public Library is offering two free half-day workshops, thanks to a Transforming Life After 50 grant awarded by the Washington State Library, a division of the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, with funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. (The Herald [Everett], 4.9.12) http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120409/LIVING/704099981/1027/SEARCH

Samantha Becker, the research project manager of the U.S. IMPACT Study at the University of Washington’s Information School, noted, “The technology environment in libraries has provided a wonderful opportunity to preserve collections and enhance access to them through digitization, which many libraries are doing with out-of-print and local collections or digital artifacts. The Washington Rural Heritage project is a wonderful example.” That project allows users to search and access digital versions of material from libraries, heritage organizations, and private collections throughout the state of Washington. (PBS Online, 5.1.12) http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/05/what-is-the-role-of-libraries-in-the-age-of-e-books-and-digital-information122.html

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Alan Bentson is one of the two Readers Advisors at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL). There are not many blind people working as readers advisors within the the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program of the Library of Congress, so we are proud to have him working here, along with his colleague Wes Derby.

He was born in 1952 in Silver Spring, Maryland, but he grew up and got his education in Colorado. He went to public school until 10th grade, and completed high school at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind in Colorado Springs. “I benefitted from going to school in both environments,” he said. “I think all blind children would broaden their horizons by experiencing both forms of education.” He later majored in English at Colorado College.

Alan’s start with WTBBL was a natural fit. “When I moved to Bremerton in 1981,” he said, “practically the first thing I did was contact the WTBBL to see if they needed volunteers, and I’ve been there in one capacity or another ever since.” “Now in his 31^st year working at WTBBL, Alan teaches me something every day,” says program manager Danielle Miller.

He worked for WTBBL as a page for two years, and then started as a full-time Readers Advisor in January 1987, a time when talking computers were still in their early stages of development. “When I started, we didn’t have email or Internet or braille displays. I couldn’t even transfer calls or put people on hold. The changes in my job have been amazing.”

Alan takes book requests, searches for titles that aren’t listed in the library’s catalog, enters information into the catalog, adjusts patron files to make sure the computer selects the right books and sends them often enough, and much more. Danielle states, “I think Alan knows our collection better than anyone; he is excellent at identifying books for patrons based on that vast knowledge and the fact that he is always reading, including participating in two book clubs. A fun bit of trivia: Alan’s mother was a librarian!”

“Every time some new innovation comes out like the online catalog, or the ability to download books, people tell me that they’re sorry I’m out of a job. It never seems to happen, though. There are always lots of new questions to answer about the new technologies. That’s what I like about my job, the ability to improve our library service, one patron at a time.”

“Alan is an integral part of our team. He is smart, quick-witted, fun, and a heck of a singer and piano player,” says Danielle.

Thanks, Alan, for your dedication to excellence in serving the patrons of WTBBL.

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

This rather biting review of a circus appeared in the Stevens County Reveille, June 28, 1900, page 3:

That Circus, Saturday

“The circus came, conquered, and ‘went,’ as circuses usually do; the richer, perhaps, by a few dollars from Colville and surrounding country, but not sufficiently so to give the proprietors any large attack of ‘fat pocketbook.’ There was quite a crowd in town last Saturday, but there have been larger ones here on eventful occasions. The tent was at no time seriously crowded, the afternoon attendance being of course the largest. In the evening there were not more than 250 persons present. As for the show itself– well, there was a large amount of tent for a very small amount of performance. The institution had some very nice horses, poorly trained; there was no plowed ring, as is usual with a circus; a small plat of ground was inclosed in a circle, and within this was given one of the snidest attempts at a show we have yet seen. There were the usual side shows, including the naughty Hootchie dancers, but we heard of no efforts of the skin game to ply their trade. Our city officers wouldn’t allow it. Altogether, those who missed seeing the ‘Great English-American Syndicate’ are one dollar ahead and those who did attend are that much poorer and wiser.”

The critic was newspaperman Rufus Wood. No, not Rufus Woods, that other newspaperman, the one in Wenatchee who was famous as the “Father of the Grand Coulee Dam.” Although both of the Rufuses had brothers named Ralph and both had a preoccupation with the circus, they were different people.

Volume 8, May 3, 2012 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) SDL PROQUEST RENEWAL

2) RESOURCE SHARING GRANT CYCLE NOW OPEN

3) FREE RESOURCES TO SUPPORT SUMMER READING

4) WESTPAS NEEDS YOUR INPUT

5) WEBWISE 2012 WEBCASTS AVAILABLE

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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