Search Results for: Institutional Library Services

INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES: A VIEW FROM THE NEW

Meet Jen Haas. She recently joined Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services (ILS) and is the Branch Librarian at the Snoqualmie-based Echo Glen Children’s Center branch of the State Library, ILS’s first-ever state library for incarcerated youth. Read on as she reflects on her experience as a librarian and what brought her to ILS. “One of my favorite quotes from novelist and diarist Anais Nin compels us to reflect that, ‘…the day came when the risk to remain tight in…

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Community Members Generously Support Our Institutional Library Services

Troy and Cheryl LaBrum have a passion for giving.  A devout family, they donate often to local churches and missions, but their generosity doesn’t stop there; for years, they have also been donating extensively to the various prison and hospital libraries that make up the Institutional Library Services (ILS) program of the Washington State Library.  Hearing of ILS from a loved one who experienced the benefits firsthand, Troy and Cheryl decided to seek out a way to contribute to the…

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Institutional Library Services on Facebook

We now have two Facebook pages where we will be sharing information about Institutional Libraries.  The first one is our primary page for Washington State Library Institutional Library Services. Our second Facebook page is specifically for the Institutional Library Services “Library Snapshot Day“, which will occur on January 11, 2011. Please check back on both pages to get the latest information about Institutional Library Services in Washington State.

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…

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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 writer Philip K Dick In the 19th century, when countries and states built asylums and prisons, each institution created their own reader’s collection…

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Diversity in Washington State Library – Institutional Library Services

  Staffing consists of 16 women, 3 men, and 4 members of the staff have an MLS, and 2 vacancies. Institutions in Washington State with library services provided by ILS include 1 prison that houses women, 9 prisons that house men, 2 state hospitals, and 11 camps that receive ILL service from staff of ILS. Age range of staff 31-65 355 years of combined library experience   The above are just basic facts, which are important, but they don’t really tell you what…

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WASHINGTON STATE LIBRARY SPONSORS UW CAPSTONE STUDENTS

Every year, members of Washington State Library’s (WSL) Library Development team sponsor student projects that help support the work of the State Library. University of Washington (UW) iSchool Capstone projects are the culmination of the students’ learning experience at the iSchool. The students distill the knowledge and skills acquired in academic courses and apply them to real-world projects. For Shawn Schollmeyer, Washington Digital Newspapers Coordinator, iSchool Capstone students pitched their ideas for a Washington Digital Newspapers data visualization to prepare a final…

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How Washington’s Institutional Libraries provide help and hope

All libraries transform. But as you walk through a prison for the first time, you may realize the unique value a library can provide within such an intense environment. An inmate seeking to transform needs hope and resilience to overcome the challenges of building a better life. But where are hope and resilience in prison? Some find them in the environment’s solitude. Others find these qualities in religion. Others may seek them through education. For any of these paths, the…

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An era in State Library technology ends

This week marks the end of an era at the State Library as we lose Paul Longwell to the happy world of retirement. Paul has been on the IT staff of the State Library since 1989. Paul discussed the other day all the changes he has seen in his years on staff. The day he started, the Washington State Library had two servers with a total storage space of 10 MB, and two total IT staffers. The times have changed…

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Institutional Libraries use poetry to promote community

A couple weeks ago, a patron of our library at Clallam Bay Corrections Center told me, “I’m not even a reader, but this is a place where I always feel safe.” Sentiments like these, along with brilliant inquires, ideas, and authenticity, inspire me to create innovative programs and challenge me to provide the best services possible in an institutional library setting. On April 25, Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services held its first ever Poetry Day, in which institutional libraries…

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