Library News

Sno-Isle Libraries are frequently asked if there is a fax machine a customer can use.  Sno-Isle has installed self-service fax equipment at the Lynnwood and Granite Falls libraries as a pilot project.  Using a debit card or credit fax cash card, customers follow simple instructions to send, not receive, a fax.  The cost is $1.50 for the first page and $1 per additional page. (Millcreek View, 1.2011)

More than 200 people showed up for the grand opening of the Kelso Public Library January 14.  The library’s bright and spacious new home is located at the Three Rivers Mall.  The library is an 11,627-square-foot glassed-in space that can be seen from the mall hallway.  (Photos)  (Daily News [Longview], 1.16.11) http://tdn.com/news/local/article_59643820-211e-11e0-be16-001cc4c03286.html

Happy birthday Sammamish Library, a celebration of the first year in the new library, will be presented by Leaf Productions and will include refreshments and a production of “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.” Shows are at 2 and 3:30 p.m. January 15. (Photo) (The Sammamish Review [Issaquah], 1.12.11)

The Spokane County and Stevens County Library districts are looking into a policy change that will allow Stevens County residents who live in the 99006 zip code to receive a Spokane County Library district card at no charge.  (Deer Park Tribune, 1.19.11)

Voters rejected the Kitsap Regional Library levy lift on November’s ballot leaving library officials and the Central Kitsap Community Campus Design Committee members unsure if the $9 million 17,500 square-foot library will be placed next to the YMCA on campus.  (Photo)  (Bremerton Patriot, 1.21.11)

The King County Library System’s switch to nonproprietary software put the system at the forefront of a national movement to free libraries from the poor service and high costs some feel they are getting from commercial vendors.  But for thousands of library patrons for whom using the online catalog became painfully slow, who couldn’t log on at all or who could no longer pay fines electronically, the switch to the new system has been an exercise in frustration. (The Seattle Times, 1.30.11) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014085833_library31m.html

Sunday was the last Sunday any Kitsap Regional Library will be open for the time being.  Patrons who frequented the branches on Sylvan, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island to read, surf the web or do homework will have to find something else to do and somewhere else to do it.  KRL’s library board made the Sunday closure decision in December, following a levy failure in November. (Photos) (Kitsap Sun [Bremerton], 1.30.11) http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/jan/30/kitsap-libraries-closed-on-sundays/#ixzz1CkdwRDiN

Buildings

The Newcastle library, a part of the King County Library System, is cleared for construction.  Library officials submitted its final payment and paperwork to the city during the first week of January, City manager Rob Wyman said. (The Newcastle News [Issaquah], 1.7.11) http://www.newcastle-news.com/index.php?s=library+is+cleared+for+construction

Community members gathered January 11 to see the remodeled Omak Public Library.  A new roof was added, windows were replaced with double panels, the heating and cooling system was upgraded, a handicapped-accessible restroom was added, new glass doors with a push-button for handicapped access were installed, motion sensors for lighting were installed, and the staff room received a new sofa.

(Photo)  (The Omak – Okanogan County Chronicle, 1.19.11)

A drive is underway to add a pitched roof, upgrade computer network wiring and electrical lines, open up walls, lay new carpeting and to make other improvements to the Forks Library.  North Olympic Library System Director Paula Barnes stated that upgrading the facilities in Forks is a priority for the Library System. The Friends of the Forks Library is launching a drive to raise $250,000 for the project, which is expected to cost between $750,000 and $1 million.  (Forks Forum, 1.27.11)

Letters & Editorials

At a time when there is so much need in our area, the Chewelah Library group decided to petition residents with a levy.  Thankfully it failed.  However, 6627 people said yes.  Most likely they were not the people who would be paying for it.  (The Independent [Chewelah], 1.13.11)

People

Keitha Owen, the newly hired Ocean Shores Library director, was all revved up to get to town and start helping patrons; without a director, its staff down to one and hours drastically reduced, the library limped through 2010. This week, Owen was meeting with the Library Board to discuss extending hours, and other changes she has in mind. (Photo) (The North Coast News [Ocean Shores], 1.12.11)

Awards

The Whatcom County Library System has been awarded $25,000 to continue the work begun in 2010 in community relationship building between libraries and low-income and minority residents. Under the federal Library Services and Technology Act, the funds come through a competitive process within the state of Washington. {Editor’s note:  This was a Renew Washington LSTA grant} (Ferndale Record, 1.12.11)

Library Journal recently honored Nancy Pearl as Librarian of the Year for her passionate advocacy of books, reading and libraries. Nancy’s broadcasts on National Public Radio, her TV appearances, her popular Book Lust series, her blog posts and tweets have inspired throngs of people to flock to their libraries and bookstores. (Daily News [Pullman], 1.15.11)

The Everett Public Library will receive $1,000 in audiobooks after taking a runner-up position in the Playaway Picture This Photo Contest.  A Playaway machine is an MP3 player, about the size of a deck of cards, which plays a specific audiobook title.  (The Herald [Everett], 1.15.11) http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110115/NEWS01/701159935

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation announced $8.5 million in grants to non-profits in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday and a new initiative to strengthen public libraries. As part of that effort, the foundation has given $426,000 to seven public libraries in Washington, including $150,000 to the Tacoma Public Library and $90,000 to the Seattle Public Library Foundation, and smaller grants to libraries in Port Townsend, Pullman and Snohomish and Island counties.  (Seattle Times, 1.26.11) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014035996_paulallen26.html

If adults can’t go to the library, the library will go to them. Or at least reach out to them.  The Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation has received an $85,000 grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to be used to teach adults how to better use library resources.  The money will be used to train 10 librarians in adult education. (Herald Net, [Everett] 2.1.11) http://heraldnet.com/article/20110131/NEWS01/701319967

Programs & Displays

The Friends of the Library is sponsoring a “Name the Author” contest once again.  Each time a patron comes into the library, he or she can choose the pictured author from a list of three names.  Pictures and names will be changed every two weeks. At the end of March, the person who has guessed the most correct authors will win the prize. (Wilbur Register, 1.13.11)

Arborist Jim Trainer will present an illustrated program on 10 of his favorite historical, culturally significant or champion-status trees from Kitsap County several times at local libraries in the coming week. Known as “The Tree Guy,” Trainer is a nationally recognized community forester and an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist. (The Kitsap Sun [Bremerton], 1.17.11)

When Stanwood Camano Friends of the Library decided to commission an artist to color up the Stanwood Library, they picked a guy who’s quite colorful himself. Jack Gunter will be creating an original and undoubtedly imaginative display – “for the children, but also for all of us to enjoy,” said May Palmer, with Friends of the Library. (Stanwood Camano News, 1.25.11)

The Roslyn Library’s 2011 Armchair Travel Series will kick off on Tuesday, February 1^st at 7:00 p.m. with a photo presentation of Lesotho, a small country entirely surrounded by South Africa. Phil Youngren, who was born and raised in Ellensburg, Washington, decided to spend some time overseas… and he arrived in Lesotho in November 2008.  Youngren returned to the states last month, and he will take armchair travelers to this small country and to see what is being done there to bring rural residents their first clean water.  (Photo) (Northern Kittitas County Tribune [Cle Elum], 1.27.11)

Bellingham immigration attorney Greg Boos will present “Barbarians at Our Gates: Immigration, the Security Regime and Whatcom County’s Economic Well-Being” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, in the Bellingham Public Library lecture room.  His free talk is part of the communitywide reading program Whatcom READS!, which this year features the novel “Border Songs” by Jim Lynch. (The Bellingham Herald, 1.30.11)  http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/01/30/1840361/immigration-and-economy-are-focus.html#

Throughout February take part in Everett Reads!, a communitywide celebration of reading, with book discussions, lectures and a live musical performance.  Think of it as a book club in which you don’t have to debate what to read; it’s already decided for you: “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford.  Events, all organized by the Everett Public Library, start this weekend with a talk and book signing at 7:30 p.m. Friday by Ford at the Everett Performing Arts Center. (Photos)  (Herald Net, [Everett] 2.1.11) http://heraldnet.com/article/20110131/LIVING/701319957

[This summary of library news was created by Bobbie DeMiero and Leanna Hammond of the Washington State Library Division of the Office of the Secretary of State.  It represents a selection of newspaper clippings about Washington libraries from all Washington newspapers received in the packets on the dates shown. For more information about any of these stories, contact Carolyn Petersen at 360.570.5560 or [email protected]]