Washington State Library News
Thanks to a $10,000 Washington Rural Heritage grant awarded by the Washington State Library, staff of the Ellensburg Public Library is about to begin its fourth year of digitizing historical photographs. So far the library has been able to digitize 3,000 photos but has “thousands upon thousands of photos” in its collections, library director Debby DeSoer said. (Photos) To view the photos that have already been digitized go to http://washingtonruralheritage.org/ellensburg/. (Daily Record, [Ellensburg] 8.26.11)

Library News
Longtime Waitsburg resident Rosie Warhime has been hired by the City of Waitsburg to be the new manager of the Weller Public Library. (The Times, [Waitsburg] 8.11.11)
http://www.waitsburgtimes.com/news/2011-08-11/Touchet_Valley_News/BRIEFS.html

To improve consumer access to downloadable audio and eBooks, Whitman County Library is making a number of changes to its online services. The library will continue offering Overdrive through its catalog at www.whitco.lib.wa.us but will no longer support the dowloadable Netlibrary product, according to a report from Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick. (Whitman County Gazette, [Colfax] 8.18.11)

From the smallest to the largest, Sno-Isle Libraries bring literature, art, imagination and respite to South County. And boy, are they popular with residents. Overall the demand at Sno-Isle branches has increased almost 97 percent since 2000. More than 95,000 digital downloads for reading, listening and viewing were done in 2010, according to Kin Harvey, Sno-Isle Spokesman. “The digital age hasn’t taken away the demand for our physical book collection and the opportunity for communities as places to meet and visit,” he said. (Photo) (The Weekly Herald, [Lynnwood] 8.24.11)

A sluggish economy is forcing city and library officials to phase in a $9.8 million library project considered a package deal until now. City staff and key members of the Port Townsend Public Library Foundation have agreed to redefine the project into four distinct pieces, each to be achieved individually. The $140,000 renovation of the Charles Pink House next to the Carnegie Library is phase one. (The Leader, [Port Townsend] 8.24.11)

The Ellensburg Public Library is in the process of increasing the resources it offers, including online databases, e-audio books and new computer classes. It also hopes to eventually be able to offer patrons access to e-books. (Photos) (Daily Record,[Ellensburg] 8.26.11)

Tomoshibi means small light in Japanese, and for 21 years that’s exactly what the Tomoshibi library provided for the Japanese community in Bellevue. Until it ceased operation in May, the library was a beacon for new immigrants finding their way in the U.S., a place to meet new people, read books and speak their native language. Now, volunteers behind the library hope to revive the community hub at the Jubilee REACH Center in the Lake Hills neighborhood. Volunteers hope to raise $45,000 to make the move. To donate to the library, contact Yoko Sueyoshi at [email protected]. (Photo) (Bellevue Reporter, [Kent] 8.26.11) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/community/128219378.html

Sunshine graced celebrations of Hoquiam art and history Saturday as visitors, city officials and business leaders gathered for the annual On Track Art Festival and the 100-year anniversary of the Hoquiam Timberland Library. (Photo) (Daily World, [Aberdeen] 8.28.11)

The Stanwood City Council authorized Mayor Diane White to sign a letter to Sno-Isle Regional Library System, accepting its board’s request to renegotiate the contract for services and acknowledging termination of the current contract the end of next year. (Stanwood Camano News, [Stanwood] 8.30.11)

Enumclaw officials are casting a wary eye toward the 2012 municipal budget, anticipating another rough 12 months as the city deals with a slow-to-recover economy. A budgetary wild card is the public library. The city goal is to remove the library from the general fund, which could be managed through a special levy or annexation in the King County Library District. The Enumclaw Library Advisory Board has suggested a blending of sources, both general fund money and cash from a levy. (Enumclaw Courier, 8.31.11) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ech/news/128828883.html

Need help downloading an e-book? Not sure where to start on a research project? Want special coaching on computer skills? Sno-Isle librarians are eager to meet face-to-face with customers who ‘Book a Librarian’ for a free 30 to 60 minute session of personalized help finding information or using technology. (Snohomish County Tribune, [Snohomish] 8.31.11)

The June Gorter Drive-up Window at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library is the only such service offered in the state of Washington. The public is now given another option for how they can use the library. The window is used when a patron puts a hold on a library and indicates they want to pick it up at Chehalis. Once the notice that the item is available for checkout is received, the patron may swing through the drive-up window, give their library card number and receive their item(s). (The Chronicle, [Centralia] 9.1.11)

The Bellingham Public Library is cutting its budget again. The library’s board of trustees on Aug. 16 sent the proposed budget for 2012 to Mayor Dan Pike with $82,108 in cuts. Proposed remaining cuts and what they’re expected to save: Reducing the amount spent on library materials, books and DVDs – by $21,780; Laying off an employee who’s on the library’s front desk, which is a customer service position – saving $16,553; Freezing a position after a mid-year retirement – saving $43,775. The library’s budget, along with those of other Bellingham departments, still must be approved by the City Council. (Bellingham Herald, [Bellingham] 9.2.11) http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/09/02/2165793/for-fourth-year-bellingham-public.html#storylink=misearch

Elections
The Aug. 16 primary election results leave two Port Townsend City Council candidates looking ahead to the next election, and Jefferson County Library District leaders needing to handle growth without a new building. Voters rejected the library district’s bond issue by a 54 percent no vote. The $8.4 million, 20-year general obligation bond ($12.5 million with interest) that would have expanded the library building needed 60 percent approval from library district voters. (The Leader, [Port Townsend] 8.24.11)

The Castle Rock Library got walloped twice Tuesday. First, the final election tallies show the library levy failed, falling just a few votes shy of the required 60 percent supermajority. Second, officials learned they’d missed the deadline to re-run the levy in the November general election, which had been the backup plan if the first levy failed in the Aug. 16 primary. That means that after the last 2011 tax payments in November, the library will have to go 17 months without any levy funds. The levy pays for the library’s entire $56,000 annual budget. (Daily News, [Longview] 8.31.11) http://tdn.com/news/local/article_b6c3c218-d372-11e0-9e2a-001cc4c03286.html

Buildings
The Duvall Library has come a long way from its early beginnings in a small store to the busy branch of the King County Library System it is today. Now a new facility is in the process of construction next to the Duvall Church. Groundbreaking for the new structure took place July 14th. (Photo) (Valley View, [Woodinville] 8.8.11)

West Pasco’s residents can expect to have a library on their side of town by next fall. The Mid-Columbia Libraries board voted this week to build a 5,000-square-foot branch at the corner of road 76 and Wrigley Drive, next to the Lourdes West Pasco Clinich. GiSi Investment Services will build and own the building, as well as the land, said Kyle Cox, interim director for MCL. (Tri-City Herald, [Kennewick] 8.21.11) http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/08/21/1610263/west-pasco-to-get-library-with.html#storylink=misearch

King County Library System expects to start construction later this month on a parking garage for the Bellevue Regional Library. Serpanok Construction of Tacoma was the lowest of seven bidders, and will build it for $7.4 million. The three-level structure will be nearly 104,000 square feet, with space for 250 cars. (Photo) (Daily Journal of Commerce, [Seattle] 9.1.11)

Letters & Editorials
One of the most profound early learning experiences in my life was when I checked out my first library book. I was suspicious and elated: An adult was actually letting me make a choice about what I wanted to read – “giving” me a “free” book and trusting me to return it. (The Leader, [Port Townsend] 8.10.11)

The Prosser School Board recently voted to convert librarians to classroom teachers. As classroom teachers, the librarians will be fine instructors, because after all, they are trained teachers. It is the libraries which will suffer. (Tri-City Herald, [Kennewick] 8.19.11) http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/08/19/1608672/prosser-librarians.html#storylink=misearch

Regarding the Tuesday article, “4 teens arrested after Marysville school, library hit with graffiti”: the four 14-and 15-year olds caught vandalizing the Marysville Library and Grove Elementary School would be well served with a stiff sentence of community service at both of these locations, ideally under the supervision of their parents, who apparently lost track of them at 11:30 p.m. (The Herald, [Everett] 8.19.11) http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110819/OPINION02/708199941

It’s amazing. The 2010 census tells us that only 779 people have come to Port Townsend to live since 2000. Our number is now, astonishingly, somewhere slightly more than 9,000 less by far than the 12,000 projected to arrive by 2000 or shortly thereafter. Somehow the thinking that prevails, that having a huge remake of the Carnegie Library is not just essential, but absolutely, positively essential. (The Leader [Port Townsend] 8.24.11) http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=29883&SectionID=5&SubSectionID=5&S=1

The recession has not been kind to our local libraries and some other public projects. (Officially the recession, defined as successive drops in the Gross Domestic Product for two consecutive quarters, is over. Unofficially, ha ha ha.) Voters in rural Jefferson County resoundingly turned aside the $8.4 million bond proposal put forth by the Jefferson County Library based in Port Hadlock. (The Leader, [Port Townsend] 8.2411) http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=29878&SectionID=5&SubSectionID=5&S=1

I’m one of those who can say, “I knew Marcellus ‘when’ and we’re still long-distance friends. (“Text Messenger: A Talk with Marcellus Turner, City Librarian, the Seattle Public Library,” August 2011) He worked at East Tennessee State University Library in his second job as a librarian, and he was fantastic. (Seattle Met, [Seattle] 8.11)

People
Bill Ptacek has always believed in the power of libraries. Growing up in Chicago, the long-time director of the King County Library System wanted to make a difference, to disseminate knowledge. Unlike others, he looked past the education field and targeted libraries as a key piece of information sharing. This passion and confidence in the potential of libraries took Ptacek all over the country, from Chicago to Idaho to Kentucky and finally to the Puget Sound area, where has helped establish KCLS as the busiest library system in the nation. (Photo) (Bellevue Reporter, [Kent] 8.26.11) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/community/128404188.html

With several decades of experience between them, Aberdeen librarians (Aberdeen Timberland Library) Sandy Bates and Thirza Krohn will celebrate their retirements in the coming days. Bates retired on Aug. 15 and Krohn at the end of Aug. They’ll come together for a public celebration hosted by the Friends of the Aberdeen Library. (Photo) (Daily World, [Aberdeen] 8.27.11)

Army Colonel Mary Prophitt leads an active life in East Lewis County. Prophitt manages to hold down three jobs, spend quality time with her family and still finds time to enjoy her two favorite hobbies – riding horses and skiing. One of Mary’s jobs is as the senior library assistant at the Timberland Mountain View Library in Randle. (Photo) (The East County Journal, [Morton] 8.31.11)

Awards
It’s a long-held belief that preparing children to read helps them succeed in school and gives them a solid base for learning. New information from a study involving university researchers in two states and Pierce County Library System is additional evidence that such instruction works. Further vindication of the library system’s efforts came this summer when a national organization acknowledged the system with an award for its work in early-age reading. “The early learning progress we’re leading is remarkable,” said Neel Parikh, executive director of Pierce County Library. “Being acknowledged with a nationwide award for this meaningful work is absolute icing on our efforts.” (South Pierce County Dispatch, [Eatonville] 8.24.11)

Programs & Displays
Judith Sanders-Wood used to get into trouble with her teacher in grade school for drawing outlines of naked people in the margins of her school papers. She didn’t understand why her teacher was so upset; her artistic mother had taught her to draw the human form when she was a young child as a basis for paintings and drawings. Her work is on display this month in a show titled “A little bit of this, a little bit of that,” at the Second Story Gallery in the Camas Public Library. (Photos) (Camas-Washougal Post-Record, [Camas] 8.9.11)

Kids in first through sixth grades are invited to participate in a sleepover at the Camas Public Library. The event will be Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. (Camas-Washougal Post-Record, [Camas] 8.23.11)

Young adult author Lisa Mantchev will visit the Sequim Library at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, to celebrate the release of her latest book, “So Silver Bright,” the final book of her Theatre Illuminata Trilogy. Mantchev will discuss this book and how she became a writer. (Photo) (The Sequim Gazette, [Sequim] 8.31.11)

The Oak Harbor library will present a travel series that will start on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m., when local travel expert Sande Mulkey will share tips on how to pack successfully for your next adventure. Lorraine Healy, will share photographs and stories of her spring trip along Route 66 at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27. The series concludes at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 when travelers Gary and Carter Smith share images of memories from their African safari. (Whidbey Crosswind, [Coupeville] 9.23.11) http://whidbeycrosswind.com/blog/action-packed-travel-series-at-library/2159/

[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] ]