Library News

Timberland Regional Library will install a major upgrade of the library catalog system in mid-May.  The new system is expected to include several useful new features.  In order to train all public services staff, the 27 Timberland library branches will be closed one day each between April 12 and April 30.  All Timberland libraries will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, May 10 and 11 for installation. The new system is scheduled to “go live” on May 13. (Nisqually Valley News [Yelm], 3.2.10)

The Everett Public Library now has two new, grant-funded technical assistants that will permit the library to offer individual assistance to beginning computer users and increase the frequency and variety of its introductory computing classes.  Funding for the two temporary positions comes from the Renew Washington grant, made possible by the Washington State Library and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Everett News Tribune [Snohomish], 3.31.10)

The Cle Elum City Council renewed its agreement with Kittitas County that allows county residents to use the Cle Elum Public Library.  The county will pay the city $16,500 for that service.  (Daily Record [Ellensburg], 3.27.10)

The Camas Public Library will offer a series of workshops on the next five consecutive Thursday mornings beginning this week.  In addition, beginning Wednesday, April 7, the library’s computer lab will open early at 9 a.m. each Wednesday morning for job seekers. The Camas library’s classes, services and materials are being supported through a $24,800 “Renew Washington Project” grant from the Washington State Library funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  (Camas-Washougal Post-Record, 3.30.10)

Amanda McKeraghan, director of the nine library branches within Stevens County, discusses the past, history, and future of the Stevens County Rural Library District and how funding supports the library’s programs.  (Photos)  (Statesman-Examiner [Colville], 3.31.10) 

What defines “service” in a public law library is as varied as the different people who use the library.   Regardless of how they’re defined or which of our clients benefit in particular, the King County Law Library (KCLL) staff spends a great deal of time thinking about, planning for and trying to improve our services.  (King County Bar Bulletin [Seattle], 4.2010) http://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/archive/2010/10-04/article23.aspx

Libraries across the country, including the King County Law Library which offers a place for legal education and self-help, will be celebrating National Library Week April 11-17.  (Photo) (King County Bar Bulletin [Seattle], 4.2010) http://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/archive/2010/10-04/lawlib.aspx

The Friends of the Sultan Library celebrated 100 years of the Sultan Library with cake, punch, and a contest for the patron with the oldest book.  John Heller’s book, “Treatise in the Art of Dancing,” written by Giovanni Andrea Gallini and published in 1762, was the grand winner.  (Photos)  (Monroe Monitor & Valley News, 4.6.10) http://www.monroemonitor.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=52&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=55&S=1

Seattle Public Library is at a crossroads.  About a year and a half after the completion of the Libraries for All initiative that saw the SPL system expand to 26 branches across the city, and a few months after budget cuts brought more than half of those branches down to an anemic, five-day-a-week schedule, the system suffers from a complex layer of crises. (The Stranger [Seattle], 4.8.10) http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/inside-the-box/Content?oid=3798943

A new project coordinated by the Washington State Library has enabled small and midsized public libraries across the state to offer downloadable audiobooks, also known as “eAudioBooks.”  Ritzville Library District No. 2 joins the roster of 40 small and midsized public libraries, 22 public library systems, nine academic libraries and more than 350 schools and school districts that offer or are planning to participate in the program. (The Ritzville Adams County Journal, 4.8.10) http://www.ritzvillejournal.com/archives/2010/04-2010/WebNews_04-08-2010/News/State%20Library%20helps%20bring%20eAudioBooks%20to%20Ritzville%20library.html

The Castle Rock Library is replacing staff and expanding hours after more than a year of scrimping by on donations.  The City Council on Monday agreed to rehire the part-time librarian laid off when a 2008 levy failed by just a handful of votes.  A second library levy passed in August and the city soon will receive the first tax payments from that levy. (The Daily News Online [Longview], 4.15.10) http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_6e3f790e-48ec-11df-8329-001cc4c002e0.html

Elections

At a study session last week, the Kitsap Regional Library’s (KRL) trustees supported moving forward with plans to ask for a levy increase this fall.  Jeff Brody, KRL’s community relations director, said the board is considering asking for either a 10-cent or 12.5-cent levy increase to restore hours, increase staff and build new branches.  (Independent [Port Orchard], 4.2.10) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/poi/news/89790387.html

After an hour of heated public comment, Burien City Council members on March 22 took the resolution expressing their intention to annex the northern part of North Highline off the table.  The resolution was supposed to be a response to Seattle announcing a vote for North Highline residents to become part of Seattle.  Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and the Seattle City Council decided to delay plans for annexation until at least 2011.  (Highline Times/Des Moines News, SeaTac News [Burien], 4.2.10)

Buildings

Yakima Regional Library is holding a hearing on April 22, at 9 a.m.to discuss the construction of a 10,800-square-foot regional library building that includes parking for 54 vehicles. (Daily Journal of Commerce [Seattle], 4.7.10)

Letters & Editorials

Some of you dear friends may have been surprised that I did not support the recent KCLS Library levy lift in the last election.  Well here is one reason: rather than even sell books, which were working well at Auburn’s Library before the KCLS takeover, KCLS somehow deemed dumpster-fulls “not worthy to keep” and they discarded them.  (Federal Way Mirror, 4.3.10) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/fwm/opinion/letters/89783972.html

Re: “Older folks want our America back” (letter, 3-31) Ah, the scary downtown Tacoma library.  The letter writer apparently hasn’t visited the main library in a very long time.  Otherwise, he would have noticed that the “obvious drug addicts” have been among us long before the current administration.  (The News Tribune, [Tacoma] 4.5.10) http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/04/05/1135616/tacoma-public-libraries-are-welcoming.html

We’re pretty sure Ben Franklin never envisioned this when he helped establish public libraries in what is now the United States.  Among the latest trends is a Self-Help Job Lab available through the Vancouver Library.  And while Franklin was a visionary who, with a group of friends, created a co-op for the borrowing of books in 1731, it is unlikely he pictured people applying for jobs through a small screen that connects users with the world.  (Columbian, [Vancouver] 4.5.10) http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/05/more-than-books/

Awards

The American Library Association (ALA) is announcing Neel Parikh, executive director of the Pierce County Library System, as the 2010 winner of the Sullivan Award for the Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children Award.  Parikh is the seventh winner of this award, provided by former ALA President Peggy Sullivan. (ALA Website, 3.29.10) http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/march2010/sullivan_gov.cfm

A $7,500 donation from NW Natural will support the popular Summer Reading Program run by the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.  (Columbian, [Vancouver] 3.31.10) http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/mar/31/nw-natural-gift-boosts-summer-reading-effort/

Local job hunters have a new helper in the Whatcom County Library System, which has received almost $55,000 in state grant money to assist patrons in their search for work.  The flood of job hunters into libraries is more than a local trend, and it’s the reason the Washington State Library created the grant, with funding help from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute for Museum and Library Services. (The Bellingham Herald, 4.14.10) http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/04/14/1384430/whatcom-county-libraries-get-grant.html

Programs & Displays

Friends of the Ferndale Library, a part of the Whatcom County Library System, presents Poetry Sings!, a fundraiser for the new Ferndale Library Project.  The event will take place, Tuesday, April 13, at Horizon Middle School.  Admission is free though donations will gladly be accepted.  (Westside Record-Journal, [Ferndale] 3.31.10)

Snohomish County Public Utility District and Sno-Isle Libraries will offer free electricity meters for check-out starting this spring.  Throughout April, a pilot program at the Edmonds Library will offer 15 meters for consumers to borrow to assess where energy might be getting wasted. Meters will circulate to other libraries later this year. (The Enterprise [Lynnwood], 3.31.10) http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20100331/ETP04/703319925&template=ETPZoneEDart

Children will express their creativity, win prized and present their writing to the community during the sixth annual Wake Up to Poetry contest.  Young poets may submit entries by 6 p.m. Thursday to the Buckley Library, a part of the Pierce County Library System. The contest celebrates April as National Poetry Month. (Enumclaw Courier-Herald, 3.31.10) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ech/news/89472417.html

The United Way and the Seattle Public Library offer free assistance – in several languages – with 2009 income-tax returns.  There are representatives from the IRS to offer additional assistance.  (Photo)  (Seattle Times, 4.8.10)

[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] ]