Washington State Library News

Librarian Cathy Miller spent last Monday and Tuesday in Tacoma with a group of library directors, as well as Washington State Library and NoaNet employees, discussing how to make the most effective use of high-speed broadband connections that are being made available through stimulus funds.  Five libraries in Lincoln County are eligible for enhanced broadband connections.  All expenses of this conference were paid for by the Gates Foundation. (Wilbur Register, 12.23.10)

Library News

This fall, Liberty Lake City Hall wisely commissioned a citizen survey ranking budget priorities and asking residents for ideas to shore up the financial gap.  The municipal library wound up fifth in the poll … and last week, Mayor Pro Tem David Crump announced that the city’s finance committee had concluded that the library should be allotted $340,000 for next year. (Valley News Herald [Spokane], 12.17.10)

Stevenson Community Library staff members were honored this month by Fort Vancouver Regional Library with the “Above and Beyond” award, recognizing those who have gone “above and beyond” their regular job duties.  They were given a $50 check from the Library Foundation.  The staff voted to donate the money to the food bank, as part of the library/union food drive. (The Skamania County Pioneer [Stevenson], 12.22.10)

The Camano Library is a pilot project by Sno-Isle Libraries.  The community has been given a two-year extension to find the money to build a permanent library on the island.  The Citizens for a Camano Library group is seeking officers and members to fill various committee chairmanships. (The Herald [Everett], 12.24.10) http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20101224/NEWS01/712249907

Timberland Regional Library is a participant in two high-speed broadband projects recently funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Chehalis, McCleary, Naselle, Mountain View (Randle) and Salkum will be upgraded to high-speed broadband connections in the first project.  Four additional Timberland libraries, Centralia, Ilwaco, Raymond and South Bend, already have high-speed connections, but will receive infrastructure upgrades. (Chinook Observer [Long Beach], 12.29.10)

As in the past, the Anacortes Public Library will serve as a tax forms outlet, providing paper copies of the most frequently requested items as well as a resource file of less common forms and instructions that can be photocopied by the individual. The self-service copier at the library costs 10 cents per page.  (Anacortes American, 12.29.10)

There wasn’t a sale, but the Vancouver Mall Community Library was bustling Sunday. The branch, which has been around for more than a quarter century, is the only one in the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District open on Sundays.  “We’ve always been a busy branch but this (being open Sundays) has made us even more popular,” said Cynthia Ernst, circulation supervisor at the branch. (Photos) (Columbian [Vancouver], 1.3.11) http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/jan/03/swamped-on-sunday-library-branch/

Free MP3 music file downloads are now available at the Seattle Public Library website through Freegal Music.  Freegal Music is an online database that provides access to songs from Sony Music. The music files are DRM-free and do not expire, and are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPods, iPads and other MP3 compatible devices.  Library cardholders are eligible for three MP3 downloads per week. (Seattle Times, 1.5.11) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013844710_music05m.html

Pierce County Library System officials have found that once you get children in the door of a library, they will most likely keep coming back.  That’s the goal of library employees for 2011: Get more and more children and teens in the door. The library system’s ramping up on children and teen-based programs may be increased in 2011 but Getchell said it isn’t new.  “We have been focused on (young people) since 2006,” Getchell said. (The Herald [Puyallup], 1.5.11) http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/05/1488622/as-part-of-the-levy-promises-library.html

The American Library Association’s “Library Snapshot Day” is providing a way for libraries of all types across a state, region, system or community to show what happens in a single day in their libraries. Library Associate Valerie Mullen of the Washington State Library at Clallam Bay Corrections Center is working on the project. The statistics, photos and stories collected will be used to show the value of having libraries inside such institutions. (Forks Forum, 1.6.11)

Elections

With passage of a district-wide library levy, Fort Vancouver Regional Library District is finalizing plans to roll out two categories of enhanced services promised to voters: restored hours and more books. Restoring library open hours to 2008 levels will begin in May, coinciding with the district’s receipt of additional levy-based revenue approved by voters. (The Skamania County Pioneer [Stevenson], 12.22.10)

With the majority of cuts from the November levy failure for the Libraries of Stevens County scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2011, a local citizen’s group is rallying to try and help fill the budget gaps.  A tax-exempt, non-profit organization, the Libraries of Stevens County Foundation (LSCF), was created for the purpose of supporting library district projects like building new libraries or remodeling and expanding existing libraries. (Statesman-Examiner [Colville], 12.29.10)

Kitsap Regional Library’s four largest branches will close on Sundays beginning in February to help the library system avoid layoffs in 2011.  The move, approved by the library board on Tuesday, is part of a larger restructuring of library operations in the wake of a levy failure in November. Closing branches completely should not be necessary, at least in 2011. (The Kitsap Sun [Bremerton], 12.30.10) http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/dec/29/all-kitsap-regional-library-branches-to-close-on/

Buildings

The library for Milton and Edgewood will relocate soon to a more central site in a shopping center with twice as much space, more computers and new areas for children.  The Milton/Edgewood Pierce County Library is moving in January from its longtime location at Milton’s City Hall. (Photo) (The News Tribune [Tacoma], 12.31.10) http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/12/31/1483901/news-brief-31miltlibb.html

Construction on the new Quincy library is expected in March.  The city council is preparing to start the bidding process for the 9,700 square foot building.  The building is estimated to cost between $1.8 million and $1.9 million.  (Columbia Basin Herald [Moses Lake], 1.4.11)

Letters and Editorials

One can hardly imagine even Seattle’s Nancy Pearl has a bookcase large enough to display another award, but she was in San Diego Friday to be honored at the midwinter conference of The American Library Association.  Pearl has received many honors and awards. Recognition by her professional peers is especially gratifying. (Seattle Times, 1.8.11) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2013876436_edit08pearl.html

People

Seattle-based graphic artist Art Chantry is known around the world for his vibrant, pop and psychedelic influenced posters, album covers and magazine covers, as well as sunglasses and skateboards. He’s coming to the Tacoma Public Library next week to talk about it all.  On Wednesday, Chantry will be at the main branch downtown for a free lecture and signing. (The News Tribune [Tacoma], 12.31.10) http://blog.thenewstribune.com/arts/2010/12/28/local-poster-artist-art-chantry-at-tacoma-public-library/

Programs & Displays

For computer users with visual impairment, computer monitors can pose a real challenge. The Marysville Library now offers a solution: a laptop PC with ZoomText Magnifier software for the visually impaired. The ZoomText program works with all Windows application and allows users to change screen options to aid their visual comprehension. Sno-Isle Libraries cardholders may borrow the laptop to use in the library. (Marysville Globe, 12.15.10)

“We could all read the same book, but we don’t read the same story,” Seattle author Nancy Pearl told a small group of book lovers gathered in the Tacoma Public Library earlier this month.  This is the idea behind Seattle Reads, a project Pearl spearheaded more than a decade ago to bring readers together in Washington’s largest city.  Little did she know, just a few years later, her project would inspire a similar literacy movement in Tacoma. (Photo) (Tacoma Weekly, 12.17.10) http://www.tacomaweekly.com/news/city/one_city_one_book_one_decade/

A Quincy-Wenatchee banker, Albert Kissler, is an artist whose work is being shown in the Mary Kazda Art Space in Quincy.  Though he has only been painting for five years, he is producing some lovely scenic paintings of the Northwest. (Photo) (Quincy Valley Post Register, 12.23.10)

The Timberland Regional Library system will host its 14^th annual Adult Winter Reading program beginning in January.  From January 3 through Tuesday, March 15, for each five books read, participants can complete a form and turn it in to be eligible for prize drawings. Participants must be 18 years or older and have a current Timberland library card. (The Vidette [Montesano], 12.23.10)

Scrap bookers, quilters, and artists, craftspeople, students and adults, this contest is for you.  Have fun and support fundraising efforts of the South Beach Art Association to raise money to have artwork framed for the Westport Timberland Library.  Creating altered books is something anyone can do because your only limitation is your own imagination.  Pick up a copy of the contest rules at the circulation desk in the Westport Library. (South Beach Bulletin [Westport], 12.23.10)

The Initiative for Rural Innovation and Stewardship (IRIS) is working with the North Central Regional Library, museums and others across the region to learn more about successful food harvest, processing and distribution practices from the past that can be used to shape our future. For more information on Gathering Our Voice and the “Foodways and Byways” project see www.irisncw.org. (Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune [Oroville], 12.23.10)

The Jefferson County and Port Townsend Public Libraries are offering kits to help book clubs searching for their next good read.  The book kits are packaged in a plastic tote. One member of the club checks out the book club kit and is responsible for distributing the books and then returning the kit with the books to the library. Kits are available for eight-week-long checkout. (Photo) (Peninsula Daily News [Port Angeles], 12.29.10)

Author Heidi Thomas discusses the old-time cowgirls of the 1920s and ‘30s and reads from “Follow the Dream,” a novel based on her grandmother’s early life as a rodeo rider in Montana, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 12, at the Anacortes Public Library.  This program is free and open to the public. (Anacortes American, 12.29.10)

Starting and running a non-profit can be daunting, but the Redmond Library offers one service that can help make the task more manageable.  For 10 years, the Nonprofit & Philanthropy Resource Center at the Redmond Regional Library has been available to patrons, providing information on just about anything related to the field.  The resource center is a free service that is available to not just patrons of the King County Library System, but patrons of other library systems as well. (Photo) (Redmond Reporter [Kent], 12.31.10)

The Toppenish Library, along with other Libraries in the Yakima Valley, now provides e-books.  For those who may not be up-to-snuff on today’s technology, an e-book is the digital version of a regular paper book that can be downloaded onto an iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, Kindle or other electronic device.  (Photo) (Review Independent [Toppenish], 1.5.11)

[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] ]