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2017 Eclipse Across America

2017 Eclipse Across America

If you didn’t already know, there will be a total eclipse rolling through the United States on Monday, August 21, 2017, and we are happy to announce that in collaboration with STARnet, the Washington State Library (WSL) has distributed nearly 4,000 eclipse glasses to 44 libraries across our state for safe viewing of the eclipse. Each library location will host programs filled with safety information, fun facts, and learning opportunities for the whole family. Check out the list below for…

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Stimulating Summers

Stimulating Summers

From the desk of Carolyn Petersen The city libraries of Reardan, Harrington and the Ritzville District Library  have banded together  to tackle a common problem: summer enrichment activities for children which would slow the summer learning slide. Their solution: a day camp for grade school children with the libraries providing essential mid-day programming. Seeing a need and realizing that libraries could play a role in filling that need, Carolyn, the overall project manager for Stimulating Summers, corralled disparate funding sources: an…

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Book Bingo, it’s never too late!

Book Bingo, it’s never too late!

By now we hope you’ve heard about the new partnership between the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and the Washington State Library.  Yes, we are talking about the Washington Center for the Book. As with all new  endeavors, it can take a while for the behind the scenes work to emerge but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.  Lots of ideas and projects are being cooked up, and we hope to announce things soon.  Meanwhile, if you don’t have your own…

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Greek History in Seattle again reaches for a global audience

Greek History in Seattle again reaches for a global audience

In the early days of the Seattle-based Washington Hellenic Civic Society, little did community citizens know their comings and goings would reach an international audience through the publication of the monthly newspaper, the Washington Hellenic Review. It had just over a 10-year run (1924-1936) under the vision of WHCS president Pericles H. Scarlatos.   It reached an audience mostly in Seattle, but also across to subscribers in 33 cities, and even a few in Greece. The many activities of members of…

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Presenting… “WSL Presents”

Presenting… “WSL Presents”

For many years one of the projects of the State Library was an emailing and blog post called “Clippings.” We contracted with a newspaper clipping service to scour Washington newspapers for mentions of our libraries.  These stories were collected and published weekly, as a way of keeping all of us up to date on what was happening around our state.  It was a great service but it had its limitations.  First, by the time the clippings made their way to…

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Washington State Library joins forces with the Seattle Public Library to promote reading and literacy statewide through Center for the book

Washington State Library joins forces with the Seattle Public Library to promote reading and literacy statewide through Center for the book

The Washington State Library has joined forces with The Seattle Public Library to lead the work of the Washington Center for the Book. The Seattle Public Library was designated as the home for the Washington State Center for the Book by the U.S. Library of Congress back in 1989. The mission of the Washington Center of the Book is to promote Washington’s literary heritage and the importance of books, reading, literacy and libraries. There is a Center for the Book…

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Tacoma’s Poet Laureate visits the Washington Corrections Center for Women

Tacoma’s Poet Laureate visits the Washington Corrections Center for Women

From the desk of Ken McDouall, Library Associate, Washington Corrections Center for Women The Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) library branch was pleased to welcome Tacoma’s newest Poet Laureate last week. Kellie Richardson is a lifelong resident of Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, and her poetry is informed by her intersecting identities as an activist, an African American woman, a mother, and a Christian. She has taught at Pacific Lutheran University and is often busy conducting workshops and giving presentations to local…

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It Keeps Getting Better: Access to Historic Congressional Information

It Keeps Getting Better: Access to Historic Congressional Information

The Government Printing Office (GPO) in partnership with the Library of Congress just announce the release of the digital (online) availability of the Bound Congressional Record, 1961 – 1970 on govinfo.gov.  This means you can now search the Bound Congressional Record from 1961 to the present! If you remember that era there is probably some iconic event that stays fresh in your mind such as the invasion of the Beatles and other British rock groups, the Assassinations of President John F….

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Perceptiveness through Poetry

Perceptiveness through Poetry

From the desk of Anna Nash Every year I look forward to April because it’s National Poetry Month. It is my favorite time for programming in the Institutional Library Services branches. The talent I see each year is at time overwhelming. It is a labor of love. We arrange workshops, presentations, and open mics and in return we get to listen to and read truly amazing poetry. I don’t think I can say it any better than I did in…

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Lights, Signals, Buoys, and Daymarks — Our Rich Heritage

Lights, Signals, Buoys, and Daymarks — Our Rich Heritage

From the desk of Rand Simmons The meagre lighthouse all in white, haunting the seaboard, as if it were the ghost of an edifice that had once had colour and rotundity, dripped melancholy tears after its late buffeting by the waves. ~Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit A lighthouse is … Although we often think of a tower with a bright light at the top, located on an important or dangerous waterway, lighthouses are quite varied in architecture. They had, and still have, two…

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