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WASHINGTON STATE LIBRARY SPONSORS UW CAPSTONE STUDENTS

WASHINGTON STATE LIBRARY SPONSORS UW CAPSTONE STUDENTS

Every year, members of Washington State Library’s (WSL) Library Development team sponsor student projects that help support the work of the State Library. University of Washington (UW) iSchool Capstone projects are the culmination of the students’ learning experience at the iSchool. The students distill the knowledge and skills acquired in academic courses and apply them to real-world projects. For Shawn Schollmeyer, Washington Digital Newspapers Coordinator, iSchool Capstone students pitched their ideas for a Washington Digital Newspapers data visualization to prepare a final…

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WASHINGTON’S LIBRARIES: HELPING THE FORMERLY INCARCERATED RE-ENTER SOCIETY

WASHINGTON’S LIBRARIES: HELPING THE FORMERLY INCARCERATED RE-ENTER SOCIETY

Nearly 7,500 people each year, on average, return to their communities after serving Washington state prison sentences, according to Department of Corrections (DOC) data for the last decade. Many of them face numerous challenges as they re-enter society, including establishing financial stability, reliable housing and transportation, and access to community resources, such as their local public library. Washington currently has 378 public libraries statewide. Public libraries offer informational and educational programs that can help formerly incarcerated people successfully transition back…

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FLICKER AND TAD: A MOTHER-DAUGHTER STORY FROM PARADISE COVE, VASHON ISLAND, WASHINGTON

FLICKER AND TAD: A MOTHER-DAUGHTER STORY FROM PARADISE COVE, VASHON ISLAND, WASHINGTON

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Washington Rural Heritage is looking back on a fascinating document from the Vashon Island Heritage Collection: a lovingly detailed scrapbook compiled by Florence “Flicker” Burd for her daughter Florence “Tad” Burd. Documenting their life from 1923 to 1927, the scrapbook documents the mother and daughter’s journey from Michigan to Seattle by rail when Tad was just four and Florence a recently separated single mother. Upon arriving in the Pacific Northwest, they spent several months at…

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SPRING CLEANING AT THE STATE LIBRARY

SPRING CLEANING AT THE STATE LIBRARY

Do you have old or obsolete electronic devices stored somewhere in your home that you haven’t used in a long time? What about a box of mysterious, tangled cords that may or may not connect to things you’ve long since discarded? We do. Libraries, often much like the patrons and communities they serve, also accumulate things like this, and the Washington State Library is no exception. Recently, however, the State Library finally bid farewell to some old stalwarts: our mechanical…

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BANNING BOOKS: AN EGREGIOUS FORM OF CENSORSHIP

BANNING BOOKS: AN EGREGIOUS FORM OF CENSORSHIP

Libraries connect readers to information, ideas, learning, knowledge, and development. Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, helps ensure people have unfettered access to information at hundreds of public, school, academic, and institutional libraries across Washington. This commitment is rooted in the fundamental principle that an educated and informed citizenry is critical to a free society. But in today’s increasingly polarized political climate, an alarming trend to ban books from schools and community libraries…

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INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES: A VIEW FROM THE NEW

INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES: A VIEW FROM THE NEW

Meet Jen Haas. She recently joined Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services (ILS) and is the Branch Librarian at the Snoqualmie-based Echo Glen Children’s Center branch of the State Library, ILS’s first-ever state library for incarcerated youth. Read on as she reflects on her experience as a librarian and what brought her to ILS. “One of my favorite quotes from novelist and diarist Anais Nin compels us to reflect that, ‘…the day came when the risk to remain tight in…

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WASHINGTON DIGITAL HERITAGE GRANT RECIPIENT PROJECTS HELP DOCUMENT AND SHARE WASHINGTON HISTORY

WASHINGTON DIGITAL HERITAGE GRANT RECIPIENT PROJECTS HELP DOCUMENT AND SHARE WASHINGTON HISTORY

Each year, Washington State Library awards grants to libraries across the state for digital projects that document and share Washington’s rich and unique history. The 2021-2022 Washington Digital Heritage Grant awardees recently wrapped up their projects. This year’s grants encompassed a wide range of topics and mediums, from Nez Perce stories and legends to the Grand Coulee Dam. Grant recipients scanned images, created thesauri, recorded interviews, and much more. Read on to learn more about the awardees’ recently completed projects….

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SEATTLEITES WALK FOR WHITE CANE DAY

SEATTLEITES WALK FOR WHITE CANE DAY

On Saturday, Oct. 15, nearly a hundred people who are blind and visually impaired and their families and friends gathered in Seattle to celebrate White Cane Day with a one-mile walk. The White Cane Day Walk 2022, which began at the south base of the Seattle Space Needle and ended at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), was a celebration for people who are blind and visually impaired, many of whom use a “white cane.” White canes not…

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NEW NORTHWEST DIGITAL HERITAGE SEARCH ENGINE ENABLES EASIER ACCESS TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONTENT

NEW NORTHWEST DIGITAL HERITAGE SEARCH ENGINE ENABLES EASIER ACCESS TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONTENT

Northwest Digital Heritage is proud to present its DPLA Local site, a new search portal that enables users to more easily access materials digitized by over 150 institutions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. At the DPLA local site (https://nwdh.dp.la/), visitors can discover over half-a-million electronic documents, photos, maps, oral histories, and much more. The site enables users to narrow their search results across a variety of categories, including copyright status, location, contributing institution, and much more. Additionally, DPLA Local highlights…

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INTRODUCING THIS YEAR’S WASHINGTON STATE BOOK AWARD FINALISTS

INTRODUCING THIS YEAR’S WASHINGTON STATE BOOK AWARD FINALISTS

The Washington Center for the Book and The Seattle Public Library have selected 39 finalists in eight categories for the 2022 Washington State Book Awards. Now in its 56th year, the Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) — formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards — recognize outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2021. A winner in each category will be announced Sept. 13, 2022. 2022 WSBA FINALISTS: BOOKS FOR ADULTS CATEGORIES Biography/Memoir Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End…

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