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Outreach librarian, Amy Ravenholt, holding Trial by Fury by J.A. Jance.
WTBBL BOOK CLUB HOSTS INAUGURAL MEETING

WTBBL BOOK CLUB HOSTS INAUGURAL MEETING

The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) hosted its first Book Club meeting Aug. 26. Due to COVID-19, we held the meeting virtually, and if the overwhelmingly positive response from participants is any indication, we will continue with this format. The inaugural meeting included patrons from across the state and featured Trial by Fury by local author J.A. Jance. (Trial by Fury is available to patrons in both audio and braille.) Jance is one of the top-circulating authors from…

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Librarian sitting with archival newspapers
Chronicling America and Navigating Newspapers

Chronicling America and Navigating Newspapers

Through multiple National Digital Newspaper Program grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities in conjunction with the Library of Congress, the Washington State Library has contributed over 300,000 pages of digitized Washington newspapers to Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) since 2008. The contributions from the Washington State Library are part of the over 16 million searchable newspaper pages from 48 states and two territories made freely available on Chronicling America. Ben Lee is working to extend the usability of these digitized…

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Librarian of Congress visits Washington libraries

Librarian of Congress visits Washington libraries

On Tuesday, July 30th, Washington State Library Youth Services Consultant Siri Hiltz and Community Outreach Librarian Sara Peté had the good fortune of visiting the beautiful Camas Public Library for a chance to learn from the nation’s top librarian — Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress (LoC).  U.S. Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler brought Dr. Hayden to the 3rd District to help spread the word about the Library of Congress Surplus Books Program, the Veterans History Project, and the LoC’s incredible…

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Meet the winners of Washington’s 2019 Letters About Literature Contest

Meet the winners of Washington’s 2019 Letters About Literature Contest

Letters About Literature is an annual writing contest for youth where students are asked to write a letter to an author — living or deceased — whose book has changed the way the student writer sees the world. Each year the letters are incredible, poignant, and well written. Since 2005, the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, has been involved in judging the contest. In 2018, the Washington Center for the Book, a…

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WTBBL audio department staff
Neighbor-state cooperation at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

Neighbor-state cooperation at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

Recently, Joel Henderson of the Oregon Talking Book and Braille Library visited the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) in Seattle to learn more about the audiobook production program.   Both libraries are regional libraries of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) of the Library of Congress. WTBBL is a program of the Washington State Library, which is a division of the Office of Secretary of State. Joel met with each audiobook recording staff…

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Washington State Library at the National Book Festival

Washington State Library at the National Book Festival

Since 2003, Washington state has sent a representative to the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. annually. The festival was the brainchild of librarian and First Lady Laura Bush and then-Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. In its early years, the festival was held on the National Mall, but as it grew in size and popularity it was moved to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Each year all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories are asked…

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Washington Letters About Literature Champion recognized by Library of Congress

Washington Letters About Literature Champion recognized by Library of Congress

We are very pleased to announce that Washington’s Level 2 champion in the state Letters About Literature competition, Riya Sharma, was selected as a National Honor Award winner for her letter about The Confidence Code. Riya is an 8th grade student at The Overlake School in Redmond. Our judges weren’t surprised at all by her national recognition. Here’s what they said about Riya’s letter: “Ms. Sharma’s letter stood out among many well written entries and did an excellent job of connecting…

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Letters About Literature winners with Sec. Wyman
Watch the Letters About Literature 2018 Awards Ceremony

Watch the Letters About Literature 2018 Awards Ceremony

For the past 13 years, the Washington State Library has sponsored a contest called Letters About Literature. The straightforward contest asks students in grades 4-12 to write a letter to an author about how his or her book changed their view of the world or themselves. We wrote a little about the contest earlier in the year. Each year when the letters written by Washington students arrive, we read them and cannot believe the depth of feeling and insight contained in…

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Letters About Literature: Much more than just a contest

Letters About Literature: Much more than just a contest

What do you get when you combine books, students, writing and a national contest? You get hope for the future and the country, and the knowledge that we are all in good hands for the future. Washington state has participated in the Letters About Literature contest since 2005, and it is a favorite for everyone who has experienced it. What makes it so great is, simply put, the letters. Unlike the book reports we all remember from our school days,…

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WSL Updates for February 22, 2018

WSL Updates for February 22, 2018

Volume 14, February 22, 2018 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) INCREASE YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 2) FINANCIAL LITERACY – FACTS VS. FICTION 3) FREE EXHIBITS – WILL TRAVEL 4) LC – FREE TO USE AND REUSE 5) OCLC – CONNECTING WITH YOUR COOPERATIVE 6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK ————————————————————————————————————— 1) INCREASE YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Work that focuses on public service can be both rewarding and costly. Being mindful of our own work narrative and understanding how…

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