Library News

Advocates of Vancouver’s historic downtown have rolled up their sleeves and sprung into action after a six-month crash course on how to revitalize the area.  The largest project in size and cost is a $38 million, five-story public library, set to open in 2011 for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/oct/03/small-projects-could-lead-to-bigger-things-for-dow/

Mayor Dean Maxwell’s $39 million draft 2011 budget was presented to the Anacortes City Council Monday. Maxwell told the council that the 2011 budget includes $41,836 for new library materials.  At the same time, the facility is reducing the number of staff computer terminals and printers to lower costs, will discontinue several periodicals, and will drop two out-of-area newspapers.  The library also will experiment with three-day closures over holiday weekends to save staff and facility costs.  (Anacortes American, 10.6.10)

Whidbey Island Library customers will be able to check out electricity monitors for one week at a time at the Freeland and Coupeville Sno-Isle branches starting this week.  Puget Sound Energy is making the devices available to help Sno-Isle customers better understand their energy usage and ultimately lower their energy use and save money on their energy bills.  (Whidbey News-Times, (Oak Harbor) 10.6.10) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/wnt/news/104371113.html

Each school in the Ferndale School District still has a library and someone to check out books for students.  But a librarian is nowhere to be found.  Ultimately, when it came to deciding this year’s 2010-11 budget allotment, Superintendent Linda Quinn realized that a half-sized library staff is sometimes just as problematic as living without one altogether.  This, along with other continuing funding challenges facing all schools, led to the elimination of the library program as it existed.  (Photos) (Ferndale Record, 10.6.10)

No groundbreaking date has been set yet for the new Duvall Library, but as the library becomes a reality, one of its supporting organizations is going through a change of its own.  Effective with the September meeting of the club, outgoing Duval Civic Club/Friends of the Library president Wendy Shimada told the Duvall Library Board Sept. 27 that the group had unanimously voted to break into two separate clubs, the Civic Club and the Friends of the Library.  (Valley View, (Woodinville) 10.11.10)

King County prosecutors have moved to indefinitely incarcerate a convicted child rapist after the man was allegedly caught in the children’s books section of a Shoreline library.  Prosecutors contend Porter hasn’t changed his ways and should be confined at a state center for mentally ill sexual predators on McNeil Island. Robert R. Porter admitted he had been at the Shoreline Public Library on Monday, Oct. 4 and that he had been watching little girls.  (Photo)  (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10.12.10) http://www.seattlepi.com/local/428248_svp11.html

The same late-September week Mayor Mike McGinn announced deep cuts to the library system’s budget and an overhaul of the system’s management, President Barack Obama tapped Hildreth to be director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that gives grants for educational programs to the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.  On top of the financial crisis, the libraries might be left without a strong advocate at the helm.  (Photo)  (The Seattle Times, 10.16.10)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2013091936_pacificplibrary17.html

Elections

Residents in unincorporated areas of Stevens County and Springdale will vote on a Stevens County Library District levy lift request as part of the Nov. 2 general election.  If approved by a simple majority, the lift will allow the library district to collect 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, the legal limit.  The increased funding is needed as library district officials have seen a large increase in services over the past couple of years.  (Deer Park Tribune, 10.6.10)

Kitsap Regional Library will conduct a series of meetings at local libraries to answer any questions the public might have about the library levy lid lift proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot.  Library staff will be on hand to provide information about the library system and to answer questions about the levy proposal, which would raise the KRL levy by 13.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.  (Bainbridge Island Review, 10.8.10)

Langley voters will decide early next month whether the city will join the Sno-Isle Libraries district.  The switch wouldn’t affect current library services, only the way they’re funded, library officials say. A yes vote on the Nov. 2 ballot measure will give city residents a voice in the library decision-making process and remove it from the ups and downs of city finances, Kelly said.  (Seattle PI, 10.11.10) http://blog.seattlepi.com/whidbey-pi/archives/224325.asp

Buildings

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Newcastle Library will be at 3:45 p.m. Oct. 20 at the corner of 129^th Avenue Southeast and Newcastle Way.  Those who attend will be treated to free food and drinks, and likely music from a local band.(The Newcastle News, (Issaquah) 10.1.10) http://www.newcastle-news.com/2010/09/22/kcls-prepares-for-newcastle-library-groundbreaking-ceremony

Seattle University recently dedicated its new Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, the largest capital project in the school’s history.  Six floors of the original Lemieux Library, constructed in 1966, were gutted and 33,000 square feet were added to the McGoldrick Learning Commons.  Pfeiffer Partners Architects of Los Angeles was the architect, in collaboration with Seattle’s Mithun.  Mortenson Construction was the contractor.  (Photo)  (Daily Journal of Commerce, (Seattle) 10.12.10)

Architects designing an expanded version of the Vashon library, a part of the King County Library System, will unveil their latest concept at a public forum Thursday night. Rather than tear down the current structure, architects have designed an addition to it that will bring in more light and provide more space for books, a larger meeting room and other amenities.  (The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, (Vashon) 10.6.10) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/vashon/vib/news/104362273.html

Letters & Editorials

The Chewelah Public Library Board of Trustees urges country residents to vote yes on the Stevens County Rural Library District-Levy Lift for Library services on November 2.  Levy approval would restore the original tax rate to 50 cents. Please join the board in voting for the library levy. (Statesman-Examiner, (Colville) 10.6.10)

On Sept. 27, Mayor Mike McGinn released his proposed 2011-12 budget, which the accompanying press release described as “sustainable.”  However, his proposal seems anything but for his constituents.  The local libraries would suffer the loss of librarians at eight branches, which would become “circulating branches” that would share staffing.  These branches would stay open for 35 hours each week with no head librarian on duty.  (Madison Park Times, (Seattle) 10.10) http://www.madisonparktimes.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=27900&SectionID=9&SubSectionID=9&S=1

Many things help make a city great.  Many things help make our communities great.  Together with schools, the churches and the hospital, a library is one of the cornerstones of a healthy community.  The Stevens County Rural Library District will have a levy proposition on the Nov. 2 ballot.  Join me in voting “Yes” for our libraries on Nov. 2.  (Deer Park Tribune, 10.6.10)

When a simple Google search returns more results than the entire Suzzallo book collection, it sure makes libraries seem less relevant than they once were. With midterms approaching, I urge you to try a new way of preparing for them: Use the library system. You’ll never know how useful it is until you try. (The Daily of the University of Washington, (Seattle) 10.20.10) http://dailyuw.com/2010/10/20/libraries-forgotten-resource/

Awards

Chewelah Library manager Kate Skinner recognized five “outstanding” volunteers during ‘Volunteer Appreciation Night’ that was part of the Friends of the Chewelah Public Library open house on Monday, Sept. 13.  Skinner recognized Ladell Black, Gina Greenwood, Lynn Mydland, Mary Louise Ott, and Sue Richart.  (Photo) (The Independent, (Chewelah) 10.7.10)

Programs & Displays

Molbak’s has announced its new partnership with Reading with Rover, a community-based literacy program.  In the “Rover” program children with reading difficulties are given the opportunity to sit down and read stories to a trained therapy dog, resulting in a stress-free reading experience!  The Reading with Rover concept was formed when Bothell librarian MieMIe Wu wanted to make reading more fun and provide an opportunity for children to gain confidence in their reading skills.  (North Lake News & Woodinville Weekly, 10.4.10) http://nwnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2038:reading-with-rover-coming-to-molbaks-&catid=37:events&Itemid=83

[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] ]

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