Library News
The Richland Public Library now offers e-books that are compatible with the Amazon Kindle e-reader. Patrons can download popular and classic e-books to a Kindle device or any mobile device running the free Kindle application. (Tri-City Area Journal of Business [Kennewick], 10.11)

For the fourth consecutive year, the city of Camas is proposing a “recession era” budget that includes no new programs, no new taxes, and no new positions. There was no need to implement any layoffs to balance the budget, but some reductions will be felt by the public. Among the most visible will be cuts in the Camas Public Library’s weekly hours of operation, which are expected to be reduced from 60 to 53 hours. (Camas-Washougal Post-Record, 10.4.11)

Changes are coming for library users across Jefferson County. The CLAN libraries are moving to a new automation system the week of October 16, and some changes to the public catalog interface are coming. CLAN libraries include the Jefferson County Library, Port Townsend Library and the Quilcene and Brinnon school libraries. (Peninsula Daily News [Port Angeles], 10.7.11)

In the wake of embezzlement and a shutdown for safety reasons, Rainier Area Building Community took a step toward normalcy last Wednesday. Rainier Library, which is a volunteer library that is in partnership with the Timberland Regional Library System, is picking up where it left off. Something new for the library – hours are now noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. (Photo) (Nisqually Valley News [Yelm], 10.7.11)

Central Washington’s library system will head back to federal court October 25 to further argue its filtering of public Internet access. In a press release Thursday, library director Dean Marney said the North Central Regional Library (NCRL) has a responsibility to filter its online content appropriately. “It is crazy to think that we should be required to use tax dollars to allow open access to Internet pornography or to become illegal casinos.” (The Wenatchee World, 10.7.11)

Jefferson County Library and Port Townsend Public Library are now offering free e-books for Amazon Kindle users. This past spring, Amazon agreed to work with Overdrive, the company that provides electronic book lending services to libraries. (Peninsula Daily News [Port Angeles], 10.10.11)

Frederick R. Haslam of Sudden Valley has been appointed by the Whatcom County executive to the Whatcom County Library System’s board of trustees. The five-member volunteer board of trustees is responsible for setting policy and budget oversight for the library system. (Bellingham Herald, 10.10.11)

The Grandview City Council had before it at last night’s meeting a lease agreement for the new joint library and didn’t approve it due to unanswered questions. The State Attorney General’s Office will be contacted regarding language that will protect the city of Grandview’s or Yakima Valley Community College’s interests in the joint library. (Daily News [Sunnyside], 10.12.11) http://www.dailysunnews.com/archives/Story.aspx/22377/grandview-library-lease-agreement-in-question

A lawsuit against the North Central Regional Library (NCRL), led by the ACLU, argues that the library keeps broad filters in place that unduly limit the kinds of searches patrons can do, and furthermore that the library won’t disable these limitations even when an adult user asks them to. The basis of NCRL limiting the kinds of computer searches patrons can perform stems from the 2000 Child Internet Protection Act. (Photo) (The Seattle Weekly Online, 10.25.11) http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/10/library_users_rights_to_google.php

Buildings
About 35 people applied and were accepted to the City of Renton’s steering committee which is looking at future uses for the library building at Liberty Park. The building will become vacant sometime in 2013 after a new King County Library System library is built on South Third Street. (Photo) (Renton Reporter [Kent], 10.7.11) http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/130811263.html

The Centralia Timberland Library will be closed October 20 through October 30 for the installation of new public services desks and other improvements, including reorganizing patron spaces for improved access and service. (The Chronicle [Centralia], 10.11.11)

Grandview’s new library generated more than one precious gem analogy when it was officially opened September 12th. Grandview Mayor Norm Childress referred to the city as “the gem of the valley,” when he addressed the good-sized crowd which attended the opening. The new $4 million facility is under the joint ownership and operation of the City of Grandview and the college. (Photo) (Grandview Herald, 10.14.11)

Letters & Editorials
The Rural Library District has high hopes for the success of a project that could lead to consolidated library services for the region. The intent to continue this partnership effort even if contract negotiations failed was affirmed by Walla Walla Mayor Barbara Clark at the end of a meeting with the city manager and the RLD Board representatives on September 29. (Photo) (Union-Bulletin [Walla Walla], 10.7.11)

Mayor Barbara Clark got it right. Ever since the Walla Walla County Rural Library District first contracted with the city of Walla Walla in 1974, it was assumed it would take both city and Rural Library District resources to deliver high quality public library services for everyone. Taxpayers of both the city and county are not being well served by the Rural Library District. (Union-Bulletin, [Walla Walla] 10.11.11)

To many of us, old recipe collections are an important link to our past. Which is why I got a cry for help from Jodee Fenton, managing librarian for Seattle Public Library’s Special Collections. Fenton said the library had inherited a vast collection of published recipes from the Seattle P-I, dating back to the 1940s, and she was unsure exactly what should be done with it. (Seattle Times, 10.19.11) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/allyoucaneat/2016540969_recipe_box_seattle_newspapers.html

On October 3, I was named the 2012 Washington State Teacher of the Year. I am a teacher librarian. Since then, I have been fielding questions from reporters curious about what teacher librarians do. Their core question is, “why do we need libraries and teacher librarians?” It’s simple. Among other things, librarians fight truthiness. And truthiness is bad for America. (Seattle Times, 10.23.11) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2016574447_guest23ray.html
Awards
A new local artist, Wesley Nelson, recently took part in a Soap Lake Art Museum recycled art show and had his submission selected to be part of a permanent art collection in the new Quincy Public Library – set to open around Thanksgiving. What makes this artist especially unique is the fact that he’s only 10-years-old. (Photos) (Grant County Journal [Ephrata], 10.6.11)

Programs & Displays
Seattle writer Garth Stein stopped in at the Shelton Timberland Library on Tuesday to discuss his 2008 novel “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” Stein travelled to Shelton as part of the annual Timberland Reads Together program, which chose “The Art of Racing in the Rain” as its communal book this October. (Photo) (Shelton-Mason County Journal, 10.6.11)

An event to support “The Heart of Our Community,” the Camas Public Library, will be held Saturday, November 5, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., at Camas Meadows Golf Club. Organized by the Friends & Foundation of the Camas Library, the event will include a three-course plated dinner. There will also be silent and live auction items. (Camas-Washougal Post-Record, 10.4.11)

The Port Angeles Friends of the Library is sponsoring a series of Baby and Me Story Times at the Port Angeles Library at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Each four-week session will focus on a different aspect of a baby’s development and will feature rhymes, songs, and stories. Materials used for the series were developed by Thrive by Five. (Peninsula Daily News [Port Angeles], 10.9.11)

[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] ]

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