WA Secretary of State Blogs

Archive for April, 2014

Dia! Diversity in Action

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014 Posted in Washington Reads | 1 Comment »


From the desk of Kathryn Devine

Dia2013_12x18Poster_download_0[1]April 30 marks Día, the culmination of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day).

Dia is an initiative started by the American Library Association to “emphasize the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.”

For more information about Día, check out the ALA website.

In the spirit of Día, we hope you enjoy these titles and others at the Washington State Library.

 

StormBoyStorm Boy. By Paul Owen Lewis

Beautifully illustrated in Haida style, this is a story of a chief’s son who is lost at sea and finds himself washed ashore in a strange village of enormous–but friendly—people.

 

GreatMigrationThe Great Migration. By Jacob Lawrence

Artist Jacob Lawrence illustrates the experiences of African Americans who migrated from the South to the northern industrial cities in search of work beginning around the time of World War I.

’And the migrants kept coming’ is a refrain of triumph over adversity. My family and others left the South on a quest for freedom, justice, and dignity. If our story rings true for you today, then it must still strike a chord in our American experience.” –Jacob Lawrence

 

Shu-LiandTamara

Shu-Li and Tamara. By Paul Yee.

Shu-Li is a young Chinese immigrant living in Vancouver, Canada. Working at her parents’ deli she is regularly embarrassed by her mother’s English in front of the neighborhood kids.

She strikes up a friendship with her new neighbor Tamara. When rumors spread about Tamara, Shu-Li must decide whether she should stand by her new friend or follow the crowd.

 

CircleofEquilibriumThe circle of equilibrium: poems of conscience and leadership by Native, Latino, African and Asian American youth

Collection of poems written by middle school and high school students from Oregon and Washington.

 

COLORColor: Latino voices in the Pacific Northwest

A collection of one-page stories told by recent immigrants to the U.S. about their experiences here.

 

IAmSacajaweaI am Sacajawea, I am York: Our Journey with Lewis and Clark. By Claire Rudolf Murphy.

A children’s book about the Lewis and Clark expedition, alternately told in the voices of Sacajawea and York.

 

 

SeekingLightSeeking light in each dark room: those who make a way, young Latino writers in Yakima = Buscando luz en cada cuarto oscuro: por los abrecaminos

The stories and poems in this book were written by writers who call themselves abrecaminos, enrolled in a year-long Latino literature and writing course at Davis High School in Yakima, Washington using bilingual texts from the great works of Latin American writers.” –From Acknowledgements

 

NosotrosNosotros: the Hispanic people of Oregon : essays and recollections

Packed with pictures, stories, and essays about Hispanic history, culture, and people of Oregon.

Washington’s State Flower

Friday, April 25th, 2014 Posted in For Libraries, For the Public, State Library Collections, Washington Reads | Comments Off on Washington’s State Flower


rhododendron
In 1892, there was a hotly contested election in Washington State…for a flower.

 

Tacoma Daily News July 16 1892 pg 8 excerpt

Tacoma Daily News July 16 1892

The 1893 World’s Fair was fast approaching, and the state flower would be part of the exhibit for Washington State.

It came down to Clover vs. Rhododendron, and it was decided that the women of the state would vote…and only the women.

They didn’t have the right to vote in any other election until 1910, but this time it was the men who were not allowed to cast a ballot…even if they were gardeners.

 

Tacoma Daily News June 17 1892 pg 3

Tacoma Daily News June 17 1892

The campaign was hard fought.

Some people didn’t like the name of the rhododendron.  It was too long and too hard to spell.

Others claimed they had never seen one before, and the state flower should be grown all over the state.

Tacoma Daily News July 14 1892

Tacoma Daily News July 14 1892

 

Polls opened across the state and thousands of women voted.

After the polls closed on August 1, the Rhododendron had won.

 

These are some of the books about Rhododendrons that you can find at the Washington State Library.

rhododendron story coverThe Pacific Coast Rhododendron Story, and Rhododenrons in the Landscape are both written by Sonja Nelson, who was an editor of the Journal American Rhododendron Society.

The first title is more of a history, with descriptions of the different varieties.rhododendron landscape cover

In the second book, she provides extensive advice on how to use rhododendrons in different styles of landscaping.

 

rhododendrons in america coverRhododendrons in America by Ted Van Veen, provides a nice introduction to gardening with rhododendrons.

He has a list of the different hybrids created as of 1969, and color photographs on every page.

 

Come and visit us at the Washington State Library, or browse our catalog, if you’re looking for books about Rhododendrons, or newspaper articles that tell the story of how it became our state flower.

 

 

 

Have you heard of the Extension Service?

Thursday, April 24th, 2014 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, For the Public, State Library Collections | 1 Comment »


extension washing machine

In 1947, if you had never seen one before, who could help you learn how to choose and use a washing machine?

 

extension chair

In 1950, before HGTV and Martha Stewart, where could you go to learn how to tackle DIY projects like reupholstering a chair?

Luckily, Washington state citizens did not have to look far for help, because for over 100 years the Extension Service at the State College of Washington (now Washington State University) has offered demonstrations, and printed bulletins on these topics and thousands more.

 

extension sheep measlesThose thousands of bulletins can be found at the Washington State Library.

They are part of our State Publications collection, which has hundreds of thousands of reports, magazines, newsletters and yes, those bulletins, that have been published by Washington state and extension sewing is funterritorial agencies for over 150 years.

The range of the topics the Extension Service bulletins cover is awe inspiring.

You can find Sewing is Easy and Fun (1947) and Bitterness in Cucumbers (1972) and even Sheep Measles (1958).

 

extension wiringThey offered advice for people who were getting electricity and indoor plumbing for the first time.

What is Adequate Wiring? was written in 1940, and helped these new users of electricity to plan for their electrical needs for both their homes and farms for the next 5 years.

 

extension kitchenPlanning the Efficient Kitchen (1946) and Planning the Bathroom (1949) both go into great detail to help people design these rooms.

They include illustrations of fixtures, floorplans and recommended measurements for cabinets, shelves and counters.  They offer assistance with selecting wall finishes and floor coverings.

 

extension mattressYou could learn how to make a cotton mattress (1940), iron a shirt (1954),
co-ordinate your accessories with a basic wardrobe (1950) and
how to sew an outfit for graduation (1954).

extension cooky

You could get recipes from Our Cooky Book (1954), learn how to Feed a crowd safely (1976), and find out all about Outdoor Cookery for the Family (1958) – otherwise known as barbecuing.

 

Despite the broad range of topics, their main target audience was living in rural areas and on farms. So there are hundreds of pamphlets on crops and farm animals.

extension strawberryYou could get detailed instructions on growing just about anything.

In 1959, they first published Growing Strawberries in Washington, which described soil types, the varieties of strawberries, fertilizer and irrigation, how and when to plant, and how to harvest.

 

extension curly topYou can also find bulletins about any threat to those crops, including Fire Blight (1966), the Codling Moth (1969), and the Carrot Rust Fly (1979), and Curly Top (1969), which sounds cute, but is actually a disease that affects tomatoes and beets.

extension pigsIf you were thinking of starting a dairy farm, you could learn everything from What to feed the Dairy Herd (1943), to Raising Dairy Calves (1938) and how to breed Genetically Superior Dairy Cows (1982).

If you were thinking of adding a herd of pigs to your farm, Making Pigs Pay (1949) tells you how to pick good stock, how to breed them, feed them, build housing for them and treat their diseases.

 

The Cooperative Extension System is alive and well today in America.extension pest control

The Washington State office is still run out of Washington State University in Pullman.

Today you can go to their web site to access just as wide a range of information as they offered 50 or 100 years ago.

 

extension cucumbersYou can browse the Extension Service titles in the State Library’s collection.

Contact us if you have any questions about using any of these items from our State Publications Collection.

[email protected] / 360.704.5221

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WSL Updates for April 24, 2014

Thursday, April 24th, 2014 Posted in For Libraries, For the Public, Grants and Funding, News, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for April 24, 2014


Volume 10, April 24, 2014 for the WSL Updates mailing list – Expanded Edition
Note: WSL Updates will be on hiatus next week because of the WLA Conference in Wenatchee.

Topics include:

1) FIRST TUESDAYS – CREWSPACE

2) PRESERVATION WEEK 2014 AT THE UW

3) IMLS FUNDING PRIORITIES 2014

4) GET OUTSIDE THE BOX

5) PRESERVATION INFOGRAPHIC AND MORE

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES – APRIL 28 – MAY 9

Read the rest of this entry »

The Uncle of the Father of Earth Day: Washington’s sort of Connection…

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, For the Public, Random News from the Newspapers on Microfilm Collection | Comments Off on The Uncle of the Father of Earth Day: Washington’s sort of Connection…


From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Several years ago I discovered an unusual Washington State connection to Earth Day while compiling biographical information about unsuccessful candidates for Governor. The election was 1936 and the subject was Union Party nominee Ove Malling Nelson.

Nelson1930s Although a bit distant, the connection is this: Ove Nelson was the uncle of the Sen. Gaylord Nelson, the Father of Earth Day. OK, so its convoluted, but I love trivia.

Attorney and author O.M. “Ovie” or “Ovey” Nelson was a political gadfly and fixture in Grays Harbor County elections for thirty years, 1916-1946. Most of his energy was spent running for either County Prosecuting Attorney or the 3rd District U.S. Congress seat. One reference mentioned he also tried for the State Senate at some time. He ran under the banner of four different parties in the course of his campaign career: Republican, Democrat, La Follette Progressive, and Union. This last party was the strangest of them all, and he was identified with it during a curious detour from his pattern of trying to obtain the above mentioned offices. Nelson was the Union Party’s candidate for Governor in 1936.

Ove Malling Nelson was born Mar. 9, 1880 in Thorp, Clark County, Wis. His parents were immigrants from Norway. He came from a large farming family where politics was apparently in the genetic fiber.

In a May 27, 1999 “countdown to the millennium” piece, the Montesano Vidette included this background on Nelson:

Raised in the mighty Wisconsin forest, his father carved a log home from the forest and would travel 40 miles for food, which he packed on his back. Young Ovey also attended school in a log school house in Thorp, receiving his diploma when he was 14 years old.

“Dissatisfied with the next three years of his life working on a farm, Ovey decided to take a high school course. He had to walk four miles to attend class and once there he was the only boy in a class of four students. Ovey then turned to teaching, but dissatisfied with the Wisconsin frontier, he decided to travel west, arriving in Everett in 1900.

Young Nelson stayed in Washington until 1906, when he decided to move back to Wisconsin. There he worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper. It was also during this time he met the future Mrs. Nelson, Melinda Opperman. The couple later married in Seattle in 1915 and they had three sons.

 Nelson’s stay in Wisconsin only lasted a short time though. He moved back to Seattle in 1907 and it was two newspaper advertisements that played an important part in his life.

 The first ad he answered was for a company seeking a man to work out of town. Thus he came to Cosmopolis in January 1907 with C.F. White to work for Neil Cooney and the Grays Harbor Commercial Co.

Nelson1970sNelson worked for Cooney for eight months when he answered a second ad by W.H. Abel of Montesano for a stenographer. Nelson was hired. During this time, Nelson became interested in the law. He found time to read law in the evenings.

 Nelson worked for Abel for one year, one month and 16 days, before heading to Olympia to take the bar examination, which he passed. In 1909 he set up an independent practice for himself.

 Somewhere in that narrative, according to his obituary, Nelson attended business college in Oshkosh, Wis., probably in 1906.

Nelson’s political runs appeared to have started in 1916. Between 1916-1946 he ran for County Prosecuting Attorney at least four times, and made no less than eight attempts for U.S. Congress. Apparently he sat out the elections of 1932, 1940, and 1944. In the other years I have identified 13 attempts by Nelson to gain elective office. In eight of those he ran as a Republican but never gained enough votes to win a primary. The only way he was able to get his name on the general election ballot was to run as Democrat, Progressive, or Union party member. In most of these elections, he usually won the majority of votes in his home town, which says a lot about his standing in the community and the perseverance of Monte in supporting their own favorite son against the much more populated Aberdeen-Hoquiam or Olympia political base.

In 1922 Nelson made his first bid for U.S. Congress. Nelson’s Big Issue in the 1920s appears to be that he was a “wet,” arguing that Prohibition was a mistake.

In 1924 Nelson ran for Congress as a member of La Follete’s Progressive Party. The Democrats apparently didn’t have a real candidate so Ovie became the main opposition by default. Nelson pretty much mouthed the party line on national issues. In local affairs, he promoted the idea of public ownership of utilities. The Grays Harbor Public Utility District was still 14 years away. Ovie was ahead of his time on this issue.

Prohibition was a major story issue in the region. The Grays Harbor County Sheriff and a host of other law enforcement types had been stung in booze running conspiracies. Alcohol was brought down from British Columbia, dumped overboard in crates into Grays Harbor, where local distributors picked them up under the watchful and approving eye of the local law. Meanwhile, out in McCleary, a thriving cottage industry of producing quality homemade booze helped supplement the local economy. “McCleary Moonshine” even had a special label.

In 1930 he tried again to unseat incumbent Albert Johnson in the primary. According to the Montesano Vidette, Sept. 4, 1930:

 NELSON WANTS NEW DRY LAW

 O.M. Nelson, Montesano attorney, is waging a vigorous campaign for representative in congress. He will speak over KMO, Tacoma, Thursday night and Saturday night. His campaign is based chiefly on his proposal to rectify prohibition condition by adoption of another amendment to permit government sale of liquor under proper regulation. He would leave the present amendment intact to prevent the return of the saloon. He has cited the Lyle-Whitney case in Seattle as an example of what he terms the failure of the national prohibition law. He lays the crime wave and much of business depression to prohibition. Nelson is city attorney of Montesano, having been reelected several times.

And although he placed first in Montesano, he finished 3rd in the primary in 1930. Interesting to note his position as City Attorney was an elective office, so he was successful in municipal elections.

The repeal of Prohibition had taken away the topic that had been Ovie’s main campaign issue for years. It was replaced by his interest in monetary reform. In 1934 he authored On the Wane: Democracy Or Communism (Montesano Publishing Co.), a 192 page book the Montesano Vidette said “attacks our banking system and which declares our present money system, based on huge debts, is destroying democracy and opening the door to communism.” Copies of this monograph are difficult to find today.

Now for a little background on the Union Party. It was a brief blip on the political radar, initially causing panic among Democrats but as it turned out was of little consequence in the election. The Party’s foundation was built from three groups who felt FDR was not doing enough to meet the financial crisis of the 1930s: The Townsendites, the Coughlin listeners, and the Share Our Wealth followers.

The historian William Manchester gives his take on the Union Party: “… Father Coughlin and his colleagues preempted the lunatic fringe, presenting for the voters’ consideration their new Union Party. The Union candidate for President was Congressman William Lemke of North Dakota, a strange individual with a pocked face, a glass eye, and a shrill voice; to the radio priest’s dismay he insisted upon wearing a gray cloth cap and an outsize suit. Coughlin baptized him ‘Liberty Bill,’ and Gerald L.K. Smith drew up plans to guard the November polls with a hundred thousand Townsendite youths. The radio priest promised to quit the air forever if he didn’t deliver nine million votes for the Union ticket. That seemed extravagant, but in June both major parties were taking Lemke seriously … The sobriquet ‘Liberty Bill’ was catching on. Father Coughlin rather liked the alliterative resemblance to ‘Liberty Bell.’ Then, too late, he remembered something: the Liberty Bell was cracked.”

The Washington State Union Party met at the Frye Hotel in Seattle and nominated Nelson for Governor. National organizer H.F. Swett predicted to the Seattle Daily Times the Union Partywould carry Wyoming and Idaho and that the ticket would make a creditable showing in Washington.”

Nelson clearly saw himself as coming from the Left in his Union Party run. Incumbent Gov. Martin was a moderate Democrat. The Washington Commonwealth Federation, a liberal political action group which included Townsendites in their ranks, had failed to displace Martin in the primary. Part of this was due to the fact 1936 was the first blanket primary in Washington, and many Republicans crossed over to choose the least objectionable Democrat. Meanwhile, former Governor and extreme conservative Roland Hartley, who was defeated in 1932 by Martin, won the Republican primary. Nelson tried to capitalize on the fact the Left had nowhere to go. Here’s part of an article from the Sept. 17, 1936 Montesano Vidette:

 NELSON SAYS LIBERALS TO ELECT HIM GOVERNOR. MONEY IS THE ISSUE, SAYS CANDIDATE

Following the lead of the union party’s presidential candidate, William Lempke, who insists he will be elected president in November, O.M. Nelson, Montesano’s first gubernatorial candidate, declares he will be the next governor of Washington …

 Despite the fact that his is frankly a minority group, Nelson forsees a coalition of liberal political voters in the state who won’t vote for ‘those two reactionaries, Martin and Hartley.’ This coalition will vote for the union party candidates, Nelson declares.

 “Money is the issue,” Nelson says. “All other issues are subordinate to the issue of honest money. Most of our economic problems are the direct result of our present dishonest money system. As soon as people wake up, they will realize they have been robbed for years and will put an end to dishonest money.”

 Martin, meanwhile, was no slouch when it came to political fence mending. Two other third party gubernatorial challenges, both of them with Townsendites in their ranks, were quelled before they had chance to file for the ballot.

Nelson did campaign throughout the state. He is on record as speaking to large groups in Walla Walla, Colfax, Spokane, Ellensburg, Davenport, Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia.

It didn’t do any good. Gov. Martin was re-elected with almost 70% of the vote. Nelson placed third out of the eight candidates with 6,349 votes (0.94%). He seemed to have a bump in votes in Clallam, Clark, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, Thurston, Walla Walla and Yakima counties, but even then he was never close to finishing at second place. The six third party candidates combined total only accounted for 2.52% of the vote.

Nationally and locally the Democrats enjoyed a huge landslide. The Republicans would be down to 5 senators and 6 representatives in the 145-member Washington State Legislature in the 1937 Session. The Argus ran this bit: “The day after election four years ago Jay Thomas, who was then public printer, stepped down to the lobby of the Olympian Hotel and let out a yell, ‘Look at me, the last living Republican.’ Recalling this incident, an old timer remarked here this morning after this election, ‘and now Jay is dead.'”

The Union Party evaporated after the 1936 election, but Nelson didn’t give up trying to get elected to public office. He made at least three more attempts to win the Republican primary for U.S. Congress. As usual, if it had been up to Montesano voters alone he would’ve been elected, but he couldn’t get the district-wide support.

In 1946 he ran one last time for Congress as a Republican under the catchy slogan: “We can produce abundance every day and we should be able to live abundantly every day without ruining the nation and ourselves with debts.” Although he seldom ran political newspaper ads in his early years, he came around at the end.

Ovie apparently retired from his quest for public elected office after 1946, but he remained very active in civic affairs. In the post-War years, he donated a chunk of land to Montesano for use as “Nelson Field,” a Little League Baseball park. In 1960, at the age of 80, he wrote his best known work: Our Legalized Monetary Swindles (New York : Vantage Press).

Ovie was still an active and a sought after speaker into his 90s. He died suddenly during the Grays Harbor Bar Association Christmas party at the Nordic Inn in Aberdeen, Dec. 19, 1975. His front page obituary stated, “At the time of his death he is believed to have been the oldest practicing attorney in the state.”

John C. Hughes, the Chief Historian of our own Legacy Project here at the Office of Secretary of State, shares this memory of Ove Nelson:

When I covered the Courthouse for The Aberdeen Daily World in the late 1960s, I visited O.M. Nelson several times at his office in Montesano. It was like having an audience with Teddy Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan or H.L. Mencken. Today we seem to have few genuine, iconoclastic, larger than life characters who aren’t dogmatic windbags. Nelson was all over the political map during his long career, but never motivated by opportunism. He waved his arms passionately when he warmed to a subject. Considering that all around him—on the desk, the floor and bookcases—papers were stacked two or more feet high, some leaning precariously like the tower at Pisa, I always worried that one false move could trigger a catastrophe. Nelson claimed he could quickly locate anything he needed in all the clutter. I never tested him. His grandson, Greg Nelson, Aberdeen’s city attorney, says grandpa’s secretary once heard a loud thump inside his office and feared he had fallen. It was just a mound collapsing onto the floor.

My, my, this post sure strayed a bit from Earth Day. Such is the interdisciplinary nature of history.

 

Linking the Past with the Present

Thursday, April 17th, 2014 Posted in Articles, Digital Collections, For Libraries, For the Public, State Library Collections | Comments Off on Linking the Past with the Present


Ever since the advent of Web 2.0 people are finding creative ways to harness the power of the web to learn about and share their passions.  Resources are shared and discovered; connections are made between people.  Here at the Washington State Library we have a mission to collect, preserve and make accessible materials about the history and culture of Washington State.  This task is accomplished in a variety of ways, from scanning newspapers, or entire books, to helping communities scan, organize and digitize their local historic collections.  While the library has accomplished this mission by providing access to its digital collections this really is only the first step.  When it gets interesting is when people start interacting with the collections.

Much to our delight, people are finding our collections and using them to enrich their lives.  I wanted to share a few of the stories and comments which have resulted from the resources we’ve shared.  A picture from the Garfield County Heritage collection titled “Denison children and goat cart, 1929” elicited this comment Denison_children_and_goat_cart_1929“My Great Aunt Mary, Great Uncle Roger, and my Lovely Grandmother Dorothy Denison Ruchert. I cherish this photo and hope to bring back the goat carts for use today!”

Or we received this comment on a photo of Nooksack Valley“So grateful to have found these photos! We now live on this very property and are in the midst of returning the homestead to historic glory.”   	Logging on Gardene's homestead on property

Then there was the time that the Public Services desk received a call from someone who had heard that the Washington State Library had digitized her Great-Great-Great Grandfather’s journal.  When asked who that person might be, they said, Daniel Bigelow.  We were excited to let her know that the State Library Digital and Historical Collections team had indeed made the journal, along with other mementos kept in the Manuscripts Collection, digitally available.  Thrilled, she explained that her family was unaware that the material was available and was eager to pass the word along to her kin.  Needless to say, our Public Services team was delighted to help make these connections.

Finally, the other day on our Facebook page there was a wonderful piece of serendipity.  Just for fun we posted pictures of a small library in Eastern Washington with a challenge to “Name that Library”.  Someone who saw the post commented that her great grandparents had lived in that community and she was interested in genealogy.  A librarian from that library, OK I’ll tell you, The Denny Ashby Library in Pomeroy, saw the post, and knew of a book that had been scanned and made available in Open Library.  She went to the book and found an entry about the person’s great-grandparents and shared the link in the comments.  Connection made, information shared.  How cool is that? Keep reading, keep watching, you never know when something that links you to the past will turn up on your 21st Century device.

WSL Updates for April 17, 2014

Thursday, April 17th, 2014 Posted in For Libraries, For the Public, Grants and Funding, News, Technology and Resources, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for April 17, 2014


Volume 10, April 17, 2014 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) FREE WORKSHOP – LEADING WITHOUT AUTHORITY

2) CHANGE OF WSL LSTA GRANTS MANAGER

3) NATIONAL DIGITAL STEWARDSHIP RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

4) SOCIALIZE WITH SOUTH SOUND LIBRARIANS

5) FINDING FUNDING FOR PRESERVATION

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Read the rest of this entry »

Celebrate Teen Literature Day!

Thursday, April 17th, 2014 Posted in State Library Collections, Washington Reads | Comments Off on Celebrate Teen Literature Day!


From the desk of Kathryn Devine

teen blog happy day
Every year, the Thursday of National Library Week, April 17th  this year, is set aside as Teen Literature Day.

Check out these teen books at the Washington State Library.

 

 

Meet Hannah West—smart, resilient, slightly sarcastic, and sometimes too
nosy for her own good.teen blog belltown towers cover

She’s a young Seattleite whose favorite pastimes include watching the Crime Network, Law & Order, Monk, Columbo, or any mystery show really.
All of which provide a solid education when she tries to untangle her first real mystery in her own (temporary) home in Hannah West in the Belltown Towers.

Not to give too much away—but there are missing paintings, a ubiquitous bike messenger, and a shady artist who may be involved.

This is a fun read peppered with references to Seattle locations and culture.
Linda Johns, author and librarian at the Seattle Public Library, has created a wonderful character to spend some time with.

teen blog deep water coverYou can follow Hannah’s other adventures, all set in the Seattle area:

Hannah West in Deep Water (2006)

Hannah West in the Center of the Universe (2007)

Hannah West on Millionaire’s Row (2007)

 

 

Here are a few other series for teens, also at the Washington State Library.0-545-22418-7

Dear America

1. West to a Land of Plenty 

2. Across the wide and lonesome prairie: the Oregon Trail Diary

3. The Fences Between Us (Kirby Larson) 

 

Carl Deuker Sports fiction for Teens teen blog high heat cover

1. On the Devil’s Court (1988)

2. Painting the black (1997)

3. Night hoops (2000)

4. High Heat (2003)

5. Runner (2005)

6. Gym Candy (2007)

7. Payback Times (2010)

Come and visit us, or browse the catalog, if you’re  looking for teen fiction written in or about the Pacific Northwest.

 

Have you read a poem lately?

Friday, April 11th, 2014 Posted in For Libraries, For the Public, State Library Collections, Washington Reads | Comments Off on Have you read a poem lately?


If you haven’t read poetry in a while, now is the perfect time to start again – April is National Poetry Month.

In his National Poetry Month proclamation, Governor Inslee called on

“…all the people of Washington to observe National Poetry Month in a more meaningful, personal way…as a means to offer comfort and solace to those who are suffering as a result of the Oso mudslide.

One way to do so is to submit a poem yourself to the Art with a Heart – Response to Oso tumblr forum.

The Washington State Arts Commission runs the forum.  Among the poems you can find there is one written by Elizabeth Austen, the Washington State Poet Laureate.

If you would like to read poetry written by other Washington state poets, browse the Washington State Library’s collection for the poetry books listed in our catalog.

Here are just a few excerpts from that collection that might, as the governor said, “offer comfort and solace.

Grace AboundingWillow_Tree_
I’m saved in this big world by unforeseen
friends, or times when only a glance
from a passenger beside me, or just the tired
branch of a willow inclining toward earth,
may teach me how to join earth and sky.
Even in Quiet Places by William Stafford (1996)

Nooksack Valley
At the far end of a trip north
In a berry-pickers cabin
At the edge of a wide muddy field
Stretching to the woods and cloudy mountains,
Feeding the stove all afternoon with cedar,
Watching the dark sky darken, a heron flap by,
Riprap, & Cold Mountain Poems by Gary Snyder (1965)

Round_beech_stones_ Riverbed
We walk on round stones, all flawlessly bedded,
Where water drags the cracked dome of the sky
Riverbed by David Wagoner (1972)

 

His Father’s Whistle
For hours the boy fought sleep,
strained against the whir of cicadas, moths
at the screens bumbling, night’s
blue breezes, to hear out on the country road
his father’s car rumbling in gravel.
Earthly Meditations by Robert Wrigley (2006)

Aurora_Northern Lights
Once more it’s the rainbow leaps
and foldings of the old process,
a whole border of pink roses
growing wild on the horizon.
The Dark Path of Our Names by Joan Swift (1985)


Mount Alaska Stream

In the pines
where the sun never shines
a small, damp fire filled mountains
green lungs of each century
Orcas Island by Don Wilsun (1980)
Waterfall_rockface_

Untitled by Nasira Alma
in cascades
down the blooming rocks
yesterday’s rain
Sunlight through Rain: A Northwest Haiku Year (1996)

Come and visit us, or browse the catalog, if you’re  looking for a poetry book written in or about the Pacific Northwest.

 

WSL Updates for April 10, 2014

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 Posted in For Libraries, Grants and Funding, News, Training and Continuing Education, Updates | Comments Off on WSL Updates for April 10, 2014


Volume 10, April 10, 2014 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) DISASTER RELIEF GRANTS

2) SENIORS – ANOTHER KIND OF DIGITAL DIVIDE

3) DÍA! DIVERSITY IN ACTION

4) CELEBRATE NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

5) 2014 TEENS’ TOP TEN GIVEAWAY

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

—————————————————————————————————————

1) DISASTER RELIEF GRANTS

The Libri Foundation is offering a limited number of special non-matching BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grants to libraries serving rural communities affected by recent hurricanes, floods, or other natural disasters. Libraries receiving these grants will be able to select $700 worth of new, quality, hardcover children’s books from the Foundation’s 600-title booklist. No local matching funds are required. Libraries will be qualified on an individual basis.

In general, county libraries should serve a population under 16,000 and town libraries should serve a population under 10,000 (usually under 5,000). Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children’s department. Please note: Rural is usually considered to be at least 30 miles from a city with a population over 40,000.

Application packets for these special grants may be requested by mail, telephone, or fax from The Libri Foundation. Applications must be postmarked by Thursday, May 15, 2014. Grants will be awarded Saturday, May 31, 2014. Information about the Disaster Relief Grants is available at www.librifoundation.org/relief.html. Contact information for the Libri Foundation may be found by visiting librifoundation.org.

—————————————————————————————————————

2) SENIORS – ANOTHER KIND OF DIGITAL DIVIDE

America’s seniors have historically been late adopters to the world of technology compared to their younger compatriots, but their movement into digital life continues to deepen, according to newly released data from the Pew Research Center. The report, Older Adults and Technology Use, takes advantage of a particularly large survey to examine both technology use by Americans ages 65 or older compared to the rest of the population, as well as usage within the senior population.

Two different groups of older Americans emerge: The first group (which leans toward younger, more highly educated, or more affluent seniors) has relatively substantial technology assets, and also has a positive view toward the benefits of online platforms. The other (which tends to be older and less affluent, often with significant challenges with health or disability) is largely disconnected from the world of digital tools and services, both physically and psychologically.

As the internet plays an increasingly central role in connecting Americans of all ages to news and information, government services, health resources, and opportunities for social support, these divisions are noteworthy—particularly for the many organizations (such as libraries) and individual caregivers who serve the older adult population.

To read a summary of findings, or access the entire report, visit sos.wa.gov/q/Pew-Seniors.

—————————————————————————————————————

3) DÍA! DIVERSITY IN ACTION

It’s April – time to celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day). Día is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages, and cultures. As part of the celebrations, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA, is offering numerous free Día resources to download including:

  • Webinars;
  • Press Kits;
  • Día Family Book Club Toolkit;
  • Posters;
  • Resource Guide.

Register your 2014 programs at the new Día website and you will help build a searchable database that will enable you to share your program information with other librarians and members of the public interested in learning more about Día programs happening around the country. Libraries that register will also receive Día stickers, buttons and bookmarks (while supplies last).

For more information on Día and to add your program to the database, visit dia.ala.org.

—————————————————————————————————————

4) CELEBRATE NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

Libraries and librarians have a powerful and positive impact on the lives of Americans on a daily basis. Their stories are key to communicating the value of libraries. National Library Week (April 13-19, 2014) is the perfect opportunity to encourage your community to tell the story of how the library has changed their lives. All participants will be entered into a grand-prize drawing for a Kindle Fire, so encourage your library lovers to start tweeting, snapping photos, and sharing their stories today by visiting sos.wa.gov/q/stories.

ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries has a variety of tools and ideas to help you promote the 2014 theme of “Lives change @ your library.” Promotional materials include a sample op-ed, proclamation, press release and scripts for use in radio ads. Visit ala.org/NLW.

National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use.

—————————————————————————————————————

5) 2014 TEENS’ TOP TEN GIVEAWAY

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of ALA, is giving away 40 sets of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten nominees to libraries in need. Qualified libraries can apply now through May 1 for a chance to win a set of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten nominated titles. Individual library branches within a larger system are welcome to apply. For more information about the giveaway, and the Teens’ Top Ten, visit www.ala.org/yalsa/teenstopten.

The Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Nominators are members of teen book groups in 16 school and public libraries around the country. Nominations are posted on Celebrate Teen Literature Day, the Thursday of National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year. Readers age 12 to 18 will vote online between August and Teen Read Week in October.

This year, new teen book groups will be selected to be the nominators for future Teens’ Top Ten lists. The book groups will serve during the 2015-2016 term. For more information and to apply, visit the Teens’ Top Ten website using the link above.

—————————————————————————————————————

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, April 14:

  • ProQuest Research Library – With so many publications, how do you find the right one to search? (ProQuest); 11:00 – 11:30 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1017;
  • Common Core and ProQuest Resources (ProQuest); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1013;
  • eLibrary for Schools (ProQuest); 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1014;

Tuesday, April 15:

  • Introduction to the ProQuest Platform (ProQuest); 8:00 – 8:45 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1012;
  • Managing patron-initiated ILL requests in WorldCat Discovery (OCLC); 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/OCLC15Apr;
  • The Power of the PowerLink 4 Control Unit (AbleNet University); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/ANU15Apr;
  • Bozarthzone! Truth About Social Learning (InSync Training); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/BZ15Apr;
  • The Scoop on Series Nonfiction: What’s New for Spring 2014 (Booklist); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/BL15Apr;
  • The New Volunteer Manager’s Toolkit (VolunteerMatch); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/VM15Apr;
  • LGBTQ Book Buzz (Library Journal); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/LGBTQBuzz;
  • Beyond an Apple a Day: Providing Consumer Health Information at Your Library – Part 1 of 2 (Texas State Library); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/TSL15Apr;
  • ProQuest Research Library and K12 Central (ProQuest); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1015;
  • SIRS Discoverer (ProQuest); 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/PQ1016;

Wednesday, April 16:

  • NCompass Live: Killing Dewey (NCompass Live); 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/NComp16Apr;
  • Becoming a Valued Player: A Toolkit for Personal and Professional Success (AMA); 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/AMA16Apr;
  • QIAT (Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology) Session 8: Professional Development and Training in AT (Assistive Technology) (AbleNet University); 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PST: sos.wa.gov/q/QIAT8;
  • Effective Strategic Planning Part 2: Plan Development & Implementation (4Good); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/4Good16Apr;
  • Andy Griffiths Book Talk (School Library Journal/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/SLJAndy;
  • WorldShare Management Services Live Demonstration: Print Collections (OCLC); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/OCLC16Apr;
  • From Baby to Preschooler: Early Childhood Health Resources (Infopeople); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/Info16Apr;
  • Grantwriters as Strategic Leaders: Your Crucial Role (4Good); 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/4Good16AprPM;
  • Clinical Trials.gov (National Network of Libraries of Medicine, PNR, RML); 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/RML;

Thursday, April 17:

  • The Supercharged Management System (Heritage Preservation); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/HPSuper;
  • Creating Interactive Videos from Really Boring Talking Heads, Lectures and Demo Videos (Training Magazine Network); 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/TMN17Apr;
  • Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants in the Classroom: What do Educators Need to Know? (AbleNet University); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/ANU17Apr;
  • Playing by the Rules: Creating an Effective Volunteer Handbook (VolunteerMatch); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/VM17Apr;
  • Ask the Expert: Everything You Wanted to Know about Nonprofit Tax Law (GuideStar); 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/taxlaw;
  • Who’s Using WorldShare ILL Now? Practical advice from real users (OCLC); 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PDT: sos.wa.gov/q/OCLC17Apr;
  • Decision making: Crystal Ball or Magic 8 Ball? (Colorado State Library); 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PDT: cslinsession.cvlsites.org.

—————————————————————————————————————

The Washington State Library has gone social! Friend/follow us at: