Library News

Little Free Libraries show novel charm. (The Seattle Times, Seattle, 09/09/14).

What schools can learn from Starbucks: The Internet is making single-purpose spaces like libraries less relevant. Why not replace them with spaces students will actually use? (Daily Journal of Commerce, Seattle, 08/28/14).

Council weighs in on Library: staff and councilmembers talk about intricacies of library issues. (Mercer Island Reporter, Mercer Island, 08/13/14).

Drugs are topic for upcoming forums. (Snohomish County Tribune, Snohomish, 08/06/14).

Carpenter Library turns 100: hopes to expand in the next century. (Daily Record, Ellensburg, 08/13/14).

Beat the summer brain drain: SCLD offers support to keep students skills fresh.
“The summer slide is when kids lose skills they learned in school because they just aren’t practicing them during the summer.” The panoply of resources the Spokane County Library District provides ensures that there is something for both school children and lifelong learners to use to help them beat the summer brain drain. (The Current, Liberty Lake, 08/00/14).

East county gathering to discuss drug problem: Sno-Isle Libraries organized the upcoming panels after a couple of recent overdoes by teens.
Because illegal drugs are taking a toll on communities along U.S. 2, Sno-Isle Libraries has come up with series [sic] aimed at fighting the problem. It has organized two upcoming panels with local experts to take a closer look at substance abuse. The problems related to drug use in east Snohomish County first came to the library district’s attention in May when two young men overdosed within two weeks after using a synthetic marijuana known as “spice” behind the Sultan Library. (The Herald, Everett, 08/06/14).

Library hours will be pruned Sept. 2 in budget cuts. (Everett/Mukilteo Tribune, Snohomish, 08/13/14).

Sno-Isle Library survey to improve information services.
Sno-Isle Libraries is currently undertaking a project to improve information and reference services. In order to learn how to best serve the communities, Sno-Isle Libraries created a brief online survey to gather customer feedback. (The Edmonds Beacon, Mukilteo, 08/14/14).

Little Libraries (The Skanner, Seattle, 08/06/14).

Cheney’s Little Free Library helps promote literacy, love of books.
The title of author Vivian Abells’s 1973 crafts book might best sum up Cheney-area resident Carlila Hughes’ newest literary adventure: “Don’t Throw It Away.” In Hughes’ case, add don’t file it away; share it. (Cheney Free Press, Cheney, 08/14/14).

Buildings

Board approves temporary location for Prosser branch.
Mid-Columbia Libraries’ Prosser branch will have a temporary home when its current building is renovated this fall. The library district board approved a $2,195 monthly lease Tuesday for commercial space on Chardonnay Avenue in the northwest part of town. The interim library will open in mid—September and remain open until the end of February. (Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, 08/21/14).

Three Creeks library closing briefly during remodeling: Branch upgrades include construction of laptop bar, floor-plan rearrangement, installation of new carpeting. (The Columbian, Vancouver, 08/24/14).

Library levy, hospital win at polls (The North Coast News, Ocean Shores, 08/14/14).

Historic images coming to the Web.
A hundred or more photos tied to the historic Nesset homestead in South Fork Valley is the latest batch of rural Whatcom County images to be digitized and made accessible to the online public. Deming Library, a branch of Whatcom County Library System has received a $6,790 grand to preserve and make available the Nesset photo collection. The grant is from Washington Rural Heritage, a Washington State Library program that helps small and rural libraries develop online digital collections of historical materials. (Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, 08/10/14).

MV residents say they want larger library with easy access.
Mount Vernon residents who responded to a survey consider more space and better accessibility to be the most important factors for a potential new library building. A public online survey regarding a possible new Mount Vernon library drew responses from 363 people before it closed June 30. Results were presented during a July 9 Mount Vernon City Council meeting. (Skagit Argus, Burlington, 08/19/14).

3D Printer comes to Lynden Library
Whether you call it a 3D printer or a “makerspace” device, consider it innovative technology finding a home at the Lynden Library. The MakerBot Replicator 2 desktop 3D printer is on hand and in use by library staff at 216 Third St although it remains under wraps to the general public for a bit yet. An open house to introduce the new gadgetry is set for Wednesday, Sept.17, from 5:30- 7 p.m. (Lynden Tribune, Lynden, 08/13/14).

Letters & Editorials

Think Trivia’s Trivial? Only if you’re stupid.
What does it sound like when supposedly serious grown-ups engage in trash-talking? I’ve wondered since learning that the newspaper would enter a team in the upcoming Spokane Trivia Championship sponsored by the Spokane Public Library Foundation. (Spokesman Review, Spokane, 08/08/14).

Leaving the KC Library System ‘not in our best interests’. (Mercer Island Reporter, Mercer Island, 08/13/14).

Response to Mayors’ letter on library vote. (Mercer Island Reporter, Mercer Island, 08/13/14).

Library staff deserves thanks.
This letter is reaction to the scathing letter to the editor by Olan and Mary Hanley in the North Coast News July 30. (The North Coast News, Ocean Shores, 08/14/14).

Libraries enrich lives at every stage.
I’m sitting in the Edmonds library, my computer on a table along the south wall. Along this wall and the east one, I notice and array of splendid photographs of birds in their natural habitats. I sometimes forget to view these walls of changing art displays; I’m glad I didn’t miss this one. I’ve written about the local library often through the years. When I was 4 years old, my parents took me from my first visit to the public library in Yakima, and I’ve been in love with libraries ever since. (The Edmonds Beacon, Mukilteo, 08/14/14).

People
Search continues for new KCLS director (Renton Reporter, Renton, 08/15/14).

Programs/Displays

Pierce County Library introduces new Science to Go program
Science to Go is a free new learning program at all 18 branches of Pierce County Library System. Each Science to Go backpack contains five themed books, a notebook for recording and sharing insights, and a hands-on activity. (Peninsula Gateway, Gig Harbor, 08/06/14).

Reliving the Civil War: reenactment this weekend at Columbia Park part of library program.
(Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, 08/18/14).

Summer library programs winding down.
With summer winding down, now is the perfect time to grab that special book and find a shady tree to sit under with a tall glass of something cool to drink, according to librarians in the West Bonner Library District. Summer Reading 2014 programs have come to an end. Although library programs will be on vacation until September there are plenty of books in the hands of children that attended Summer Reading at the Priest River Library this summer. Each week an average of 45-50 children attended programs. Every Wednesday there were book drawings and prizes. (Newport Miner, Newport, 08/13/14).

Reptile Man visits local libraries.
A cute-faced, brown-haired girl in a pastel-colored outfit comes up to Scott Petersen after an hour-long show and tells him, “Thank you for coming.” It is the sort of gesture which would make even the crustiest curmudgeon feel a slight twinge of satisfaction. Petersen, better known as “Reptile Man,” loves having the opportunity to work with kids. On Wednesday, Aug, 7, he made a morning appearance at Brewster Public Library before heading on later in the day to Manson Public Library and Chelan Public Library, part of a five-day tour across the North Central Washington region. (Brewster-Quad-City Herald, Brewster, 08/14/14).

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