Some months ago, two ILS staff decided to write to some publishers of mental health resources and ask them about the possibility of receiving donated materials.  National Recovery Month is every September and their collections were sadly depleted from the demand for such materials.  They hoped that one or two of the companies might respond with an offer of a few donations.  Much to their amazement and profound appreciation three companies responded within weeks of the letters being sent.

Hazelden and New Harbinger are outstanding publishers of educational and inspirational literature about substance abuse and recovery.  Their products are consistently of the highest quality, and highly sought for library collections.  Sounds True produces wonderful spoken word and music CDs for relaxation, meditation and health & healing.  The gifts received from these generous companies resulted in dozens of books and several multiple CD sets.  The cost to buy these materials would have been hundreds of dollars.

Western State Hospital immediately processed and published a “hot list” of the new Hazelden titles.  The books started flying off the shelves within hours.  Eastern State hospital patients will benefit from these gifts as well as staff who can use these resources for treatment groups.  This bounty will also be shared among the other ILS branches either directly or through the ILL program.

WSH Museum

Ten years ago, I had a library visit from a hospital staffer who excitedly asked me to provide him information about the “dead people in the park.” Although I’ve received some odd questions during my years in the library of a state psychiatric hospital, this request was something unusual even for me. I suppressed a grin and asked him to give me more details. He told me he had stumbled upon a numbered stone during his lunch break walk in the park across the street from the hospital and was sure he had found the old patients cemetery of the hospital. I shrugged my shoulders and referred him to the campus historical expert. He left, and I thought that would be the end of talk about “dead people in the park.”

Not so. Two weeks later I received a call from my friend Laurel who invited me to attend a meeting after work about what to do about those “dead people in the park.” Now I was taken aback. Laurel is typically level-headed. She informed me that not only were there bodies in the park, there were over 3000 interred in a cemetery.Patients who lived and died at the “insane asylum” often had lost touch with their family members. The state bore the responsibility to bury their remains. Stigma about mental illness inspired lawmakers to stipulate that persons buried on site at a insane asylum must not name the deceased. Only a stone marker indicated the final resting place of somebody’s child, parent, relative.

More to follow….

Representative Troy Kelley

Representative Troy Kelley accepted an invitation to visit the Western State Hospital Library on June 7.  Despite the grueling legislative session and hectic personal schedule, he made the time to meet with hospital superintendent Jess Jamieson and the library staff.  State Library Branch Manager Laura Sherbo and library associate Kathleen Benoun welcomed Rep. Kelley into the Patients Library and told him about the State Library’s role in providing services to enhance the recovery and re-entry of those currently housed in state institutions.   He was presented with a copy of the colorful “ILS Snapshot Day” summary report, created by Jill Merritt, Anna Nash and Molly Mooney.  Rep Kelley was given a brief tour of the WSH History Museum.

Troy Kelley represents district #28, that includes Dupont, Lakewood, Steilacoom, University Place, Fircrest, and Tacoma.  He is a businessman and Army reservist, who recently joined the National Guard.

It was the summer of 1973 when I was hired among a pool of teenagers to work in the Patients Library in the original Madigan Army Hospital near Fort Lewis.   There were three full-time librarians that interviewed and hired me.  All three made a lifelong lasting impression.  But the one who wafts in and out of my memory like a sweet fragrance is Mrs. Roberts.

The head librarian was Mrs. Bruns.  Mrs. Bruns was the only daughter of a wealthy family. Her childhood stories were ones of exotic travels and adventures, with personal servants.   She was very professional, knowledgeable, and slightly aloof.  She handled all our communication with the Fort Lewis top brass.

Mrs Roberts, on the other hand, was the people’s librarian.  She taught me that librarians are not merely the stewards of great treasure—they are representatives of that great treasure.  She was a sales lady of the first order.  Every morning, she came into work with two heavy tote bags filled with books.  Those were new books that she had taken home and browsed through.   As I checked in the books and placed them on display, Mrs. Roberts gave me a brief synopsis of each book. And she told me…”so and so would like this one..put those in that corner… etc.”  I demur briefly from my narrative to remind readers that in 1973 most libraries concentrated attention on their print collection.  There were record albums, to be sure, but the focus was literature.

Besides browsing each new acquisition, Mrs. Roberts paid attention to every detail of the library.  Every ward received visits routinely from the volunteer army Mrs. Roberts assembled.  Bulletin boards were kept colorful and up-to-date.  In the spring and summer, she brought in fragrant blossoms from her garden.  Did I forget to mention that Mrs. Roberts’ other hobby was gardening?  She grew flowers specifically for the library. She had something to bring in for every season.  Even today, when I encounter certain fragrances, memories of that library and Mrs. Roberts comes instantly to mind.

Both she and Mrs. Bruns were close to retirement in 1973.  Both had been librarians since graduation from their respective colleges.  Mrs. Roberts was a graduate of the University of Washington.   She was also one of the first women in Washington to obtain a pilot’s license.  When I asked her why she had quit flying, her answer was typical of her humor.  “Hon, I had to quit flying long enough to make* have some babies.”

She was widowed by 1973 and her children and grandchildren were cut from the same down-to-earth material as she.  They were teachers and nurses and business people.  On summer days, Mrs. Roberts who would declare “it’s stuffy in here, open some doors!”  And people were invited to take their books and magazines out to our little patio area where they would read and smoke to their heart’s contents. 

Hanging out with Mrs. Roberts was the best basic training I could have received for my life in service to institutional libraries.

* word change 5/25/09

Old time card catalog of the Baby Boomers

Unlike my cohorts in the prisons, the customers I serve in the large psychiatric hospital of Western State Hospital are not passionate bibliophiles. Mind you, they love movies, magazines and music. Those fly back and forth on the library shelves. But a book-lover? This, alas, is somewhat rare.

And so, when I am contacted by a true aficianado of the written word, they instantly become a beloved patron. I have two such patrons now. She is a fan of the memoir, he of the 1970s vintage novels. Never have I been so glad I’m a baby boomer. That was the era I got my first job in a library. My task was to shelve books all day. I came to recognize the popular ones very quickly–as they were the authors I shelved again and again.

And there’s another reason to celebrate my “boomeresque.” I have developed encyclopedic knowledge that comes only from years of practice in those library stacks. Ye olde card catalog is an imperfect creation. One must know the idiosyncracies of the dewey decimal system. Happy is he or she who enjoys several “a ha!” moments in the pursuit of read-alikes and genre classics.

Gosh, I sure hope my favorite patrons contact me today. Have I found some new reads for them!

The Western State Hospital Library was toured by District #28 Senator Mike Carrell  January 7.  ILS staffers Laura Sherbo, Elizabeth Jahnke and Kathleen Benoun were on hand to greet the senator and tell him about the scope of services available to hospital patients and staff. District #28 includes Lakewood, Steilacoom, University Place, DuPont, Fircrest, Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base.

For his part, the senator shared with library staff his legislative priorities.  He is a member of many standing and special committees, including the Joint Legislative Task Force on Offenders Programs. The topic of re-entry for inmates and patients is of vital concern.  He advocates for an integrated approach to re-entry resources that include housing and vocational opportunities.  He was pleased that ILS has made community resource sharing a top priority for our patrons.

He toured the library and briefly visited the hospital’s historical museum.  Senator Carrell is a former math and science teacher and a library supporter.  Senator Carrell has been a strong advocate of the historical preservation of the 1870s officers quarters on the hospital campus and the remaining barns located at the Fort Steilacoom Park (former hospital farm grounds).

 I have been employed by the State Library Institutional Services department at the branch at Western State Hospital for nearly 27 years.  Annually, this state psychiatric hospital houses 900-1000 citizens in western Washington.  It is reputed to be one of the larger psychiatric hospitals “west of the Mississippi.”

 And lately, I’ve been reminiscencing a great deal.  Before 2004, the hospital’s branch library was staffed by a professional librarian (folks, a professional librarian has a Master’s in Library Science from an accredited university.) and two library paraprofessionals (an assistant may have a high school diploma or a college degree).

Ah, those were the days!  I used to visit every ward in the hospital to meet and greet patients and staff and put on a little “dog and pony show” to encourage library patronage.  And it worked like a charm. Library attendance and statistics climbed steadily.  One day, I was entertaining on a ward when an old man beckoned to me.  He told me a most amazing story.  He claimed that his father had unearthed an ancient city and had been famous.  He offered to share his father’s story with others at the hospital.  Now, I am well aware that some of those stories my patrons tell me may not be completely accurate (wink).  I smiled sweetly and told him I’d be honored to hear more about the subject at a later date.  Yeah, sure.

A day later at the library, there was a phone call for me.  It was the patient’s wife and she verified that his husband’s father had indeed been an archaeologist.  Not only that, the archaeologist belonged to a team that uncovered ancient Petra.  Would we care to host a library program and learn more about this historic dig?  My mouth dropped open and I handed the phone to my boss Neal.  One thing led to another and the game was on.  We hosted that special program that filled every seat in the library. 

The patient’s wife spoke to the group while her husband looked on.  At one point, tears of happiness slid down the old man’s cheeks.   My boss Neal–a history major–was her enthusiastic assistant who showed the audience artifacts from the Middle East of the 1900s.

Staff and patients talked about that library program for years.