From the desk of Shirley Lewis 

July 1

Explore historic forts: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Fort Nisqually Living History Museum are two examples which were established by the Hudson’s Bay Company in what later became Washington Territory.

July 4 – Observe our nation’s independence by marveling at the scope of U.S. Government publications. Washington State Library is a regional Federal Depository Library for Washington and Alaska. We’ve got the day off to celebrate, but if you have questions about federal government publications, please Ask a Librarian at the Washington State Library.

July 5

Take a hike — or a walk — Washington has trails for all modes of perambulation. How about the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in Iron Horse State Park? This trail traverses the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, a not-for-profit organization that works to conserve land from Seattle across the Cascade Mountains to Central Washington.

July 6

Charles Dudley Warner wrote “politics makes strange bedfellows“(Summer in a Garden, Fifteenth Week, end of second paragraph). Here’s a few of biographies and oral histories of notable Washingtonians involved in government, politics, and journalism. Strange bedfellows?

You decide:

• Albert D. Rosellini
• The Inimitable Adele Ferguson: a Biography & Oral History
• Is it True What They Say about Dixy?: A Biography of Dixy Lee Ray
• Henry M. Jackson: a Life in Politics
• John Spellman: Politics Never Broke His Heart
• Slade Gorton: A Half Century in Politics
• Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century America
• Wild Bill: the Legend and Life of William O. Douglas
• Winning the West for Women: the Life of Suffragist Emma Smith DeVoe
• A Woman First: the Impact of Jennifer Dunn

July 7

Got dairy? Visit the Washington Dairy Products Commission to learn about Washington’s dairy industry. Check out the Facebook page, too. The cheese doesn’t stand alone in Toledo (Lewis County); it has a parade! Meanwhile, at Washington State University’s Creamery in Pullman, they can Cougar Gold® cheese so you can eat what they can.

July 8

Enjoy the purple haze and fragrance of fields of lavender: Sequim Lavender Festival, Blue Mountain Lavender Farm in the Walla Walla Valley and Pelindabra Lavender (San Juan Island).

July 11

Explore North Cascades National Park – you’ll find beautiful scenery, a landscape of fascinating ecosystems, and hikes which challenge the body and mind. If you can’t make it there, enjoy a new exhibit at the Burke Museum in Seattle: Wild Nearby – Discover Washington’s North Cascades or try reading North Cascades Traveler’s Guide or The North Cascades: Finding Beauty and Renewal in the Wild Nearby from your deck chair.

July 12

Discover the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), a program of the Washington State Library. Located in Seattle, WTBBL provides library services state-wide, at the library and by mail, to any Washington resident unable to read standard print material due to blindness, visual impairment, deaf-blindness, physical disability (cannot hold a book or turn pages), or reading disability.

July 13

Get your kicks with soccer: root for the Seattle Sounders FC, read about the Seattle Sounders famous rivalry with the Portland Timbers or celebrate 50 years of soccer with Washington Youth Soccer.

July 14

Aviation is a super (sonic) part of Washington’s history. Fly high with a Boeing test pilot’s memoir, restore vintage airplanes in the youth program at the Port Townsend Aero Museum, read about and visit Pearson Field in Vancouver, or soar into the Museum of Flight. Learn about flights that didn’t go so well in Aircraft Wrecks of the Pacific Northwest, Volume 1 and Volume 2.

July 15

The Washington Blueberry Commission serves the blueberry growers of Washington who serve us delicious, nutritious blueberries. Find a farm and enjoy those fresh berries.

July 18

Get teed off – go golfing! There are golfers and public courses throughout Washington. The City of Spokane has four municipal golf courses. Chambers Bay, owned and operated by Pierce County, hosted the U.S. Open in 2015; read all about the course in America’s St. Andrews: Linking Golf from its Past to its Future.

July 19

Enjoy the people, places, and rolling landscape on the Palouse Scenic Byway.

July 20

Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park near Vantage is a great hike to view the geologic forces which shaped Washington.

July 21

Visit the New Dungeness Lighthouse near Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula – hike or boat to the lighthouse; climb the stairs to see the view; learn how you can be a keeper. Operating since 1857, the lighthouse has a long history. Washington State Library has a copy of List of Visitors to the New Dungeness Lighthouse from 1895 to 1920.

July 22

Ride a bike – the Washington State Department of Transportation works to provide a safe ride for bicyclists. It’s paying off because Washington has been named the nation’s number one “Bicycle Friendly State” by the League of American Bicyclists for several years.

July 25

Celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Washington Native Plant Society. Washington State Library subscribes to the Society’s journal, Douglasia.

July 26

Come listen to the music in the great outdoors: the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival; the Olympic Music Festival; the Gorge Amphitheatre; and at the Artisans at the Dahmen Barn (near Uniontown in Whitman County) are just a few concerts available.

July 27

Delve into the past and present with Washington newspapers at the Washington State Library. The newspaper collection includes current issues on paper and historic newspapers on microfilm with some searchable online. WSL subscribes to about 125 daily and weekly newspapers throughout Washington.  The microfilm collection consists of over 40,000 reels of newspapers dating from the 1850s to the present. Search Washington State Library’s online catalog for newspapers by City, County, Title, Subject, or Keywords.

July 28

Climbing every mountain? You’ve got plenty to pick from here and some good company, too. Read Jim Whittaker’s A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond, or Fred Beckey’s climbing guides to Washington mountains or Mike Gauthier’s Mount Rainier: a Climbing Guide.

July 29

Get on board a Washington state ferry: cruise on Puget Sound or cross the Columbia River. You can also cross the Columbia from Washington to Oregon on a Wahkiakum County ferry. You might need something to read while you wait in line (it does happen), so try Safe Passage: the Birth of Washington State Ferries: a HistoryLink Book.

In May the Library Council of Washington held their quarterly meeting in Pullman at Washington State University’s Holland and Terrell libraries.  After the meeting they were given a tour of the library as well as a visit to Special Collections and Archives.  As part of the tour the members learned that WSU houses Virginia Woolf’s personal library.  How cool is that?  How did this happen? Questions, we have questions… This chance encounter got the wheels spinning.  How many interesting and unexpected collections are housed in Washington Libraries?  With the Virginia Woolf collection in mind this intrepid reporter decided to reach out to the Washington library community and see what she could uncover.  The result of this exploration will be a blog series we’re calling,  “Bet you didn’t know!”  Episode #1 fittingly, will cover The Virginia Woolf Library.

The first question asked of Trevor James Bond, Head of Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections at WSU was “How did the personal library of a British author end up in Pullman, Washington?”  The story can be traced back to WSU’s former English department chair, John Elwood.  In 1967, while on a sabbatical, he and his wife were living in Sussex near the Woolf’s country home. During this time a friendship was struck between the couples.  In 1969, after the death of Leonard, Virginia Woolf’s husband, a mutual friend, Nancy Lucas, told Ellwood’s wife Karen that a “large portion of the Woolf’s personal library would soon be available for purchase” (Becker).  Ellwood jumped on the opportunity and the purchase was arranged.  The timing was prescient as not long after there was a revival of interest in Woolf’s work.

The collection has been augmented and built over time.  In 1974 a large collection of Hogarth Press (the Woolf’s publishing house) publications were purchased from Trekkie Parsons (a friend and executor of Leonard Woolf’s estate).  A purchase of 400 books in 1979, and another 100 volumes in 1983 helped to build the collection (Becker).

The current collection contains close to 10,000 books and is the amalgamation of four to five libraries that came together.  Books from Virginia’s father Leslie Steven, books from her brother Toby, books from her husband’s library, books from friends and review books.

The Woolf’s personal library tells to us a lot about their reading and provides a peek into their lives and how they thought.  In the library are many volumes inscribed by authors or sent to them for review. The Woolf library reflects how they read and used books; which books are worn and used, which are barely touched. Many of the books arrived in bad condition with detached covers.  Virginia Woolf herself attempted repairs.  Her efforts are described as “slapdash and pathetically inadequate”. (King & Miletic-Vejzovic)

In addition to the books in this collection WSU houses maps that were part of the original acquisition, and almost most fascinating of all there is a collection of “insert papers.” This collection consists of manuscripts, letters, and miscellaneous material that, for a variety of reasons, were placed by Leonard and Virginia Woolf in books from their working library.  (T. J. Bond, personal communication, June 10, 2016)

If you are interested in browsing the collection in the catalog, here is a link limited to just the Woolf library.  Or if you’re in the Pullman area, why not make an appointment and view the collection up close and personal?

Becker, P. (2013, October 25). The first lot of the more than 9,000-volume personal library of Leonard and Virginia Woolf arrives at Washington State University’s Holland Library in Pullman in 1971. In HistoryLink.org. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from http://bit.ly/28SLZC2

King, J., & Miletic-Vejzovic, L. (2003). The library of Leonard and Virginia Woolf: A short-title catalog. Pullman, Wash: Washington State University Press.  Retrieved June 23, 2016, from http://bit.ly/28SC1zO

From the desk of Carolyn Petersen

Schools are out and kids are signing up in droves to participate in their public library’s summer reading program.

Research has shown that children who continue to read over the summer maintain their reading skills and that summer involvement with reading leads to better academic skills when children return to school in the fall.

Summer reading isn’t just for grade school children. In addition to grade school children, preschoolers, teens, and adults can find programs to encourage them to read at public libraries. This year’s theme is sports related: On your mark, get set….Read.

The Washington State Library supports public libraries across the state by participating in a nationwide consortium of youth services librarians who voluntarily contribute the program ideas and processes which make up the resource manual. The State Library pays for each public and tribal library location to receive a copy of this manual in the fall of the year so that they can begin planning for the following summer.

Make reading and learning a regular part of summer by joining others in your community for lots of good reads and special programs at your local public library.

The Washington State Library and the Statewide Database Licensing Project Advisory Committee are pleased to announce that ProQuest has again been selected to provide a suite of database products to the nonprofit libraries of Washington State. The new contract with ProQuest is set to begin on July 1, 2016.

The package includes a periodicals collection, a collection of Washington and national newspapers, and resources for children and students, to name just a few. A complete listing of the content in the new ProQuest package is available along with detailed descriptions of the individual components on the ProQuest Package Product Descriptions page.

The SDL Advisory Committee had a key role in the selection process, advising on the RFP itself, and subsequently assisting with the scoring, and making vendor recommendations. Feel free to
contact members of the Advisory Committee, or Carolyn Petersen, with your comments or suggestions.

Aubri Keleman of Whatcom County Public Library was born to be a chat librarian.  Well honestly she was born to be ANY sort of librarian, but today I want to tell you about one of her evening shifts covering the Ask WA queue for WCLS.  Ask WA, you ask, what is Ask WA? Ask WA is a cooperative of public and academic libraries around the state which work together along with librarians around the world to provide 24/7 access to library services.

Aubri’s day started out fairly routine with a sixth grader from a Washington library trying to find information about a bookmark contest.  He was the winner for his branch and was excited to receive his prize.  Aubri answered his question, said goodbye and signed off.

The next question though was the kind that wakes you up a little faster than you wish.  The patron asked about poison and the side effects from ingesting something not designed for human consumption. Aubri instantly responded with the 800 number and website for poison control along with a query if he had a phone.  She gave a little information and offered to keep the window open while he called, but was disconnected.

Imagine, for yourself, how she must have felt waiting and wondering if the person at the other end was all right.  Fortunately, this time, the patron logged back on a few minutes later and she was able to reconnect.  She expressed concern, encouraged a call to 911, passed along the information that in Washington we have a law that says if you take someone to the hospital you will not get into trouble.  The patron was having trouble getting poison control on the phone so Aubri herself called and relayed what she learned over chat.  With the information she provided he agreed to head to the ER and signed off leaving Aubri feeling much better about the exchange.  The sentence “You saved my life!” may have taken on a whole new meaning that night.

The final conversation that evening was a great way to end her day.  Aubri is a former teen librarian and especially loves chatting with teens.  This one started out goofy, as teen chat interactions often do.  “I might be socially awkward.”  Followed by “Sorry that was my brother!”  Within a few minutes Aubri had engaged this teen in a conversation about movies, books, and graphic novels; which ones he liked, which ones she liked and why.   She provided great book suggestions with links to his library’s catalog.  Final words from the teenager, “You are the best librarian I have talked to.  Thank you for being so nice.”

Aubri reports that she loves being a chat librarian because there is so much variety.  While every night may not provide quite such an array of questions, we are lucky in Washington to have a team of excellent and experienced chat librarians.  Haven’t tried it?  Next time you have a question from simple to complex, from goofy to life changing, you might want to have a chat with a librarian.

From the desk of Shirley Lewis
This year’s summer reading theme is “Get in the Game – Read”.  Why should the kids have all the fun? Washington State Library presents suggested activities to help adults get fit, learn, and try something new.  So, exercise your brain and your body throughout the summer – try these “Olympics of the Mind & Body” ideas.

June 1

Learn to play Pickleball; a game invented by the late Joel Pritchard, Washington’s Lieutenant Governor from 1989 – 1997.  Check out The Official Pickleball Handbook by Mark Friedenberg.

June 2

Spokane’s Northwest Museum of Arts + Culture will celebrate its 31^st annual ArtFest on June 3-5, 2016.

June 3

Special Olympics Washington 2016 Summer Games will be held from June 3-5 at Joint Base Lewis McChord and the King County Aquatics programs. More than 10,000 special athletes throughout the state participate in sports offered by Special Olympics Washington.

June 6

Celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of the National Park Service with a visit to Mt. Rainier National Park.  If you can’t get there in-person, Washington State Library has many titles for the armchair traveler, such as, The Big Fact Book about Mount Rainier; Roadside Geology of Mount Rainier National Park and Vicinity; Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park: A Centennial Celebration; and One Best Hike: Mount Rainier’s Wonderland Trail.

June 7

Chomp on cherries – you can get recipes and nutrition information at the Washington State Fruit Commission website. Read digital editions of The Good Fruit Grower, published by the Washington State Fruit Commission, in the Washington State Library’s online catalog.

June 8

Play ball! And read all about the Seattle Mariners, historic Pacific Northwest baseball, and Seattle’s black baseball teams. These are only a few titles about baseball in the Pacific Northwest; check out the Washington State Library catalog and your local public library.

June 9

Washington has many places to watch and listen to the birds: the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge, and the Willapa Wildlife Refuge are three examples from around the state. Or, enjoy reading and watching the birds out your window; there are many guides for birdwatching in Washington and the Pacific Northwest.

June 10

Stroll through a Washington Farmers’ Market:  there are large and small; seasonal and year-round. Colville, Olympia, Vancouver, Yakima and the Pybus Market in Wenatchee are a few examples.

June 13

Enjoy the thought-provoking and inspiring ideas shared in the TEDx talks at Sno-Isle Libraries.

June 14

Happy Flag Day! Along with displaying the stars and stripes, consider displaying Washington’s State Flag.

June 15

All summer long, enjoy yourself in one of Washington’s State Parks.

June 16

All around Washington, small town festivals and parades are happening.  In Winlock, Washington (Lewis County), the Egg Days celebration commemorates the town’s historic hatchery industry.

June 17

Father’s Day is almost here.  Do you know Spokane’s link to the origin of Father’s Day?

June 20

Today is the summer solstice, the longest hours of daylight of the year in the northern hemisphere. Some will spend the solstice at the Stonehenge Memorial near Goldendale, Washington. The Maryhill Museum of Art and the Goldendale Observatory are also interesting attractions in this gorgeous area.

June 21

Would you like to learn how to use Microsoft programs, such as, Word or Excel?  Take a look at Washington State Library Microsoft Imagine Academy and the list of Participating Libraries here in Washington. These online, self-paced classes are available to Washington residents at no charge.

June 22

Take a ride on an historic train: the Mt. Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum begins in Eble; you can also catch the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum train. The North Pend Oreille Valley Lions Club also hosts train rides, but it seems 2016 is the last year, so get on board soon. Read all about trains in Washington: Seattle-Everett Interurban Railway, Big Bend Railroads, and South Puget Sound Railroad Mania are just a few of the titles available.

June 23

Weather in Washington is always good for conversation and makes good reading, too.  Try The Weather of the Pacific Northwest, Rains all the Time: A Connoisseur’s History of Weather in the Pacific Northwest, or check out the Office of the Washington State Climatologist to see the official word on Washington’s weather, past and future.

June 24

Explore Fort Simcoe, now Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, in south central Washington. Read about Fort Simcoe’s military history in Bugles in the Valley: Garnett’s Fort Simcoe.

June 27

Put your brain to work solving a mystery set in Washington: Whodunit in Washington State: a Selected Bibliography of Mysteries set in the Evergreen State lists many titles with crimes and puzzles to solve.  There are several “Whodunit” bibliographies for different areas of Washington in the State Library’s online catalog and A Kid’s Whodunit in Washington State: a Selected Bibliography of Mysteries Set in the Evergreen State.

June 28

Are the Washington Red Raspberries ripe?  Washington grows 60% of the red raspberries in the United States. Learn more about the raspberry industry at the Washington Red Raspberry Commission web site.

June 29

Ride the gondola at the Crystal Mountain Ski resort for some high-in-the-sky summer views of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Range.

June 30

Feel like digging? Get in touch with the past the Stonerose Interpretive Center & Eocene Fossil Site near Republic, Washington (Ferry County).

From the desk of Jeff Martin

Do your ancestors come from this area? While not always politically correct by 21st century standards, this publication is full of pictures and information about the early days of Rosalia.

Author:

Charles Thompson

The Inland Press, of Inland Printing Co., Spokane, Washington

Publication date: 1905

PEOPLE

“Natives of almost every state people Rosalia and vicinity. It has profited from this circumstance just as the emigration from all nations has made the United States a superior people. The immigration to Rosalia up to the early nineties (i.e., 1890s) was of two classes. The least desirable and the best of the older states. The first class, the incapables, industrially and morally, were simply crowded out of their environment in the East. They came because land was cheap and they must go somewhere. The great opportunities of those days for people of little means roused some to ambitious efforts, and, weaklings no longer, they are numbered today among our strong successful men. The greater part of this class failed, as they had failed before, and became driftwood, passing from sight down the stream long ago.

The second class were of the best and strongest of the older states, selected from their fellows by the test of courage. Equally as capable, but braver, more ambitious, more self-reliant, than contemporaries who were content and hesitated to venture, a comprehensive survey of their environment showed but a meager prospect – at best, a limited competence to reward a life of toil and self-denial. To them it was not worth it. Resolutely turning from the pleasures and comforts of home, they set their faces toward the unknown West, determined to battle for a worthier prize. And, braver yet, were the young wives that accompanied them or faithfully waited the return of husbands or lovers, gone before to prepare a humble home. (Pages 16 -18)”

Washington State Library Electronic State Publications – On the Battle Ground: Rosalia Wash., Charles Thompson, 1905

Saroj Ghoting, Diane Hutchins, Kendra Jones, and Greta Bergquist

Washington State Library’s Diane Hutchins has has returned from the highly successful Supercharged Storytimes tour of Washington State.  Diane was joined by nationally renowned, early literacy consultant Saroj Ghoting.  Ghoting is co-author of the new book, Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide.  Also along on the tour was Kendra Jones, one of the Joint Chiefs of the Storytime Underground.   At each site they were joined by guest presenters who had participated in Project VIEWS2.  Workshops were held at 8 libraries (4 west of the mountains and 4 east of the mountains) resulting in the supercharging of 131 library staff.

The workshops were incredibly well received and generated renewed enthusiasm among seasoned storytelling practitioners as well as excitement among the newbies.  Skeptics who were prepared to be underwhelmed left as enthusiastic converts.  But, in addition, Diane came back with a wonderful story about the power of libraries for making connections.

In Richland, as shewas getting ready to check out of the hotel and go to the Richland Public Library for the first workshop held in Eastern Washington, Diane got into a conversation with the hotel desk clerk.  When learning that Diane was a librarian, the clerk talked about her great-grandmother, Doris Roberts, who had been very involved in the local library.  A few moments later, as Diane was looking for the room where the workshop was to be held at the Richland Public Library, she spotted the sign, “Doris Roberts Gallery.”  Wouldn’t you know – that’s where the Supercharged Storytimes workshop going to be held.  Small world, or library connection?  You tell me.

From the desk of Jeff Martin:

Maps add a visual element to history. The State Archives and the State Library hold extensive map collections dealing with the Washington State and the surrounding region. Maps for these digital collections are drawn from state and territorial government records, historic books, federal documents and the Northwest collection. Here are two examples from this growing collection.

Author: Roberts, Henry, Lieut.

Title: Chart of the N.W. coast of America and the N.E. coast of Asia, explored in the years 1778 and 1779 [electronic resource] / prepared by Lieut[enan]t Hen[r]y Roberts, under the immediate inspection of Capt. Cook ; engraved by W. Palmer.

Imprint: London : Wm. Faden, geographer to the King, Charing Cross, 1784.

Note: Electronic data.

  “July 24, 1784.”

Relief shown pictorially. Depths shown by soundings.

“The unshaded parts of the Coast were taken from a Manuscript Chart which a Russian furnished us with …”

Includes notes.

Vertically fold-lined at center.

This link will take you to the online map.

Corporate Author: Illman & Pilbrow.

Title: Oregon Territory [electronic resource]

Imprint: [New York] : Illman & Pilbrow, [1833]

Description: 1 map : hand col. ; 25 x 31 cm.

Notes: Electronic data.

Shows locations of Native American tribal groups.

Relief shown by hachures.

Prime meridians: Greenwich and Washington.

Probably drawn by David H. Burr.

“Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1833 by Illman & Pilbrow in the Clerk’s office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York.”

Longitude coordinates given inaccurately.

“1837” and “48” handwritten at lower right corner in margin.

Would you like to see the map in all it’s glory?  Click here to go to the map of the Oregon Territory.

Here is Jeff’s latest spy; a fascinating record of travels in Washington and Oregon at the turn of the 20th Century.

From the desk of Jeff Martin

Written by

Elma MacGibbon

Shaw & Borden Co., Printers and Publishers, Spokane, Washington

Publication date: 1904

INTRODUCTION

I have had the opportunity, during the last few years, to travel very extensively throughout the West, and considerable in the East, with my husband, and finding people in general greatly interested in my oral description of the numerous places I have visited. I decided to give a history of the many cities and their surroundings as I saw them during my visits, at different seasons of the year.

Realizing that it will be of interest and information to the reading public, I now present to you Leaves of Knowledge.

Elma MacGibbon

Classics in Washington History – Leaves of Knowledge, Elma MacGibbon, 1904