Volume 12, March 17, 2016 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) TEEN VIDEO CHALLENGE

2) ASK A LIBRARIAN SERVICE AT WSL

3) CIVICS EDUCATION RESOURCES

4) CONFERENCE PROPOSALS WANTED

5) ARSL 2016 CONFERENCE SEEKS PRESENTATION PROPOSALS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

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The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released President Barack Obama’s Budget of the U.S. Government, FY 2017, on February 9, 2016.

It is available through the Washington State Library’s Federal Documents collection, PREX 2.8:2017, PREX 2.8/5:2017 and PREX 2.8:2017/APP. If you decide to read it in print be sure to eat your Wheaties. It is a hefty lift.

The Budget is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President’s budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications are included and some of these are available only in pdf and spreadsheet format, see the online version. There is also a version for your mobile device.

The GPO Bookstore also offers the budget documents for sale.

For more than 160 years the Washington State Library (formerly, Washington Territorial Library) has provided the people of Washington with federal and state publications playing a vital role in an informed democracy.

Need assistance? Contact us at Ask a Librarian.

Thanks to the Government Publishing Office for wording used in this review.

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

From the desk of Shawn Schollmeyer

May 18, 1917 Echo Zahl starts work for the Star

“Wild Young Female Person is going to tell Star readers how Seattle looks to Co-Ed fresh from University campus…”

As the World War I began in Europe and the US began preparing for the eventual entry to the war in 1917, the Seattle Star was bringing a little levity to the front page news. In May they introduced, Echo June Zahl, a recent graduate from the University of Oregon Journalism School and a fresh young feminist face to their readers.

With a feminist eye and a nutty sense of humor she wins over a new audience and quickly gains regional notoriety. One poor woman is thrown out of a lake retreat full of spiritualists for unknowingly appearing as Echo’s doppelganger, a known personality of the media.

She shows how the latest bathing fashions are just not suitable for a practical, modern girl who actually wants to swim. Echo loved adventure and would venture out on horseback, travel long distances, and even surf for a good story.

While many of her assignments were interviews with actors, actresses and local business folk, she drew attention to many, more serious topics important to the working Seattle community and the everyday, regular guy with her articles on  visiting soldiers at Fort Lawton, & Camp Lewis, building support for local Red Cross activities supporting the war effort and the struggles of the city carmen during the big labor strike. When you start your research of the WWI era, consider following some of Echo’s pursuits of daily life in Seattle and the citizens of Washington affected by the news of their boys going off to war and the people who stayed home to keep their families and way of life as normal as possible. 

Introducing Echo: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 18 May 1917. Chronicling America:
Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

Braving the Bucking Board: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 16 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

“Echo Zahl Visits Fort Lawton” :The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 04 June 1917. Chronicling
America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

“Spurns Nifty Bathing Suits” as not suitable for swimming: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 15 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

“Echo Zahl See’s Carman’s Home: Tells How Family with 7 Children Struggles to Live on Inadequate Wage Paid By Traction Company.”: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 18 July 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

And before it was popular – she even made her own emoji!: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 12 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

Find more from this great early 20^th Century journalist on ChroniclingAmerica.com in Washington’s own Seattle Star.

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

Thinking about your garden?  Look to State Publications for help. This time Jeff Martin has found another beautiful and informative State Publication.

Prepared by
Stephen M. Van Vleet, Ph.D.
Washington State University
Whitman County Extension
Publication date: 2009

The rapid spread of invasive plants threatens natural resources across the United States, and the Pacific Northwest is no exception. Invasive species displace natural plant communities…

The control of any weed begins with early detection. The objective of this guide is to aid in the identification and control of invasive weeds found in eastern Washington. For further information about noxious weed identification, control options, and control requirements under state law, please contact your local noxious weed coordinator or a Washington State University Extension educator.

Read the entire publication at: Washington State Library Electronic State Publications – Invasive Weeds of Eastern Washington

Kheel Center-Flickr Account CC 2.0

On March 2, 1911 the Washington state congress passed House Bill 12/Senate Bill 74 which limits women’s work day to an eight hour day.  While the cause had been championed for years, in 1910 Washington women gained the vote bringing new power (and votes) to the cause.  Several influential employers in the state came to Olympia to speak of the dire results this bill would have on their businesses, suggesting that manufacturers would move their businesses elsewhere.  Despite these objections the bill passed making Washington one of the first state’s in the nation to grant women an eight hour workday. Clippings from Washington newspapers, from the Chronicling America site, tell just a part of the story.  If you want to read more about it historylink.org tells a more complete story.  If you’d like to read it straight from the horse’s mouth, the bill’s passing was reported around the state of Washington.  Links to the primary documents are found below.

Headlines:
8 Hour Work Day for the Women – The Seattle Star, February 15, 1911
Preparing for the eight-hour workday for women – The San Juan Islander, March 31^st, 1911
Merchant is Peeved – The Labor Journal, May 19, 1911

Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted weekly on this blog.

For information on the legislative process or becoming involved, see the WLA site referenced above.

From the Public Services Desk

Those of us who reside in the Olympia area are very aware that the Washington State Legislature is currently in the 2016 Regular Session. However, the very first session of our Legislature began shortly before Washington became a state on November 6, 1889. The bills introduced to the legislature are an important piece of our state’s history. It is fascinating to read what issues were important to Washington citizens in a given year.

Each session only three sets of these volumes are produced, and the Washington State Library is one of a few agencies which holds these resources. A part of the State Library’s mission is to “Collect, preserve, and make accessible to Washingtonians materials on the government, history, culture, and natural resources of the state” and we take this very seriously. At the State Library we hold all the bills introduced during every legislative session since 1889. There is a set of volumes for each session for the bills of both the House and Senate.

Our staff works with the Legislative Information Center and the Legislative Print Shop to be sure that the bound volumes are complete and correctly assembled. A State Library staff member painstakingly reviews all the bound volumes when received and reports any errors or omissions so missing bills can be retrieved and added to the set. This valuable State Library service preserves this historic record of Legislative action.

Interesting facts about the Washington State bill books:

• The bills introduced during the first session fill one volume each for both the House and the Senate.
• The most recent set of bill books available for 2013-2014 legislative session consists of 27 volumes for the House and 25 volumes for the Senate.

All of the Bill books can be found in our catalog: State of Washington printed bills of the Legislature. House.  and  State of Washington printed bills of the Legislature. Senate.

While the earlier volumes must be accessed at the State Library, current, recent, and historical bill information from 1991 to the present can be accessed online.

Please contact Ask a Librarian, Washington State Library’s research service for assistance in finding more information on bills and all aspects of Washington State government. To use the bill books for research, please visit the Washington State Library.

Image courtesy North Pend Oreille Heritage collection

Library Clippings for the week of February 26, 2016

Library News

Young readers donate Little Free Library to community food bank (The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, Vashon, 1/27/16)

Camas library will remain independent (Camas-Washougal Post-Record, Camas, 2/2/16)

Council OKs library reciprocal agreement (Anacortes American, Anacortes, 2/3/16)

Buildings

White Salmon Library closing Feb. 1 for remodeling (Hood River News, Hood River, 2/3/16)
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