From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian
Have you ever wanted to learn more about Pacific Northwest and Washington State History? Perhaps you moved here later in life and hear faint murmurings of arduous emigration, political intrigue, land dispute, and subsequent prosperity, but know little of the stories or characters involved? Maybe you vaguely remember those early Washington State History lessons you had in school and want to brush up on the details?
Whatever the reason might be, a fine way to start your reading selection is to consult The Washington 89, a standard bibliographic reference authored by Boeing executive and respected antiquarian George Tweney. Mr. Tweney selected and annotated 89 essential Pacific Northwest Americana titles that were published before 1959, in honor of the 1989 Centennial of Washington Statehood. In 2002, The Washington State Library set upon a project to unify all Washington 89 titles highlighted by Mr. Tweney into a curated collection that spans multiple library collection areas. The result became the Washington State Library Tweney 89 Collection.
A first-class article describing the library’s Tweney 89 project appears in the Fall 2011 issue of The Journal of the Book Club of Washington. Written by retired Special Collections Librarian Kathryn Hamilton-Wang, the article details the project from soup to nuts. Starting with identifying what the collection already held, Ms. Hamilton-Wang describes the acquisitions process, the extensive cataloging description and record cleanup, the establishment of a unified author to establish the link to Tweney’s work. She concludes with an analysis of the collection’s many facets and highlights representative selections throughout the story.
The Book Club of Washington was founded in 1982 and “is a non-profit organization of book lovers and collectors who have a special interest in collecting and preserving printed materials. Its mission is to further the interests of book collectors and scholars and to promote an understanding and appreciation of fine books.”
There are other fine bibliographic references for researcher of Western and Pacific Northwestern history. A selected list of Indexes, Union Lists, Catalogues, and Bibliographies for Western Americana and Pacific Northwest Research, available at the Washington State Library is available to you for download here.
