WA Secretary of State Blogs

WSL Updates for October 19, 2017

Wednesday, October 18th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, Grants and Funding, Letters About Literature, News, Training and Continuing Education, Updates, Washington Center for the Book | Comments Off on WSL Updates for October 19, 2017


Volume 13, October 19, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE

2) THINK, DO, SHOW – LAST CHANCE

3) ORDERING FREE BOOKS FROM WSL

4) ALA POLICY CORPS

5) MORE IMLS MUSEUM GRANTS

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

—————————————————————————————————————

1) LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE

The 2018 Letters About Literature (LAL) contest has launched. LAL is a nationwide competition which encourages young readers in grades 4-12 to read a book and write a letter to the author about how the book changed their view of the world or themselves. Students write about works of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. The deadline for this year’s contest is January 12, 2018.

Tens of thousands of students from across the country enter Letters About Literature each year. Washington has historically had one of the highest participation rates in the United States. The letters our students write are thoughtful and powerful. Help spread the word about this contest which gets our young students not only reading, but thinking about literature. The contest is sponsored by the Washington Center for the Book, a partnership of the Seattle Public Library and the Washington State Library. For more information, visit sos.wa.gov/q/LAL2018.

The Library of Congress is holding a special webinar for educators to learn more about the Letters About Literature contest. This webinar will explore 25 years of best practices of the program. Details:

—————————————————————————————————————

2) THINK, DO, SHOW – LAST CHANCE

There are a few spots left in the all-day Think, Do, Show: Practical Techniques for Using Evaluation to Improve Practice and Demonstrate Impact workshops scheduled for November dates at Timberland, Whitman County, and King County libraries and sponsored by the Washington State Library. Registration and more details are available at sos.wa.gov/q/ThinkDoShow.

—————————————————————————————————————

3) ORDERING FREE BOOKS FROM WSL

The Washington State Library has made a change in how to request books from the Community Book Project. We have created a “bookshop” where everything is free, and you can order as many copies of a book as you want, up to the available quantity. When all the available copies have been ordered, the book will drop off the page. This will eliminate the back and forth emails that currently happen, as well as the time it can take to get the books mailed out to you. Once you place an order, you will receive a confirmation email.

Our hope for this change is that it will make this process easier for both you and our staff. Please use this link blogs.sos.wa.gov/book-sharing to go out and “shop.” For more information on the Community Book Project please read the “About” page. The project redistributes donated books which were left over from community reads to libraries in Washington State for use as community read titles elsewhere, as classroom sets, or book club kits.

—————————————————————————————————————

4) ALA POLICY CORPS

ALA President Jim Neal announced the start of an ALA Policy Corps of advocates to work on national (and state/local) policy:

ALA is launching a new Policy Corps to expand our ability to advocate on key policy issues on behalf of the library community. Participants in the Corps will focus on issues for which deep and sustained knowledge are necessary to advance ALA policy goals and library values among policymakers. Training and opportunities to participate in targeted policy advocacy work will be provided to participants. State library staff and local librarians are asked to consider the opportunity.

More information and how to apply (between October 4 and November 3) can be found at: www.ala.org/advocacy/ala-policy-corps. Questions about the Corps should be directed to Alan Inouye [email protected] or Larra Clark [email protected].

—————————————————————————————————————

5) MORE IMLS MUSEUM GRANTS

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting applications for two museum grant programs: the African American History and Culture and the Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services. The application deadline for both programs is December 1, 2017.

Potential grant applicants are invited to view two pre-recorded webinars, which can help provide information on how to choose the appropriate funding opportunity and navigate the required IMLS forms. IMLS also invites potential applicants to view a live webinar offered for each grant program. Details are available on the IMLS website. For more information about these grants, visit sos.wa.gov/q/IMLS-grants.

—————————————————————————————————————

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, October 23

Tuesday, October 24

Wednesday, October 25

Thursday, October 26

Friday, October 27

—————————————————————————————————————

DISCLAIMER: The State Library regularly highlights third-party events and online resources as a way to alert the library community to training and resource opportunities. By doing so, we are not endorsing the content of the event, nor promoting any specific product, but merely providing this information as an FYI to librarians who must then decide what is right for them.

Subscribe to WSL presents: News from Washington Libraries!

The Washington State Library has gone social! Friend/follow us at:

WSL Updates for October 12, 2017

Thursday, October 12th, 2017 Posted in For Libraries, News, Training and Continuing Education, Updates, Washington Center for the Book | Comments Off on WSL Updates for October 12, 2017


Volume 13, October 12, 2017 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) WASHINGTON STATE BOOK AWARDS

2) 2016 PUBLIC LIBRARY STATS

3) LSTA 5-YEAR PLAN APPROVED

4) HEALTH IN THE HEADLINES

5) © IS COMPLICATED

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

—————————————————————————————————————

1) WASHINGTON STATE BOOK AWARDS

Join the Washington Center for the Book on Saturday to celebrate the literature and incredible authors of our state at this year’s Washington State Book Awards. These awards recognize outstanding poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and children’s and teen literature published in 2016 and penned by a Washington writer. This event is free and open to all. For more information and a list of finalists, visit sos.wa.gov/q/Awards.

Event details:

  • Saturday, October 14, 7:00 p.m. at the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library in downtown Seattle.
  • At 8 p.m. following the ceremony there will be a reception and a book signing.

The Washington Center for the Book, a partnership of the Washington State Library and The Seattle Public Library, administers the annual Washington State Book Awards given for outstanding books published by Washington authors and to bring attention to the quality of writing being produced in Washington. Books are judged on literary merit, lasting importance and overall quality of the publication.

—————————————————————————————————————

2) 2016 PUBLIC LIBRARY STATS

Need statistics on public libraries in the state of Washington? Interested in salary and benefits data for libraries? Looking for a map of public library service in Washington? The Washington State Library (WSL) is pleased to announce that the 2016 Washington Public Library Statistical Report is now available; visit sos.wa.gov/q/stats.

Public library statistics including budget, collections, and usage data, are collected and compiled on an annual basis by WSL Library Development staff and are part of the Public Libraries Survey, administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Questions? For more information, contact Evelyn Lindberg, State Data Coordinator, at [email protected].

—————————————————————————————————————

3) LSTA 5-YEAR PLAN APPROVED

The Washington State Library is pleased to announce that its LSTA (Library Services & Technology Act) 5-year plan for federal fiscal years 2018 – 2022 has been officially approved by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the federal funding agency in charge of the LSTA program. The approval letter has been posted on the WSL website, where the plan itself, together with related documents, all in PDF format, are also available.

In the approval letter, Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew, IMLS Director, states that “. . . your Plan documents the need for and impact of LSTA funds in the communities you serve. It is an excellent framework for the future, and it is approved for the full five-year period.” For more information, and to access the 5-year plan, visit sos.wa.gov/q/libdev.

—————————————————————————————————————

4) HEALTH IN THE HEADLINES

Health Issues in the Headlines: Reading Between the Lines is a National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) class offered on the Moodle platform for the month of November and will introduce participants to the environment of health reporting as well as some tips and resources that will help you and your patrons navigate the world of health news. It’s free and you can work at your own pace but attendees are encouraged to participate in forum discussions in a timely manner.

This class is eligible for 4 Medical Library Association (MLA) CE credits as well as for the Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS). For more information, and to register, visit sos.wa.gov/q/Health-Headlines.

—————————————————————————————————————

Questions about library resources and fair use in online education are expanding from the appropriate use of journal articles and eBooks to published images, video clips and more in faculty-created resources for instruction that our licensing terms often don’t explicitly address. What to do?

Join Nicole (Nikki) Dettmar, Curriculum Design Librarian at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library for Copyright & Online Learning Resources: It’s Complicated!, a free webinar in the PNR Rendezvous series from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Northwest Region.

  • Wednesday, October 18, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. PDT. No registration required. Visit sos.wa.gov/q/PNR-copyright for more details and connection information.

—————————————————————————————————————

6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, October 16

Tuesday, October 17

Wednesday, October 18

Thursday, October 19

—————————————————————————————————————

DISCLAIMER: The State Library regularly highlights third-party events and online resources as a way to alert the library community to training and resource opportunities.  By doing so, we are not endorsing the content of the event, nor promoting any specific product, but merely providing this information as an FYI to librarians who must then decide what is right for them.

Subscribe to WSL presents: News from Washington Libraries!

The Washington State Library has gone social! Friend/follow us at:

The National Book Festival and a book to represent Washington State

Tuesday, August 8th, 2017 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, For the Public, Washington Center for the Book | Comments Off on The National Book Festival and a book to represent Washington State


image of a book cover, a paper cut showing a child doing a cannonball into the ocean. In September of 2001 the first National Book Festival was held in Washington D.C.  Laura Bush, a retired librarian, then First Lady of the United States, worked with the Librarian of Congress to launch this new event to encourage a lifelong love of reading.  James Billington, then Librarian of Congress, said, “We must all try, in every way we can, to send the message that reading is critical to our lives and to the life of our nation.” (1)

In 2002 a new addition to the Festival, The Pavilion of the States, was added. (2) Each year states choose a Children’s or Young Adult book they feel represents them.  A representative from each state heads to D.C. to set up a table to showcase their choice and more importantly their state. On the day of the festival thousands of children and their parents run through the pavilion collecting stamps, stickers and bookmarks, on the way learning more about the country they live in.  Washington State was involved almost from the very beginning sending representatives from the State Library to the book festival since 2003.  The books that have been selected each year are an eclectic mix, but they all have one thing in common, they represent Washington State.

The 2017 choice is by author/illustrator Nikki McClure, a Washington native and longtime resident of Olympia.  Waiting For High Tide  (Abrams, 2016) tells the story of a young boy scouring the high tide line for treasures, practicing walking the plank and waiting for high tide so he can swim. While he waits, sea birds and other creatures mirror the family’s behaviors: building and hunting, wading and eating. At long last the tide arrives, and human and animal alike savor the water.

McClure’s picture book features full-bleed cut-paper illustrations in black and white with isolated use of blues and pinks. “Lavish with words and images in a story that is a worthy heir to Robert McCloskey’s work. The sense of place is so rich that it seems possible to smell the air and hear the gulls,” says a Publisher’s Weekly starred review.

It is that sense of place that led to its selection to represent the state of Washington in the Pavilion of the States and in the Great Places, Great Reads publication at the National Book Festival. McClure said she wrote the book to “represent place and to have a beach book that wasn’t East Coast and was for Washington kids.”

Nikki McClure is an author and artist who works with cut-paper to create picture books and an annual calendar. “I cut my images from black paper with an X-Acto knife. Everything is connected,” McClure says. “It’s all one piece of paper, yet it now it holds a story.”

Her books include “To Market, To Market,” “How to Be a Cat,” “Mama Is It Summer Yet?” and illustrator of “All in a Day” by Cynthia Rylant.

The Washington Center for the Book is a partnership of The Seattle Public Library and the Washington State Library.  It is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.

Washington State Library joins forces with the Seattle Public Library to promote reading and literacy statewide through Center for the book

Thursday, June 8th, 2017 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, For the Public, News, Washington Reads | Comments Off on Washington State Library joins forces with the Seattle Public Library to promote reading and literacy statewide through Center for the book


Picture of a woman signing books

Book signing at the Washington State Book Awards

The Washington State Library has joined forces with The Seattle Public Library to lead the work of the Washington Center for the Book.

The Seattle Public Library was designated as the home for the Washington State Center for the Book by the U.S. Library of Congress back in 1989.

The mission of the Washington Center of the Book is to promote Washington’s literary heritage and the importance of books, reading, literacy and libraries.

There is a Center for the Book in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We are very excited to collaborate with The Seattle Public Library to broaden the reach of the Center for the Book in our state,” said Washington State Librarian Cindy Aden. “We believe by combining our efforts, we can be more effective in strengthening Washington’s community of readers.”

She noted that some State Library programs – such as the Letters about Literature contest – will receive an added boost from the partnership, since they will now be produced jointly. Letters for Literature invites children from across the state to write letters to their favorite authors.

Three young girls smiling and holding a certificate

Washington’s three top winners for the 2017 Letters About Literature contest

Marcellus Turner, city librarian for The Seattle Public Library, said collaborating with the State Library will heighten awareness about many other activities local libraries offer to support writing, reading and literature.

“Events such as The Seattle Public Library’s annual Washington State Book Awards and the Seattle Reads program – which connects communities with books and authors through discussion – will benefit,” Turner said.

In addition to creating and calling attention to programs that highlight Washington’s robust literary heritage, future goals include offering unifying literary activities and promotions across our state. “We are just getting started, but we intend to explore opportunities to increase reading and literacy in Washington in new and innovative ways,” Turner said.