I’m sure you know that staff of the Washington State Library travels to all corner’s of the state and reaches out to diverse communities.  Today we received a missive from Lyla Brekke, of the Eastern State Hospital Branch that shows you just how far we are willing to go to reach all the citizens of Washington State.  We felt that Lyla’s message should be shared.

The Washington State Library does a wonderful job of bringing quality library services to its many and varied branches throughout the state. Recently in Eastern Washington I have discovered an underserved population that is in dire need of just these services.

On the set of Z Nation 7-20-2014

A zombie community has sprung up in and around the Spokane and Medical lake area. My first customers, pictured here, weren’t able to articulate the nature of their needs, but helping patrons choose library materials is part of my job, so I made a few selections on their behalf. I think it shows on their dear faces that they are pretty pleased. I know it made my day! Now you might think the ‘undead’ would not make good library patrons…but you would be wrong. Just think of all the time they have for reading because unlike the rest of us, they don’t need to sleep.

Read more about my new friends at the following link;

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/apr/24/zombie-tv-series-z-nation-will-provide-spokane/

Lyla Brekke

Eastern State Hospital Branch

Washington State Library

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.

The Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services (ILS) team hosted their very own Library Snapshot Day yesterday (1/11/11). Photos and stories from the event are being posted on Facebook, and you can find them under: ILS Library Snap Shot Day.

Photos and stories are rolling in from institutions across the state, including: Washington State Reformatory, Western State Hospital, Washington State Penitentiary (East and West complexes), Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Washington Corrections Center for Women, Eastern State Hospital, and the Stafford Bay Correction Center.

Check them out now over on Facebook.

While you’re over there, check out our other WSL Facebook pages:

• Washington State Library
• Washington Talking Book and Braille Library
• WSL Institutional Library Services