Thomas Taylor, 1862

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff

Although no oath of office record exists today, Taylor was apparently Librarian in 1862. The March 29, 1862 issue of the Washington Standard includes this Library Notice: “All persons having books belonging to the Territorial Library will please return at once, or the by-laws will be put in force. Thos. Taylor, Ter. Librarian.” He quite probably was the same aged Thomas Taylor who was born Oct. 17, 1793 (some sources say 1791) in Frederick County, Va. and came out to Oregon in the early 1850s from Morgan County, Illinois. In 1861 he served as a member of the House in the 9th Session. For a while he lived in the Grand Mound area and then in Elma. He was a long-time and active preacher, remaining in amazingly good health during his senior years. Taylor died in Elma, Wash., May 14, 1886.

John Paul Judson, 1864

John Paul Judson

Born May 6, 1840 in Cologne, Prussia, J.P. Judson’s family came to Illinois in 1845. In Oct. 1853 they made their way to Pierce County. According to Bancroft, “He earned the money in mining on the Fraser River with which he paid for two years’ schooling in Vancouver.” The young Judson was appointed Territorial Librarian while still a law student and literally lived in the Library “to have more ready access to the law books then at his command,” so wrote John Miller Murphy. He also worked as Chief Clerk in the House in 1864. For a brief time he was a school teacher until he earned his law degree in 1867 and went into private practice.

After living in Port Townsend, he returned to Olympia in order to assume the office of Territorial Superintendent of Public Instruction, a post he held from 1873 to 1880. His legacy was overhauling Washington’s educational system. As Dryden explains:

The School Law of 1877 was an important milestone because it marked the end of the pioneer period in education. Responsibility for it can be attributed to John P. Judson, Washington Territory’s … superintendent of public instruction. This law created a Territorial Board of Education with specified duties, and it also provided for county boards of education. One section dealt with certification of teachers, qualifications, and examinations.

Writer Angie Burt Bowden echoes, “His term was one of the most important in territorial history, because of its length– he served six years– because of the growth in professional spirit and usefulness through the county and territorial institutes; and because of the initiation of the Board of Education.” In 1876 he was the Democratic candidate for Territorial Delegate to Congress and lost by a mere 73 votes. In 1877 he also held the office of Olympia Mayor. After his Superintendent term was completed, Judson moved to Tacoma and became a Regent for the University of Washington. His final years were spent in Spokane and then Colville, where he died in April, 1910.

[The Territorial Librarian profiles were compiled by Sean Lanksbury, Mary Schaff, Kim Smeenk, and Steve Willis]

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff

(Head served three nonconsecutive terms as Territorial Librarian.)

J.C. Head was born in Washington County, Ky. in 1810. His family apparently lived in Illinois before their arrival in Olympia, Aug. 18, 1853. A carpenter by trade, Head also was made a Justice of the Peace and in 1856 presided over the case of the accused murderer of Leschi’s brother, Quiemuth. Bion Kendall was the attorney for the defense, Elwood Evans the prosecutor. His first term as Librarian was the last time the office was combined with the duties of Auditor. Both of his roles were eventful in 1860-1861. Briahna Taylor wrote on his Auditor half:

J.C. Head’s tenure was highlighted by the Civil War and a tight financial condition. While earlier debts faced during Hicks’ tenure had been paid, financial troubles for the territory lingered. Congress faced the mounting costs of the Civil War and reduced the territory’s appropriations. This affected the entire territory, including legislators who were not given funds to travel between Olympia and their hometowns for the session. Some had to procure loans to finance their travel and stay in the territorial capitol.

If that wasn’t enough, legislators sued J.C. Head the Librarian for refusing to move the collection to Vancouver, proving the importance of a library as a foundation for government. Maryan Reynolds explains the 1861 coup attempt:

A sizable number of legislators sought to move the territorial capital from Olympia to Vancouver. Their first step was to pass a law requiring Territorial Librarian J.C. Head to move his office and the library to Vancouver between June 2 and August 1. Another law mandated a popular vote on the issue during July, which the legislators were certain would favor their cause. But Acting Governor McGill refused to permit the move, and the district court refused to require J.C. Head to show cause as to why he should not move the library.

Head’s refusal to budge quite probably saved Olympia’s status as the capitol.

[The Territorial Librarian profiles were compiled by Sean Lanksbury, Mary Schaff, Kim Smeenk, and Steve Willis]

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff

Called “a family of rascals” by one historian, the Moses brothers (Simpson, A.B., and Andrew, a native of South Carolina) along with Elwood Evans, came from Ohio to Olympia 1851 via the Nicaragua route. Simpson had been appointed the Collector and Andrew became a merchant on Main Street (Capitol Way). He had the instincts of an information professional when he ran this notice in the Feb. 5, 1853 issue of the Columbian

Notice: From and after this date I will keep a register of names of all persons arriving in our new Territory, and I simply suggest to those now here to place their names upon the same book in order hereafter when any person desiring to know the place of residence of any relative or friend who may be living in this section of Oregon, they may know where to find them, and at the same time shall be ready to facilitate transportation to those who may desire going down the Sound. Andrew J. Moses, Main Street, Olympia.

When Gov. Stevens arrived in Olympia, he compiled a roster of prominent locals who, in the words of historian Kent D. Richards, “might provide information or services or who exercised power and influence among their peers.” Andrew was among the 30 or so names in the list. He served as a sergeant in the Indian War. It was for the alleged involvement in the death of his brother, A.B. Moses, that Leschi was executed. In 1859 Andrew defeated his father-in-law, James Clark Head, 22-11 in the legislative vote selecting a new Auditor/Librarian.

In addition to holding two territorial posts he was also the U.S. District Court Clerk in 1859. Moses was involved in forming the Alert Hook and Ladder Company, Olympia’s first firefighting group. Andrew was admitted to the bar in 1865 and acted as a Justice of the Peace. Vanishing from the Olympia scene after his divorce in 1870, he surfaced in Portland. The May 11, 1872 of the Washington Standard reported Moses had been arrested for forgery. He was still living in Portland, working as an attorney, and providing entertaining newspaper copy through his exploits as late as the 1890s.  Andrew Jackson Moses died in Roseburg, Oregon on April 3, 1897 and was buried in Portland.

[The Territorial Librarian profiles were compiled by Sean Lanksbury, Mary Schaff, Kim Smeenk, and Steve Willis]

Written by guest blogger, Adrienne Doman Calkins, CE/Training Intern, Washington State Library, Library Development

Library staff have questions too. Lots of them. Like: How can I best implement eReader training at my library? What are the current trends in library programming? How can I improve our website? What training materials already exist to help me train my new staff? How can I best help my community with digital literacy skills? I want to brush up on my communication skills, but how can I from a remote area with few training opportunities. How can I learn about project management with my busy schedule?

Most importantly, library staff want to know how to keep their skills current to best serve their evolving communities.

The Washington State Library sponsors online learning for library staff across all 71,000+ square miles of the state through a statewide membership to WebJunction, an online learning community designed specifically for library staff. Washington is one of 18 states partnering with WebJunction to offer sponsored access to online courses and webinars for library staff. While WebJunction has a national presence, it is also a local organization based in Seattle, Washington, since 2003. Washington library staff benefit from WebJunction’s connections to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the parent company to WebJunction, OCLC.

If you’ve used WebJunction in years past, look again. The newly redesigned WebJunction website is easier to navigate and offers more resources.

Library staff across Washington are getting value out of the WSL partnership with WebJunction:

• 700 courses were taken in 2012
• 527 registered users attended 24 different live webinars in 2012
• Library staff from 30 different libraries registered for courses in 2012
• 561 Washington library staff are currently registered as WebJunction Washington members.
• With current membership, courses cost WSL about $22 each. That price gets lower the more members join and take courses. The current contract pays for over 3,600 library staff to join WebJunction.
• WebJunction content is available 24/7 to library staff wherever they have an internet connection, making it a great resource for rural library staff, who may not be able to attend offsite trainings as easily, or any staff who need to be as efficient as possible with their time.
• New content is constantly being added to WebJunction. Upcoming webinars can be found on www.webjunction.org, or look on the Washington Partner page to see these and links to WSL’s First Tuesday webinars. Can’t make the date? Past webinars are accessible as archives, as well. New courses will soon be available in video format when WebJunction adds Lynda.com trainings to their course catalog, increasing the software, business and creative offerings sponsored by WSL. Note: access to Lynda.com trainings will be limited, so registered staff should look for the invitation via email soon.
• Washington library staff can create a free account on the WebJunction site. Sponsored access will be approved by WSL and WebJunction within 48 hours.

Some WebJunction users are really taking advantage of the resources. One power-user, Keyla Gonzalez, a Circulation Clerk 2 from Bellingham Public Library, took 25 courses in 2012. She has built an impressive list of skills using WebJunction: “I have learned cultural communication styles, how to reach out to our non-English speaking patrons and how to better equip myself to be more helpful when answering patron’s requests.” What does Keyla appreciation about the WSL sponsored access to WebJunction? “I love that I can use my own time and finish my course load at my own pace. If there’s a course that is strenuous I know I can go back and re-do it however many times I want. Mostly I love that it is accessible at any time and it is free!”
Another important role in online learning is the WebJunction champion—that person who encourages staff to take courses and attend webinars. Some champions are peers, others are trainers, administrators, managers or supervisors. All of them know access to online learning is only part of the solution to help staff keep their skills sharp. The other part is creating a culture that prioritizes learning and gives staff the time, space and resources to participate in online training opportunities.

One such champion is Patricia Chupa, Circulation Supervisor at the Shelton Timberland Library. Pat, as her staff know her, has built just such a culture in her department. She incorporates online learning into the goals her staff make during annual performance evaluations and goes on to make a contract with her staff: if they “partner with one another to get the materials handling work done in a timely fashion,” then they are guaranteed “protected time to do their courses” and staff help cover for each other by negotiating the best time for trainings. Has the effort paid off? Pat is proud to report “the professional approach to their customer service has improved across the team, and that has readily been demonstrated in the level of satisfaction we see and hear from our patrons.”

The WebJunction Washington partner resources are managed by the Washington State Library, with input from a state-wide WebJunction Washington Advisory Team made up of members from public, academic, and special libraries across the state. It’s the sponsored learners, though, that make WebJunction resources come alive as library staff interact with library patrons with skills learned through this state-sponsored resource.

If the first rule of management is to hire well, then the Public Services group of Washington State Library got off to a good start when reference librarian Kim Smeenk was invited to join the staff over half a decade ago.

Kim, who is a specialist in genealogical research and a fine reference librarian as well, is amazingly prolific in answering online queries. This is an especially desirable trait in light of significant loss of librarians the Public Services unit has experienced in the last few years.

Kim, who has been in the field for 16 years, originally became a genealogical librarian by circumstance. While part of the public library staff in Michigan City, Indiana, she realized she enjoyed the critical thinking and detective work involved in answering the queries, and the other librarians were more than happy to let her have this subject area exclusively. As fate would have it, she learned on the front lines how to use the online tools while those resources were in an embryonic state. Kim’s research skills have grown as the Web-based content has evolved.

She has also been active in promoting WSL’s genealogical resources (online and in person) to Washington State genealogical and historical societies, helping our citizens learn about and celebrate their cultural heritage and the role of their families in the development of The Evergreen State. Kim says, “Educating the library patron to the myriad of resources available to them just within the digital world of WSL/Archives alone can be a major eye-opener for them.”

Kim enjoys discovering new areas of the Pacific Northwest, connecting geographic names she has researched in the course of her work with a real place. And she likes to read, a lot.

One of the most surprising facts about her? Interestingly, Kim, whose North American roots trace to very recent Dutch ancestors, has little interest in researching her own family history. For Kim her work is the biblio version of Ars gratia artis.

Thanks you, Kim, for showing leadership in genealogy research at the Washington State Library.

Ask-WA Statistics – September, 2009

Ask-WA maintained a busy service during the month of September, and chat picked up slightly over August as schools came back into session. In numbers:

• Email questions received: 3707
• Chat sessions requested: 3457
• Chat sessions accepted: 2993
• Qwidget requests (% of total): 848 (24.5%)

As a cooperative we maintained an answering percentage of 86.6% for the month, which is a good 2% over last month, and remains well over the goal rate of 75%. Keep up the good work! The email aspect of the service remains robust, and continues to outpace chat ever-so-slightly. Qwidget traffic remains around 1/4th of the total chat traffic.

The word cloud highlights some of the most-used words left in survey comments throughout September.

Read the rest of this entry »