Courtesy of the Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association Library Related Legislation. The Washington Library Association (WLA) tracks state legislative activity that will potentially affect Washington Libraries. Their tracker is posted to the WLA web site and we will also post it weekly on this blog.

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

Many libraries are embellished with significant pieces of art found in the building or on the immediate grounds, enhancing their attractiveness to patrons and visitors. Not too long ago I had the opportunity to visit the Ellensburg Public Library, where I encountered quite a remarkable collection of art works. If you’re in Ellensburg, it’s worth a visit to the library just to check them out!

Many of the art pieces there grace the exterior building and grounds. These ranged from the brightly colored mural on the adjacent Hal Holmes Center building, to the charming if slightly disconcerting Kitt Coyote who greets you as you approach the library entrance. On the day I visited, he was flourishing a brightly colored bouquet of flowers that someone had handed to him.

I hope you’ll follow the links to view several more pictures of these pieces and more. Look for the appealing bas relief of a girl and boy sharing a book under the apple trees, with a mountain in the background.

Not to mention the impressive labyrinth, depicting the history of the county in four quadrants: In the Beginning; And Then People Came to Live; And Then People Built Towns and Industries; And Now Our Hands Build for the Future.

Inside you’ll encounter the beautiful Margaret Holms Memorial stained glass window, depicting a woman reading to children, while a couple of engaging dogs look on. Brightly colored ceramic tiles and earth toned vases by a local artist ornament another room. The whimsical anthropomorphic stepping stool “whatsit” is apparently a favorite with the children, while kindergartners themselves painted the equally delightful “Tulip in the Kinder Garden” a splashily decorated exemplar of the “Cows Around Town” project.

Finally, I had the enjoyment of viewing several of Doc Hageman’s pieces fashioned from paper pill cups. Since those were a temporary exhibit while I was there, you probably won’t be lucky enough to see them if you visit now.

Art makes everyone’s day brighter, especially when it’s found @ the library!

Libraries are no longer simply a holding area for books, they are community hubs. People gather at the library to share ideas and enrich their lives. Computers and internet are now standard in libraries and are often in demand. Unemployed individuals can come to the library and apply for jobs. Kids can do their homework (or play games) at the library. But did you know that libraries are now becoming much more than books, computers and internet? Libraries are becoming creation spaces, often called maker spaces (or makerspaces).

What is a makerspace? Personally, I like this definition “Modeled after hackerspaces, a makerspace is a place where young people have an opportunity to explore their own interests, learn to use tools and materials, and develop creative projects. It could be embedded inside an existing organization or standalone on its own. It could be a simple room in a building or an outbuilding that’s closer to a shed. The key is that it can adapt to a wide variety of uses and can be shaped by educational purposes as well as the students’ creative goals.” (Makerspaces, Participatory Learning, and Libraries).

Sound familiar? It is not really that much of a stretch for libraries that already offer book clubs with knitting or various craft programs.

Makerspaces in libraries are also connected to STEM which is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. There is also a group wanting to add art into the mix to create STEAM. Both ideas dovetail nicely with offering maker space for people to experiment and create.

Is your library already a makerspace? If not, can you envision it becoming one?

Here are more resources on makerspaces:
Westport Library Maker-Space
Maker-Spaces-in-Libraries
News story from the Capital Gazette
IMLS

Photo courtesy of Helen K via photopin cc

Our shared memories about libraries will now be posted.  Sorry for the delay, the first one will be out today.  Enjoy reading about our memories of libraries and feel free to share some of yours in the comments.

Today, August 9, is said to be Book Lovers Day. I can’t find out much about the origins or history of this “holiday,” but it’s all over the web, so it must be true, right?! ☺ Also, I heard it on my local NPR station this morning.

I thought I’d celebrate the occasion by posting this picture I took in the Ft. Vancouver High School Library Media Center a while back. The picture features one of my favorite book quotes, which happens to be from poet Emily Dickinson:

There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away.

I love books, and I love reading, so this is definitely MY day. I hope it’s your day, too!

If anyone knows anything more about Book Lovers Day, please feel free to post a comment.

Happy Book Lovers Day, everyone!

Libraries are the setting for many good memories, and over the next few weeks, Washington State Library’s Institutional Library Services staff would like to share a few of their memories about libraries.  Some of them will date back to childhood, others will tell stories of their own children or grandchildren, but all of them show the impact libraries have had on our lives. I wish you happy reading as we bring you our memories.

There’s been a lot of buzz the past week about a new book that was just published. Marilyn Johnson’s book, This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, has been getting a lot of press (and that’s a good thing for all of us). In the book, Johnson argues that librarians remain essential, even in the Google age (especially in the Google age?), but also remain underappreciated.

That’s not news for many of us, I’m sure, but her book abounds with examples of how librarians are helpful, hip, and breaking new ground every day in how they serve their communities. A recent Salon.com article cites that Johnson:

“… delights in refuting our assumptions about librarians, while making a rock-solid case for their indispensability at a time when library systems are losing an average of 50 librarians per year. Who else is going to help us formulate the questions Google doesn’t understand, or show non-English speakers how to apply for jobs online, or sympathize with your need to research the ancient origins of cockfighting? Librarians, Johnson argues, are one of our most underappreciated natural resources.”

Johnson was interviewed for the radio show On the Media, which was released on February 19th. You can listen to the full interview below (6m:09s):

There have also been excellent stories and interviews via the NJ Star-Ledger and Library Journal (which has video clips!).

Marilyn Johnson has her own website at http://marilynjohnson.net, and the book has its own site: http://www.thisbookisoverdue.com/. You may also find the book at your local library via WorldCat.

Those of us in libraries know that librarians are amazing; hopefully this book will help get the word out to the rest of the world.

King County Library System (KCLS) has been getting quite a bit of attention the last few days for its staffless library branch.

It started on LJ – http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6710470.html –

“So, how to expand library service on a tight budget? Some libraries have tried vending machines (such as the Go Library/Library-a-Go-Go) or kiosks. The King County Library System (KCLS), WA, just opened an unstaffed 300-square-foot Library Express @ Redmond Ridge, in partnership with the Redmond Ridge Residential Owners Association.

“The new mini-branch was inspired by a survey of community residents; some 95 percent said they would rather pick up their holds in a nearby unstaffed library than drive to a full-service library. Redmond Ridge is a 1,228-unit master-planned community.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Washington Rural Heritage team has been criss-crossing the state consulting with project participants, meeting with potential contributors and scanning, scanning, and scanning some more. In the last month, we’ve seen three out of four corners of this state — and a few spots in between — and though we’re a little road-weary, we can’t wait to feature these incredible historic finds on our site.

We started the month of July on Lummi Island, capturing some large reef-netting maps and historic fishing gear like cedar buoys and anchor stones once used by Lummi Indians.

The next week, we were off to the grassy plains of Garfield County, where we set up shop at the Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum to scan some incredibly-restored farming implements and equipment. We were psyched to have the opportunity to capture our largest item to date: a fully-restored, horse-drawn 36-foot Harris pull combine.

After that, we met with the Sedro-Woolley librarian and representatives from the Sedro-Woolley Museum to discuss a future project scanning some of their incredible holdings (including 97 glass lantern slides, ca. 1910, documenting a real shoot-em-up robbery!).

And finally, we drove almost eight hours to get up to Metaline Falls in Pend Oreille County, where we scanned almost 600 century-old photographs portraying life in this tiny community surrounded by the Colville National Forest. You’ll see scenes from a bear bbq, many shots of construction of the Box Canyon Bridge and Dam, and, of course, Black Beauty in all her glory (blogged about here).

Check back for more collections soon!