WA Secretary of State Blogs

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

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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.

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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].

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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.

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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.

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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.

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6) FREE CE OPPORTUNITIES NEXT WEEK

Monday, October 16

Tuesday, October 17

Wednesday, October 18

Thursday, October 19

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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.

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The Condition of Libraries: 1999-2009

Friday, January 15th, 2010 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, News | Comments Off on The Condition of Libraries: 1999-2009


image The American Library Association released on January 12th a new report detailing economic trends in US libraries and providing an outlook for 2010. Says ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels: “This report was prepared to inform and assist library leaders as they plan in these very difficult times. It succinctly brings together diverse strands of data from the past decade to provide a useful benchmark for the library community and its advocates.”

There’s some great data in the report worth looking at, including some of the following snippets about public libraries:

  • 25.4 million Americans reported using their public library more than 20 times in the last year, up from 20.3 million households in 2006.
  • The average number of  in-person public  library visits rose to 12.7  in 2009 from 9.1 in 2006.
  • Use  of  the  public  library  by  computer  (from  home,  work  or  school)  doubled from 2006 to 2009 (6 times per year, up from 2.9 times in 2006).
  • 22% of Americans visited their public library by computer from home, office or school more often in the last 6 months. This percentage may seem low, but it is about 51 million Americans.

The report contains a lot of information about the economic situations of libraries in the past ten years, and uses graphs and charts to help display information in a meaningful way. You can download the full report (or library type-specific reports), and view the full press release, over at the ALA web site.