Deep in the basement of the Evergreen State College on Cooper Point outside of Olympia is a room that appears to have once hummed with the sound of giant computers. But now all that is left is one lonely server, along with a few dust bunnies.

You wouldn’t know to look at it, but this machine hosts the consortium catalog for the Washington State Library, The Evergreen State College, and Saint Martins University. By the end of this December all three libraries will be moving to newer frontiers. Evergreen and St. Martins  will be joining a larger alliance with other Pacific Northwest academic libraries, and WSL family of libraries will go solo.

We will continue using the Innovative Millennium system, but our server will change and as a result our public catalog will look different. This change gives us an opportunity to reshape our services a bit more for our particular customer base.

It seems inevitable this kind of migration will have bumps here and there. Hopefully we’ll have them ironed out quickly. Library users attempting to use the system to place holds or make changes on their account on Dec. 2-3 are advised to wait until Dec. 4.

Once our new catalog is up and running, please take a look and send us your feedback and/or questions. I can be contacted at:

[email protected]

(360) 704-5276

Secretary of State Sam Reed is leaving his Office in January, but he won’t be leaving the Washington State Library.  Washington State Library’s online catalog will continue to preserve Sam’s career in public service as an author, co-author, and through subject headings.

Sam Reed is listed as an author or co-author in 17 entries in the online catalog.  The authority heading as an author is Reed, Sam, 1941-.  There is a “See” reference for Reed, Sam Sumner, 1941 which points to Reed, Sam 1941.  The 17 entries include Washington State Publications in both print and electronic formats.

The oldest title listed was published in 1968:

An analysis of the factional power struggle in the Republican Party of Washington State from 1962 to 1967  [Pullman] Dept. of Political Science, Washington State University, c1968

Perhaps this was the beginning of Sam’s interest in civility in government?

Sam Reed’s new book, A Survival Guide for Life in the Public Arena,  shares his views and experiences on leadership and how to succeed in government service.  This book will soon be available through the Washington State Library’ s catalog.

Searching for Sam Reed as a title brings up two entries.  One is a work in which Sam is featured in a case study.  The other is an electronic publication of the Office of the Secretary of State.

As a subject, Sam has two subject headings:  Reed, Sam, 1941- and Reed, Sam, 1941- — Correspondence.  There are two entries for Reed, Sam, 1941 and one entry for Reed, Sam –Correspondence.  Recently, a book detailing Sam Reed’s political history and accomplishments as Secretary of State was published.  The book, Sam Reed Secretary of State:  A Dozen Years of Service & Civility, will also soon be available in the Washington State Library catalog.

Sam can also be found in the Washington State Library’s Select Index to The Olympian and other regional publications.  This online index contains citations to articles in The Olympian and other newspapers throughout Washington.  Dates covered are 1993-2009, inclusive.  Searching for Sam Reed will bring up 515 results which include citations to articles when Sam was Thurston County Auditor and during his tenure as Secretary of State.

As long as there is a Washington State Library, Sam will remain in its stacks and catalog.