From Our Corner

Picturing Washington's Libraries

Since the Library Development team is out on the road a lot visiting libraries throughout the state, we often take advantage of our visits by taking some pictures of the libraries and their surrounding areas. This let's us keep a visual record of the libraries we serve, but also allows you to tour a number of Washington libraries without having to pay for gas!

Check out… Read more

Moving Forward, Looking Back

Last night's opening of our office's new exhibit, "Moving Forward, Looking Back", was an extraordinary, energetic evening dedicated to the women of Washington. Governor Gregoire, first woman insurance commissioner Deborah Senn, first woman lands commissioner Jennifer Belcher, and relatives of Dixy Lee Ray and Belle Reeves shared inspiring… Read more

Happy 100th birthday, Gov. Rosellini

A hundred years ago today, Albert Rosellini was born. He would later become Washington's governor, serving from 1957 to 1965. He is among the oldest living former governors in the U.S. Image… Read more

WSL Updates for January 21, 2010

Volume 6, January 21, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) STATE LIBRARY BUDGET CUTS DOCUMENTED

2) BROADBAND STIMULUS FUNDING ROUND TWO ANNOUNCED

3) NEW POSTER FEATURES SKIERS PHIL, STEVE, AND ANDY MAHRE

4) KID'S STUFF ON THE WEB: FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP

5) ONLINE GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOP OFFERED BY WSL

6) TEDX FOR LIBRARIES: DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING FOR FREE

7) WEBINAR DISCUSSES LIBRARY ROLES IN WORKFORCE RECOVERY

… Read more

Homebuilders mount workers' comp initiative

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Voting, again? Ballots coming your way

It seems like we just counted the last of the November ballots and put the election equipment away, but any day now, most Washington voters will be getting ballots in the mail for the February 9 election. Image

The state Elections Division has tallied it… Read more

State Library facing budget cuts – again

Image As state legislators work to fix a projected $2.8 billion budget hole before the 2010 legislative session ends in March, the Washington State Library once again is in the crosshairs. Gov. Gregoire’s budget proposal would ax $2 million from the State… Read more

WSL Makes the Front Page

The Washington State Library made the front page of the Olympian this morning. Unfortunately the headline reads: "State Library Faces Cuts." I'll keep my fingers crossed that one day in the future we'll make it to the front page again with a better headline, something like "State Library prospers in… Read more

Votes for women!

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Members of the League of Women Voters, who were at the capitol today discussing legislation with various lawmakers, visited the Office of Secretary of State's Office in period costume and admired our new exhibit on women in government,… Read more

Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for Dec 2009

Ask-WA Statistics – December, 2009

December tends to be a slower month for Ask-WA, mainly because academic traffic drops off so sharply during the holiday breaks. In numbers:

• Email questions received… Read more

Lawmakers love the beautiful game

Image It's official: soccer's a hit in Washington. State lawmakers recently showed Seattle Sounders some love for a successful inaugural season by passing a resolution in both the Senate and House chambers. And guess who stopped… Read more

Clippings, January 15, 2009

Library News The Everett Public Library’s staff association usually does something nice for the community around the holidays. This time, they decided to make diaper collection their focus after reading a story in The Herald in November about the bare shelves at the Everett Gospel Women’s Shelter. By the end of the year, they had gathered a mountain of diapers – about 75 packages with a total of more than 750 diapers. (Photo) (The Daily Herald [Everett], 1.5.10)… Read more

Library Legislation Tracker - January 15, 2010

Courtesy Legislative Planning Committee, Washington Library Association State Bills of Interest. 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… Read more

Furlough days: new plan for 16 days of 'temporary layoffs'

Senate budget Chairwoman Margarita Prentice has introduced a plan for closing state agencies one day a month for the next 16 months, as a way of cutting costs as the state deals with a multibillion-dollar budget crisis. Prentice, a Renton Democrat, outlined in… Read more

R-71 petitions: High court will hear appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge of Washington's practice of releasing initiative and referendum petitions under the state's voter-approved Public Records Act.

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The court said it would hear oral arguments, possibly as early as… Read more

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.… Read more

Watch out: Scam e-mails try to snatch Haiti donations

Yesterday our office warned you to be on guard against scammers as you donate to aid the horrific disaster in Haiti. Today, our IT department alerted us to the fact that spammers are already sending out scam e-mails requesting donations to send to Haiti – and these messages are convincing!

Here’s an example of the type of spam you may be getting in your inbox: Image The best practice, our Charities Manager tells us, is to donate… Read more

WSL Updates for January 14, 2010

Volume 6, January 14, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) EFFECTIVELY SERVING PATRONS WITH PHYSICAL/MENTAL DISABILITIES

2) ONLINE GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOPS OFFERED BY WSL

3) WE THE PEOPLE BOOKSHELF OPPORTUNITY

4) GEORGE AND JOAN ON PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS IN TOUGH TIMES

5) BOOKS FOR CHILDREN GRANTS

6) JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT ON THE WEB: CORE TOOLS FOR LIBRARIANS

… Read more

Help Haitian victims by steering clear of scammers

Image A powerful earthquake in Haiti has prompted international leaders and aid organizations to urge the public to donate in the relief effort. Right now, you may feel compelled to help the families of thousands of victims there by making a donation. While the… Read more

WA asks appeals bench to suspend felon voter ruling

Image Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed are asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend a ruling that Washington must allow felons to register to vote while still serving their sentence. The hold would maintain the status quo -- a ban on voting by felons in prison or on community supervision -- while the state attempts to overturn the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. Jeff Even, deputy solicitor general… Read more