From Our Corner

Secret to 100+ years may be in the books...

Want to live a long life? Then keep reading!

That was the wisdom from six centenarians who were honored at the 10-Squared Talking Book Club spring tea in Seattle this weekend. The annual tea has been organized for the past five years by the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library to bring together 10-Squared club members, who are all 100 years old or older and regular patrons of the library.

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From Your Corner of Washington

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- Snoqualmie Falls

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'Still reforming': Governor signs election package

Image Flanked by Secretary of State Sam Reed and many of Washington's County Auditors, Governor Gregoire has signed election legislation that will save tax dollars, reduce the number of springtime election dates, and make voter registration even more convenient for… Read more

Capitol Kibbles ...

Here are some bits & pieces from Olytown ...

• Governor Gregoire is getting writer's cramp signing the avalanche of bills that passed the 105-day legislative session even though lawmakers were often transfixed by the $9 billion budget gap. Although lawmakers… Read more

New Rural Heritage Collection: "Old" Kettle Falls.

From the desk of Evan Robb When construction of the Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1941, much of the town of Kettle Falls disappeared beneath the rising waters of Lake Roosevelt. About 300 individuals picked up and relocated to the site of present-day Kettle Falls, WA (a few miles away, in what had previously been Meyers Falls). Our newest collection, from the Kettle… Read more

Didyaknow...

Image ... the story pole on the west capitol campus was purchased by the donations of schoolchildren? Washington kids all over the state brought in pennies and raised $200 needed to buy the pole. May 14 marks 69 years since the story pole was dedicated. Chief William of the Snohomish Tribe began carving in 1938 and sadly passed away before he finished the massive piece of artwork, and carvers from his tribe finished it. Chief Shelton’s Story… Read more

From Your Corner of Washington

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Bridge at Tolmie State Park -Submitted by K

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Farewell

From the desk of Mary Paynton Schaff After some serious consideration, the Public Services staff has come to the decision that it is time to put an official end our blog. Unfortunately we just don’t have time to update it any longer, and we hate to have old and outdated posts out there cluttering up our website and confusing our patrons. And while it's apparent that the blog format served our purposes for a number of years, we now have better and more efficient ways of posting new… Read more

Law enforcement officers to receive Medal of Honor

Image There will be a special ceremony tomorrow in which Governor Chris Gregoire and Attorney General Rob McKenna will award six law enforcement officers this year’s Medal of Honor, the state’s highest law enforcement award. The ceremony takes place at 1 p.m. at the Law Enforcement Memorial site on the Capitol Campus, between the Temple of Justice and the trail leading down to Capitol Lake. According to a news release by the AG’s Office, new… Read more

Utterly appropriate: leadership award for Reed

Image Former Chief Justice Robert F. Utter and Secretary of State Sam Reed are old friends and a have a mutual admiration society. Reed and his wife Margie even live in the Olympia split-level that Utter and his wife Betty called home before they moved to the bayfront. And Reed's Legacy Project has just produced a wonderful oral history on the distinguished jurist, civic activist and scholar. So it was quite fitting, then, when Utter presented… Read more

WSL Updates, May 7, 2009

Volume 5: May 7, 2009 for the WSL Updates mailing list Topics include: 1) PROQUEST RENEWAL ANNOUNCEMENT 2) HARD TIMES COMPETITIVE GRANT CYCLE WILL OPEN SOON 3) GENTLY-USED COPIES OF THREE CUPS OF TEA ARE AVAILABLE VIA WSL 4) GOVERNOR SIGNS SB 5355—INITIAL LEVY RATES 5) WAYFINDER & WASHINGTON GROUP SERVICES TRAINING 6) HIDDEN COLLECTIONS CATALOGING GRANTS AVAILABLE 7) EDUCATION GRANTS FOR MATH/SCIENCE AND FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1) PROQUEST RENEWAL ANNOUNCEMENT… Read more

From Your Corner of Washington

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-Tumwater Falls

Submitted by Will who says: "This is, of course, only the “smaller” side of the falls, which in summer, is reduced to a few trickles. Further over to the right, beyond the big rocks, is the “main” section, not visible in this shot."

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Monroe in review

I know that all of the institutions are different, as each location has a different superintendent and they tend to run things based on the population that is housed in the institution. Monroe was definitely a change for me as it was the first time I experienced call-outs for the library. They way it works for the Reformatory is that there is a sign up sheet in each unit with 7 slots for each hour the library is open. All the units get to mingle and the first seven in each unit that sign… Read more

Elections 101: Back to school, plus awards & great food

Image Richard Smolka, one of America's senior election-watchers, says Washington has the country's best-trained crew of state and county election administrators and workers. That's thanks in part to training, training, training. To underscore that point, this week, about 240 election folks went back to school yet again. The annual training conference, held at Great Wolf conference center in Grand Mound this year, featured intensive workshops in… Read more

Wayfinder & Washington Group Services Training

OCLC Western is offering two online training sessions relating to Wayfinder and Washington Group Services.

“Introduction to the Washington Group Contract” is scheduled from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Friday, May 15, with a 5/11 registration deadline. This session presents the purpose, history,… Read more

5 Questions with the State Librarian

Image Washington State Librarian Jan Walsh provides the scoop about some recent changes to the State Library -- and how that impacts you. Q: There were several changes made over the session that impacted the State Library. How will it all impact State Library users? A: As the State Library has the largest percentage of state general funds within the Office of the Secretary of State, the library had the largest percentage of cut. Find-It Washington… Read more

Travel

Over the last couple weeks I got to travel across the state. Now this has its advantages and can actually be fun at times. This time was no exception. I had a good time but it was still good to get back. The first week I spent some time in Monroe at the Reformatory since the staff member had retired and they were short staffed. Also I admit I was branch shopping as I am thinking of transferring over. During my week there I realized that I would have a lot to do and it is a nice area,… Read more

Re: WA green-lights voting rights for ex-cons

Image Governor Gregoire has signed legislation allowing ex-convicts to get their voting rights restored once they're served their prison sentences and community supervision. Secretary Reed, who strongly backed the measure, told a celebration after the bill-signing that it was "clearly the right thing to do," because it improves election administration and fosters responsible civic behavior by ex-felons when they return to their home communities.… Read more

Domestic partnership foes file referendum

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Opponents of Washington's new "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law are hoping to force a statewide public vote on the issue this fall.

Larry Stickney, Arlington, president of Washington Values Alliance (Web site here), filed a referendum at the state Elections Division in Oly on Monday. Sponsors will have… Read more

You have referendum questions? We have answers...

Early this afternoon, Referendum 71 was filed on the domestic partnership bill (SB 5688) passed this year by the state Legislature. This is the second referendum filed with the Secretary of State in the past week. R-70 deals with SB 5599, which would require our state’s electoral votes to go to the national popular vote winner in a presidential election. Since the referendum process is complex, it’s likely many people might have questions about it.… Read more