Libraries connect readers to information, ideas, learning, knowledge, and development. Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, helps ensure people have unfettered access to information at hundreds of public, school, academic, and institutional libraries across Washington.
Librarians at Washington State Library are often found serving their customers at one of several microfilm machines, carefully searching among hundreds of Washington newspapers past and present for that elusive article or photo.
Sometimes a diligent search can reveal a serendipitous and very curious find, which can make a librarian’s entire day. For example, the front page of the Nov. 7, 1957, Bremerton Sun shows a young animal-rights activist named Mary Ann Olander (age 7 1/2) along with her dog, Laddie, and her cat, Queenie.
From the 1930s through at least the 1950s, there was tension between “public power” advocates and supporters of privately owned power utilities. The tension is reflected in the fact that many counties and municipalities own and operate their own public utilities, while Spokane’s electrical power comes from a publicly traded corporation called Avista (formerly Washington Water Power [WWP]).
In 2021 Eastern Regional Branch Archivist Lee Pierce uncovered a nearly forgotten collection that provides researchers with something of an insider’s view of this conflict.
2020 was an extraordinary year for many reasons, all of which have been immortalized in catchy headlines and sensational news stories.
Future generations will marvel at these stories and wonder how we coped during these extraordinary times. Much like how we look back on years past and wonder about the issues and challenges our recent ancestors endured.
The Review Club of Aberdeen is the oldest women's cultural group still in existence in Washington. Founded on March 3, 1891, the Review Club meets twice a month to share and discuss "good books." Topics have included everything from fiction to politics to spiritualism.
The Washington State Library’s annual Washington Digital Heritage grant cycle has helped preserve a wealth of historical documents from organizations and private collections statewide.
Whether you are sewing from scratch or upcycling, we’ve got you covered!
In honor of National Sewing Month and recent worldwide
interest in upcycling clothes, we’d like to share some little-known resources here at The Washington State Library.
The advent of the internet opened all sorts of possibilities for self-expression but even before the internet, people with something to say have always found a way to get their story out. One of the ways, that originated in the 1930s, are Zines.
