The Corner Office

The Best Day Ever

2011-08-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

That was the verdict of one young reader at our Evergreen Branch this past Wednesday night. She was referring to the annual Mayor's Award, a celebration of the accomplishments of Everett kids who managed to complete their reading goal this summer.

What made her so happy? She, along with almost 100 kids at the Branch (and another 100 at the Main Library) met the Mayor and received a colorful certificate commemmorating her effort. Then she got to visit the face painter and the balloon artist, enjoy the refreshments, play with bubbles, and make a pipe cleaner and bead craft.

Volunteers from the Friends of the Library, who provide a huge amount of monetary support for this program, were on hand to help. They also encouraged attendees and their parents to "like" us on Facebook, and post any photos they wanted to share of the festivities. Amazingly, someone had posted a photo even before the event was over.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to Peninsular Lodge #95 F & AM for providing us with 8 grand prizes. The lucky kids who won the drawing for the prizes got to pick either a bike or a scooter, and go shopping to pick out exactly what they wanted. The Masons even provided a bike helmet and a lock and chain for each bike. I am so impressed with their generosity.

Playing with blocks

2011-08-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

I have recently returned from a week spent babysitting my grandson. He's a 2 1/2 year old bundle of energy. He loves trucks, blocks, his neighborhood parks, grocery shopping, Bob the Builder DVDs, cooking (especially baking), and even being read to. We enjoyed reading Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama books, Good Night, Good Night Construction Site by Sherry Rinker, and many other books. We visited the library together, and it was fun to see how much he enjoyed everything about that visit, from pressing the button to open the front door to getting in the elevator and picking the floor for the children's room to selecting what books he wanted.

It's always good to be back home, but I do miss seeing the joy he takes in every little thing. It's easy to take our libraries and parks for granted, but seeing them through the eyes of a small child brings home how important these amenities can be to families.

A World without Bookstores?

2011-07-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

I recently read about the demise of Borders. I'm old enough to remember when Borders was the latest thing in bookstores. I also remember how their growth in some cities came at the expense of independent bookstores. Still, it made me sad to think we're losing another bricks and mortar location for browsing and buying books.

I know you can't fight progress, but I can't help wondering if we are heading into a time when most of our shopping occurs online. I recently heard a story on the radio about Australian stores charging shoppers who try on clothes and shoes but don't buy anything. They believe people try things on and than order online (cheaper) once they know what they want. Amazon continues to fight paying sales tax anywhere it possibly can, helping keep its prices low.

My hope, as a librarian (and a sometime shopper), is that both libraries and retail stores figure out a way to stay afloat in the real and virtual worlds.

Yarn Bombing

2011-06-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was walking through our book stacks, when I came across the yarn flower pictured here. Attached to it was a short note that read "thank you for your cooperation in making Everett a little brighter on International Yarn Bombing Day. Knit something." I had heard of yarn bombing; we even have a book on it entitled Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti; but I never thought I would see it in the library.It turns out that June 11 was the first International Yarn Bombing Day,and I am very pleased that the Everett Public Library was part of it, albeit in a small way.

Bloomsday!

2011-06-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Today is Bloomsday, the day in 1904 when James Joyce's novel Ulysses takes place. The day is celebrated everywhere there are Joyce fans. I was pleased to see that someone has checked out a copy of Ulysses from the Everett Public Library. The book has a reputation for being challenging, and if you look in our catalog you will see several guides to help readers find their way through the mind of Leopold Bloom and Joyce's writing style.

If you're not up to reading the entire book, you might check out Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less. Or perhaps you prefer a more graphic approach to literature. In that case you might enjoy the beginnings of an online graphic novel at www.ulyssesseen.com. Happy Bloomsday.

My new favorite thing...

2011-06-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

That would be my Sansa Clip MP3 player. When we first started offering Overdrive downloadable audiobooks, I spent a lot of time researching the best device and talking to friends about what worked well for them. I wanted something with a display screen and I wanted to be able to easily bookmark the point where I stopped listening. Nothing seemed right, but I ended up purchasing a fairly expensive Sansa product that was supposed to allow you to mark your place. I could never figure out how to make it actually do that, and ended up abandoning it.

But now I have a Sansa Clip, and I think it is perfect. It costs 1/4 of what my first MP3 player cost, it has a small (but adequate) display, it is easy to bookmark, it's tiny--maybe only one inch square, and right now I have five books on it and it still has lots of room. This weekend I had it going about six hours each day as I worked out in my garden and listened to Ian Rankin's The Complaints, and it was still holding a pretty good charge.

Now I'm hoping the weather will improve so I can spend more time outdoors listening to books.

May 2, 1611

2011-04-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a little ahead of schedule, but I didn't want the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James version of the Bible to go unremarked. As a librarian, I'm interested in the Bible because it is one of the most widely read books in the English language. It is also one of the most often translated books, whether into other languages or colloquial English. I started to try counting how many versions we have here, but eventually gave up. We have The Jewish Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Learning Bible, New American Standard Version, Positive Bible, and on and on--to the tune of about 131 items under the title heading Bible. And more if you count DVD and audiobook versions. Granted some are study versions or concordances, but still--that's a lot of Bibles.

I think most people would agree that the King James version has set a high mark for poetic language. Phrases from the Bible find their way into book titles, and these books find their way into our collections. The web site Goodreads has a list of book titles that come from the Bible with over 170 entries. Here are just a few: East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Rembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter, and Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl.

You don't often think that something put together by a committee, even when assigned the job by a king, will prove to be so enduring. Happy 400th to the King James Version of the Bible.

National Library Week at EPL

2011-04-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is National Library Week, and we've been celebrating all week--in a low key sort of way. If you visited either branch on Tuesday, April 12, you had an opportunity to have your photo taken with your favorite book as part of Library Snapshot Day. On Library Snapshot Day libraries all over the country took photos of what's going on in their buildings to document all the different things that go on in libraries. We are in the process of posting the photos we took on our new Facebook page. You'll find us there at facebook.com/everettlibrary. You can friend us or like us. The page will be another way to keep up with what's going on at your library, and we also hope to use it to gather some feedback--so look for the occasional survey there.

Have a great National Library Week. Check out a book--it's on us!

Rain, rain, go away

2011-04-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that a trip to someplace warm and sunny right about now sounds appealing. But since that's not happening, I have decided to just look forward to things I know are going to happen around here. And there is actually quite a lot.

We are finally getting ready for our teen space project by getting rid of most of our old magazine archive, rearranging collections on the first floor, and lowering our shelves to make access more convenient. You're probably wondering why you should even believe me, since I've been talking about this project for so long. However, it really is going to happen. While the construction contract is being signed, we're picking out paint, carpet, and furnishings. I'm looking forward to seeing all our work pay off with a great place for teens and a story room large enought to hold everyone who would like to attend.

You may have noticed the street in front of the Main Library is almost finished. And just in time for our next door neighbor, Library Place, to begin building the last part of their project. This time next year we should have almost 200 new neighbors--more if you count those who live in the Schack Arts Center.

The last thing on my list to look forward to is National Library Week, which is April 10-16. Come help us celebrate Library Snapshot Day on April 12 (and get your photo taken with your favorite book), or National Bookmobile Day on April 13. There will be activities going on at both locations, so stop by and check it out.

Eat your vegetables

2011-03-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I attended the Everett Public Schools Foundation annual fund raising breakfast. The speaker was Graham Kerr,the former Galloping Gourmet. Mr. Kerr is now growing (and eating)vegetables, and working with the school district to develop school meals that are both healthy and appealing to children. It's a worthy project, and I wish him well.

My own parents once made me eat two servings of lima beans in one sitting. It was my own fault--I had steathily transferred my limas to my brother's plate while we were watching the World of Disney one Sunday night. He was outraged when he realized what I'd done, and I had to eat them all. It was years before I could even contemplate cooking, much less eating, a lima bean.

My grandson loves to help his parents cook, but wouldn't dream of putting something green in his mouth. Perhaps I'll check out one of Mr. Kerr's healthy cookbooks and look into some child-friendly vegetable dishes.

Everett Reads! swings out on Saturday

2011-02-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

February has been the month of Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. We celebrated a month of reading and community, kicking it off with an evening with Jamie Ford, and now winding down with a Saturday, February 26 performance by Bob Strickland's Swing Masters at 2 p.m. at the Main Library.

This is a free, family-oriented event, and even if you haven't read the book, you can enjoy the hits of the early 1940s that are part of the background music of Ford's book.

Everett Reads! may be coming to an end, but we've noticed that Everett keeps reading no matter what. Good for you, and good for us.

Writer's Block?

2011-01-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I wrote anything in this space, and I feel a bit guilty about that. It's not because there haven't been a lot of things going on. Since I last wrote we found out we didn't win the Playaway contest (but we were a runner up!), we have started to check out epub books for digital readers, we're about ready to go out to bid for the teen space project, and Everett Reads!, our new community reading program, is due to begin shortly. And of course, the street in front of the library is still torn up.

I hope you'll pick up a copy of Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, our choice for the community reading program. I have almost finished it, and am looking forward to hearing Ford talk about his book on February 4 at the Everett Performing Arts Center.

And my New Year's resolution? I hope to be a more conscientious blogger in 2011.

When everything is downloadable...

2010-12-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

About ten days ago we decided to start providing downloadable ebooks for Nooks and other compatible devices, using the same company that hosts our downloadable audio book collection. They should be showing up in our catalog soon--maybe even before the end of the year, which would be good timing if you are hoping for an ereader this holiday season. Just make sure your personal shopper knows that Kindles do not work with the ebooks soon to be available from the library.

Everytime these new formats come along, I start thinking about the what it means for libraries now and in the future. There's the budget part of the issue, of course. It costs money to make these available, but our book budget isn't really growing and people still want the actual book as well as the audio version of the book--all of which means that it's not unusual for us to buy the same book in print, large print, CD, downloadable audio, and perhaps now, downloadable text. We're balancing these competing demands as best we can, but it's a challenge.

Then there's the whole question of where libraries will fit in if the future is more mobile (much of what I read seems to say soon we'll all be using smart phones for virtually everything we now do on a PC), and also much less oriented toward traditional print.

Yesterday Google Editions went live, in direct competition with Amazon. Barnes and Nobel stores are having a hard time, as are many independent book stores. I don't think that most people want to pay for every book they might want to read, even if the digital versions cost less than traditional print--I know I couldn't afford that. But libraries are a relatively small part of the book market, and the companies developing these new tools aren't so interested in us. Publishers are trying to figure out how to stay profitable in a digital world, and letting libraries check out a single digital copy of a book to multiple users looks like lost revenue to them.

Librarians are in this profession because we believe in the value of what we do. I read something the other day that resonated with me. "The 21st century is no place for timid librarians." We've found our way through many changes over the years, and I hope we'll figure this new digital future as well.

So, Let's Talk: Community Conversations

2010-11-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

Last night the Main Library hosted the second of four planned Community Conversations. These programs are funded by Boeing and Humanities Washington, and their goal is to involve citizens in thoughtful conversations about contentious topics. The format is simple: a panel of people with different perspectives and expertise in the topic being discussed gives a presentation, and then they take questions from the audience.

Our first program was on the ballot initiative process, and was a particularly interesting discussion in a year with such a large number of initiatives on the ballot. Last night's program was on immigration. Approximately 20 people attended, and they listened to a constitutional scholar, a UW geography prof, an economist, and a community organizer talk about immigration. It was clear that not everybody in the room agreed on either the problem or the solution, but overall the tone was respectful. People were able to ask questions, receive thoughtful answers (even when they disagreed with what was being said), and then there was a little time at the end for one-on-one questions to the panelists.

While I was dismayed by some of the angry comments posted on the Herald website about the event, those who attended were willing to give the panelists a chance to speak. And to me, that was heartening--and it goes to the heart of what I believe a public library is all about. We build our collections around the idea that we want to provide a variety of viewpoints. We host programs on a variety of subjects. We want people to feel safe asking for the information they need--and not to worry about whether library staff will consider their request unacceptable because of whatever their request says about their politics or interests.

One of the things that makes this country great is that we get to disagree with each other without fear of the consequences. I really believe that as long as we're talking to each other (not just at each other), there is hope we can figure out what we should be doing as a country. And, of course, another great thing is public libraries, the one institution where you can be sure to find your viewpoint in print and on the shelves.

I hope you'll join us in January for another Community Conversation. This one will focus on historic preservation. I'll write more about it in another post.

Help Us Win $10,000

2010-11-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

Everett Public Library is a finalist in the Playaway Picture This Contest, which means we have a chance to win $10,000--if enough of you vote for us at http://vote.playaway.com.

Creative staff members got us this far, with an eye-catching display you may have noticed at our Main Library. If you haven't noticed it, or don't know what Playaways are, it's time to check out the display and check out a Playaway. Playaways are MP3 players with an audiobook already loaded. They're about the size of a deck of cards, and are great for listening while exercising, cooking, gardening, or whatever activity goes better with a book.

The contest ends on December 17, and the library with the most votes wins. If we win, we'll use the money for our Summer Reading Program, to help support a community reading program for adults, and more books for our new teen area. Help us get there--with just a click of your mouse.

Librarians on vacation

2010-10-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

I often visit libraries when we travel. All public libraries have much the same mission, but how they carry it out varies a lot. I know I'm not the only librarian who does this, and since we love to share ideas, it's usually possible to get a behind the scenes tour if you want. Or just stroll around anonymously.

This August I went on a a family vacation that was truly amazing. We toured Istanbul, a few Greek islands, and Athens. I saw the library at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (no books there anymore), the remains of the library in Ephesus, and the site of Hadrian's Library in Athens. My niece is a librarian, too, and she and I made sure we took photos to commemorate our visit.

I like thinking about the long history of libraries. Whether they were built to demonstrate a particular ruler's importance or from a sense of civic pride, libraries have been one way cities and countries demonstrate a commitment to their citizens and to the future.

The photo here is of the library in Ephesus.

Vacation reading

2010-09-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Usually when I go on vacation I take too many books, and I spend a lot of time deciding just which ones to bring along. It would be too depressing to be stuck in an airport with nothing to read--or something to read that I wasn't going to enjoy reading. So I don't take any chances, and end up lugging around more books than I could possibly finish. And yes, I know that some sort of e-reader would be a solution to the problem, but I'm not ready for that yet.

But this year I got it just right. We were going on a trip with several long airplane flights, so I took 4 books. It proved to be the perfect number, and the perfect variety of escapist mysteries and more serious fiction. In case you're interested, here are my favorites:
Eucalyptus by Murray Bail is a tale of love, eucalyptus trees, and the power of stories.
The Ghost by Robert Harris is the political thriller the movie Ghost Writer was based on.
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters is a gothic mystery set in post-WWII England that was short-listed for the Man-Booker Prize.

There's Music in the Air

2010-08-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

Street Tunes, a project of the City of Everett's Cultural Arts Department, made its debut at the Main Library yesterday with the delivery of an artfully decorated piano. Modeled after a very successful program called Play Me, I'm Yours, Street Tunes has placed pianos from the Transit Center to the Library. A complete list, with a map and photos, is here. This morning I came to work to find a yound man playing beautiful music--at 8 a.m. At noon, an elderly man was entertaining a group of teens, while others sat on the steps to the coffee shop, listening appreciatively. Here are some photos taken right after the piano was delivered, when Van Ramsey, library building caretaker and member of the band The Wild Snohomians, treated us to a tune, and artist Evelia A. Sanchez posed with her artwork.

The piano is here for 3 weeks--play it; it's yours to enjoy.

Spelldown!

2010-07-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

October 8 may seem like a long way away, but it's not too soon to start planning how you can participate in the first ever Everett Public Library Spelldown, a spelling bee for grown-ups to be held at the Everett Performing Arts Center. If you're a pretty good speller--or just a good sport--think about getting a team of three people together to participate for the grand prize. We don't know what that will be yet, but at the very least you'll win the admiration of your friends and family!

The entry fee for teams is $100, but there's no charge to come and watch the festivities, and all proceeds go towards the teen space project at the Main Library. We'll have a cash bar with beer, wine, and soft drinks. So get together with friends, family (over 18), or colleagues, fill out your entry form, and start studying the word lists. Or don't study at all, and just come for a good time.

SIFF Comes to Everett

2010-05-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

I'm a film fan, so I was very excited to hear that the Seattle International Film Festival was bringing a selection of films to Everett this year. I attended the opening night gala on Thursday, which included a screening of Mao's Last Dancer, a question and answer session with the director, Bruce Beresford, and lots of food and wine courtesy of local restaurants. Although I didn't like the film, I think I was in the minority. The audience was enthusiastic, and people really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Last night my husband and I went back to see The Concert, a funny and uplifting story about Russian musicians and politics, and we both thought it was terrific.

I'm looking forward to seeing at least two more films before the Everett SIFF program is over, and I am hoping SIFF will be back next year. Whether that happens or not, be sure to check out the library's film collections. We have a great collection of foreign and independent films.

The Big Read

2010-05-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

I can't let May go by and without a post on the Big Read. Perhaps you haven't visited us for a while, or even if you have, maybe you hadn't noticed all those stacks of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried displayed in various places around both libraries, as well as the posters that highlight the book and the events scheduled in Snohomish and Island Counties. After all, I read somewhere that only 12% of all women and 5% of all men (I will resist making any snide comments here) actually read signs. So you might have missed the fact that Everett Public Library and Sno-Isle Libraries are collaborating on the Big Read, a National Endowment for the Humanities program designed to foster reading and book discussions.

We did this last year with Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon. I am much more interested in this year's book selection. The Things They Carried, a novel about the Vietnam War and its aftermath told from the perspective of a group of soldiers who served together, is a powerful book. Unlike the The Maltese Falcon, O'Brien's book lends itself to discussion on many levels--whether your interests are literary, historical, or sociological, O'Brien has managed to make his characters and the situation they find themselves in real and intelligible even to those of us who know little about Vietnam.

We bought over 500 copies of the book in a variety of formats. More than half of them are checked out, including most of our book group sets. I would not have guessed that we could get Everett residents to check out almost 300 copies of the same book at the same time. And it's not even a bestseller, having been originally published in 1990. I hope you'll read the book, attend some of the outstanding programs we've scheduled during the month, and most of all, I hope you'll talk about what you've read, whether at a library event or among friends. It's a great way to connect with your community.

If you like really good bread...

2010-04-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I love fresh-baked bread. Well, who doesn't, right? I don't make it often, but my life, or at least as far as bread baking goes, has changed since reading My Bread by Jim Lahey. I had read about this recipe more than a year ago, but was only recently inspired to try it after talking to friends who make it all the time. Lahey's recipe is no-knead, but it does take planning because it needs at least 12 hours to rise. So I mixed it up one night, and then left it. I was just sure the recipe must have a typo, because it only called for 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. When I looked at it next morning, it looked kind of grey and goopy, and I was afraid my concerns were justified. But I persevered, which meant leaving it to its own devices for about 5 more hours before actually baking it. It would be kind to say it looked less than promising going in to the oven--but it was delicious. That loaf was gone within 24 hours. Time to make another one, and maybe time to checkout some new cookbooks in search of yet more culinary inspiration.

Quoting Keith Richards

2010-04-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's National Library Week, a time of year when we ask you to be happy you have a public library. There has been a lot of bad news for libraries around the country in the last two years. Libraries are often the first casualities of a bad economy, and the economy has been on the skids for two years now. When I read news stories about libraries cutting staff, cutting hours, cutting materials budgets, and closing branches, I am grateful we have so far escaped any of those fates. It's a sad truth that as people turn to libraries more than ever--whether for help with job searches, free programs for entertainment and education, or free materials for reading, listening, and watching--libraries in many parts of the country are less available and have less to offer than they once did.

But that's not true in Everett, and I am happy to be able to say that our libraries and our staff are providing more service to more people than ever. And we're doing it with the same budget we had last year. We're offering more computer classes, individual computer assistance, and soon, more public Internet computers. Our materials collection is robust,and we're launching our second Big Read project with Sno-Isle Libraries. Baby storytimes are thriving, circulation continues to grow.

I never expected to be quoting Rolling Stone Keith Richards, but I came across this on a list serv, and thought it was appropriate this week, and really, every week.

When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equaliser.” Keith Richards

Good Intentions

2010-04-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

When I began this blog my intention was to post at least once a week. I don't always make that goal, something you probably know if you read it at all regularly. Recently a colleague passed along an article about food bloggers/diarists--people who are almost obsessive about documenting everything they eat, and doing it every day. Whether you are a fan of the minimalist approach exemplified by Javier Garcia or Nora Sherman's more colorful photos, apparently it's possible to spend a lot of time online looking at what other people are eating.

I know myself well enough to know there's no way I'll ever blog about anything on a daily basis. In fact, I don't even spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs, at least not every day. I guess I read blogs the way I write this one--sporadically. I look at library blogs and gardening blogs, and then life gets busy and I forget to go back. And it's not because they weren't interesting.

I was thinking about how people incorporate technology and the Internet into their lives (or don't) the other day. I was at Best Buy waiting for a computer diagnosis, and talking about smart phones with one of the sales guys. Now, I would love a smart phone, and he was hoping to sell me one. We had a long conversation about various phones and features and calling plans. And then he asked me what I did online--where I got my news, for example. The answer to that is NPR and the newspaper. It feels as if I'm online a lot, but it's usually for a work-related purpose. I guess I still think of technology as a tool, and not as part of my leisure life. Maybe if I get that smart phone, that would change?

Oh, and just in case you're interested, today I've eaten an egg, some toast...

Back from Portland

2010-03-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from Portland, Oregon and the 2010 Public Library Association Conference. I went to sessions on strategic planning, developing social software policies, library mash-ups, market segmentation, and how to deal with difficult people (not you, of course). Over the next few weeks I'll be working with staff to implement some of the ideas from the conference--ideas related to safety and decluttering will be the first we'll work on since they don't cost money and pay off for patrons and staff by creating a more comfortable environment. Longer term, we'll be looking at our use of social software, and moving our strategic plan into year 3.

Library conferences always have a large vendor exhibits area, and I came back with pens and pencils, note pads, and lanyards, as well as information about the latest new services and gadgets for libraries. There were even books and authors there, just in case you're worried about technology overtaking the printed word.

I hadn't been in Portland for several years, and I was very impressed by how easy it was to get around using light rail. We used it to get from our hotel to the convention center and back, and to get to a restaurant in the Pearl District--all at no charge. Portland also has great food stores, and we brought back bagels and some fancy chocolates to share with family and staff. And now, back to work.

How I spent my Sunday

2010-03-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, and I spent it outside pulling weeds and pruning my roses. Until we moved to Washington, I had never lived anywhere where the weeds grow even in winter! Usually I listen to a book when I work outside so I can maximize my "reading" time, but this Sunday it was just me and the weeds--and lots of ideas about what to do differently in my garden this year.

The library has lots of books on gardening and landscaping, of course, but Everett has another great resource for those of us who enjoy gardens--and that's the Evergreen Arboretum. This gem of a garden is somewhat hidden from view, nestled at the edge of the golf course at Legion Park, but is well worth a visit whether you're looking for inspiration or just relaxation. I've been a member for a while, but Friday I am finally volunteering some time to help staff the Arboretum's booth at the Everett Home Show. Stop by the booth on Friday afternoon and learn more about Everett's very own arboretum.

Not again

2010-02-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

This is becoming a sad series of posts. This morning I read that poet Lucille Clifton had died. Clifton won a National Book Award in 2000, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, to name just a few of the honors she earned in her lifetime.

She wrote children's books as well as 11 poetry collections, many of which celebrate her African-American heritage and feminism. National Poetry Month isn't until April--but there's always time to read a poem, and the library's extensive poetry collection will surely have something that fits your taste. You'll find American poets at 811, and British poets at 821. Check the catalog or ask at the reference desk for poets from other countries.

And now I think maybe I should stop reading the newspaper, before this becomes the dead authors blog.

And now Dick Francis...

2010-02-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

Robert Parker, John Updike, J.D. Salinger, and now Dick Francis--we seem to be losing a lot of authors lately. You may have guessed from my post about Robert Parker that I am a mystery reader, so it seems appropriate to say a few words here about Dick Francis.

I'm not the least bit interested in horses or horse racing, but I always enjoyed reading Francis' fast-paced mysteries, almost all of which are set against the backdrop of professional horse racing. As further evidence that a good story can suck you into a world you might otherwise have little interest in, I'd like to recommend two other books for your reading pleasure. In honor of Dick Francis, both are about horses.

Jane Smiley's Horse Heaven
is frequently told from the point of view of the horses. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that a writer as skillful as Smiley could make this work. Well before the end of the book, I found myself empathizing with the horses and the people who are obsessed with thoroughbred racing. Perhaps I am particularly fond of this book because one of the great characters in the story is a Jack Russell terrier named Eileen!

There have been lots of books written about the legendary horse Seabiscuit, not to mention feature films and a documentary, but the one I would recommend (because it's the only one I've read) is by Laura Hillenbrand. I actually listened to it, and found it to be an amazing story. I'm not the only one--Hillenbrand's story of the horse and the people who loved him was named one of the best books of the year by over 20 publications.

So here's to Dick Francis, and great writers such as Jane Smiley and Laura Hillenbrand who introduce us to worlds we may only know through the pages of their books.

Robert Parker, RIP

2010-01-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Robert Parker is dead, and with his passing readers have lost his most enduring character, the detective without a first name, Spenser. The first Spenser novel, The Godwulf Manuscript, was published in 1974. I can't remember when I first began reading Parker's mysteries, but it's surely been at least twenty-five years ago.

Parker and his characters Spenser, Susan, and Hawk brought me many years of pleasurable reading--and whenever I visit Boston I think of him, and the people and places he wrote about. And if I've grown less attached to this series lately, I still occasionally wish my husband was as good a cook as Spenser, and that I had Susan Silverman's will power.

Books into Film

2010-01-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

I tend to think that anytime Hollywood gets its hands on a book I've loved, they ruin it. However, after seeing Up in the Air with George Clooney recently, I started thinking about all the movies based on books that I've really enjoyed. Up in the Air is based on a book, which I haven't read--but the movie was excellent.

It almost goes without saying that any BBC production based on the work of a famous author is worth watching--and they are too numerous to name here. I would recommend both reading and watching any of the following titles: I Capture the Castle, Ghost World, Room with a View, and Remains of the Day.

You probably have your own favorites, and maybe you'll share them here.

This makes me feel old...

2009-12-30T11:35:00.000-08:00

I was working the day after Christmas, and came across a reference to the 2009 Beloit Mindset List. This is a list created by Beloit College every year to help their professors better understand their new students. On the list this year is the interesting (at least to me) fact that incoming freshman have never used a card catalog. Card catalogs were very much a part of my life when I first began working in libraries, and now they're not. I sometimes see them in antiques stores, and I even have an interesting old catalog decorating my office--but it took Beloit's list to put it into perspective for me!

The morning after...

2009-12-26T09:48:00.001-08:00

The morning after Christmas finds me working the reference desk, and reflecting on one of my Christmas presents: 1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die. I immediately started paging through to check off the ones I'd already seen, and although I thought I'd seen a lot of gardens in my time, I still have 970+ left to go. A few of them are even in the area, and I have resolved to visit both the Bloedel Reserve and the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden before the end of 2010.

This kind of book has become ubiquitous in the last few years, maybe because they make such easy gifts for people who are gardeners, travelers, music lovers, etc. I did a quick catalog search to see how many of these books we have in our collection. I found books for baseball fans, divers, history buffs, and art enthusiasts. If you'd like to check out the possibilites or just see how your life experiences stack up, click here.

Drop off some diapers with those books...

2009-12-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

Inspired by an article in the Herald on the need for diapers at the Everett Gospel Mission's Women and Children's Shelter, library staff decided to collect disposable diapers this month. Last year we collected hats, mittens, and gloves, and encouraged library patrons to donate to the cause as well. Your response was extremely gratifying.

Now we're hoping for more diapers to add to those staff have donated. Diapers are not as fun to pick out as cozy knitted things, but for a mother with a small child they are an absolute necessity. If you're a baby, dry and clean are good things to be.

You can drop off diapers (large sizes are in particular demand) at either location until December 28, and we'll take them to the shelter. And you could even check out Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey, the author of the Captain Underpants books.

The Holiday Season

2009-12-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

I'm back from a long Thanksgiving weekend, which I spent reading and watching a few not very good movies. My family has a long tradition of watching action movies when we're together, and even though there were just a few of us, we still watched the new Star Trek and Crank 2. I thought Star Trek was a bit confusing, especially when my nephew sat on the remote and plunged us back in time--leaving us all thoroughly confused about whether this was yet another plot twist or deju vu. Crank 2 may be the worst movie I have ever seen, and I'm pleased to say the the library does not own it.

I also finished Frank Bruni's Born Round. Bruni was the restaurant critic for the New York Times until just recently, and his book chronicles his almost life-long struggle with overeating. Maybe not the best book to read during a holiday that celebrates eating to excess?

National Book Awards

2009-11-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Colum McCann has won the National Book Award for his novel, Let the Great World Spin. I haven't read it yet, but was interested to learn that the events in the book occur as Philippe Petit is walking on a tightrope strung between the towers of the World Trade Center. The library has the documentary DVD about Petit's daring stunt, Man on Wire, and I can recommend the film to documentary fans. Now I need to add McCann's book to my reading list.

It's Election Day

2009-11-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Today is Election Day, or as the Seattle Times referred to it today, ballot counting day. I've been thinking about the implications of all mail elections because I've been observing candidates waving signs at street corners for the last few days, recycling lots of flyers and postcards from various candidates, and hanging up on lots of robo-calls. I didn't vote as soon as I got my ballot in the mail, but I voted almost a week ago--and I bet many people have sent in their ballots in advance of the actual deadline.

So does this mean that traditional campaign strategies such as standing on street corners and last minute mailings and robo-calls don't work anymore? I suspect that might be true. Still, I hope you voted. And I'll leave you with a quote from Walter H. Judd, a doctor and American politician.

"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote--a very different thing."

We love our Friends...

2009-10-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's National Friends of the Library Week, so I wanted to let our members know how thankful we are every day of the year for your support. Our Friends group supports the Summer Reading Program by buying books for those who finish their reading goal. They purchase book group kits for local book clubs. They fund programs for adults and children. They've purchased new toys for the Children's Rooms at both libraries. They supported the Family Reading Area, and are contributing to the teen room project. They are endowing a Collection for Excellence for the library through the Greater Everett Community Foundation. They volunteer time during the Mayor's Award, National Library Week, and other special events. I love our Friends, and if you're not a Friend now, please consider joining. We'll take your time or your money, or both. It's easy--just click here.

Librarians in fiction and film

2009-10-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Jo Dereske, author of the Miss Zukas mysteries will be at the Main Library on October 10 at 2 p.m. Miss Zukas is a librarian, as is Dereske--as am I. So that got me thinking about other books with librarians as characters. I've read a few, which I'll get to, but I looked first in Novelist, one of our online databases (and a great source for reading ideas) just to get a sense of how ubiquitous we librarians are in fiction. It turns out that librarians are well represented in fiction.

Although I don't ever expect anyone to come up to the reference desk and say "can you recommend a good book with a librarian as a character?" here's a list of books you might enjoy even if one of the characters wasn't a librarian:
Elizabeth McCracken's The Giant's House, Allen Kurzweil's The Grand Complication, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, Ian Sansom's The Case of the Missing Books, and Richard Powers' The Gold Bug Variations.

When not on the reference desk or between the pages of a book, librarians can also be found in film. But I think that will be another post because this one is getting a bit long.

Words, words, words...

2009-09-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

I believe Eliza Doolittle said that in My Fair Lady, but she's not the reason I'm thinking about words today. You may have read that William Safire died this past weekend, and Safire cared passionately about words.

I never followed his newspaper column, but I do remember reading a collection of his On Language columns many years ago. Oddly enough one column from that collection still sticks in my mind. It was a column about names and the tendency of the upper classes to give their children first and last names that could be interchangeable--Chase Parker or Grant Clark for example. I tried to find that column in our collection, but couldn't. However, we do have several book by Safire, including some fiction--which I never knew he wrote.

This morning I was listening to an NPR program in his honor. They were asking listeners to call in their pet peeves and favorite new words. I heard lots of peeves, and very few favorite new words. My pet peeve is improperly used apostrophes. I couldn't think of a favorite new word either, which I guess means I'm more aware of what irritates me than what pleases me. At least linguistically.

Help us celebrate the 75th!

2009-09-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

This October marks the 75th anniversary of the Main Library building at the corner of Hoyt and Everett avenues. It's amazing how timeless Carl Gould's art deco inspired design has proven to be, and the renovation and addition by Cardwell/Thomas and Dykeman Architects still serves us well.

Although the basic purpose of the library is the much the same, community needs and expectations for the library have changed over its 75 year life. Obvious changes are the ubiquitous computers that are so much a part of the library business today. Less obvious is the need to improve the resources we provide for teens. Teens are in the library--we know this not only because we see them, but also because over 8,000 of them have library cards. We've got a children's room and lots of space for adults. Now we want to create a teen room.

We are hoping to raise money for this project on Saturday, October 10 at 7:00 p.m. with a history-oriented fundraiser at the Main Library. Click here to find out more about the event and how to purchase tickets. We hope you will join us for an evening of wine, food, and history--with all proceeds going towards our teen room project. Let's give our teens a great place to go.

Reading the newspaper

2009-08-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

I'm a creature of habit, I know, but I never feel as if I get off to a good start unless I have my cup of tea and read the morning paper before the rest of my day begins.

Today I learned that children's author Karla Kuskin has died. I remember reading her book The Philharmonic Gets Dressed to my son many years ago. Our library doesn't own that particular book, but we've got several others she wrote, and you might like to try them out on a young friend.

I also learned that Julia Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking has become a bestseller thanks to the popularity of the movie Julie and Julia. I went to see the movie last night, and thought that the sections about Julia Child were the best parts of the film, and Meryl Streep makes a terrific Child. Boeuf Bourguignon plays a prominent role in the film, and I am now inspired to try making it once we get past Labor Day.

Health care and end of life decisions

2009-08-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Like most of you, I've been following the health care policy debates for quite a while now. I have my own opinion about our health care system, but that's not what I want to write about. What has me most upset lately is the lies that are being spread by people who are in a position to know better, and specifically the lie that Obama's proposal would create "death panels." There was a story in the newspaper today that a majority of the population now actually believe this is true.

It is so important to talk with your doctor and your family about what kind of treatment, if any, you want at the end of life. I know this from personal experience. Several years ago my father found out he had metastatic prostate cancer, and very shortly thereafter he had a small stroke. He had always been very clear about what he wanted in the event that he became incapacitated, and everyone in my family knew. He had advance directives, and I had durable power of attorney. As his illness progressed and his memory worsened, it was often a challenge to take care of him--but I never had to worry about not knowing what his wishes were, nor did his doctor. And that was both a tremendous help and a consolation.

It looks as if the part of the legislation that would have allowed people to discuss these very important issues with their doctors--and insured that the doctors would be reimbursed--has been removed to appease those who believe the lies. But that does't mean it's not still important for each of us to make end of life decisions ourselves, and to make sure that our families and our physicians know what we want. And here is where the library comes in--we've got some excellent resources to help you decide what's right for you. Jane Brody's Guide to the the Great Beyond is a new book of this very topic. Sidney H. Wanzer's To Die Well is another guide to end of life decisions. We've also got books on living wills and access to magazine articles that can help clarify what's fact and what's fiction in this huge debate. We've likely got a long and contentious discussion ahead of us on health care--let the library help you sort it out.

What's cooking

2009-08-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

The release of the film Julie & Julia and Julie Powell's recent visit to Seattle resulted in a Seattle Times interview with Powell. I read Powell's book , a chronicle of her attempt to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking despite living in a very small New York City apartment with an even tinier kitchen. It's a fun book which began as a blog, and now Powell has left her life as a clerical worker behind (and her tiny kitchen), and has a new book coming out on the art of butchering meat.

I've long been a fan of Calvin Trillin's light-hearted eating adventures, and you can enjoy a collection of them in The Tummy Trilogy. For a not-so-light vision of cooking and relationships there's Betty Fussell's My Kitchen Wars. Fussell was the wife of historian Paul Fussell, and as a young faculty wife she was caught up in the one-ups-manship that resulted when Julia Child's books on French cooking opened up a new world for American cooks.

The Times interview lists some of Powell's favorite food-centered films. But she missed a few of mine, and since they're in the library's collection, you could check them out. Tampopo,a parody of a samurai film, tells the story of a young widow trying to make the perfect bowl of noodles with the help of a truck driver. In Eat,Drink, Man, Woman a retired chef is worried about his unmarried daughters.

If you'd rather be cooking than reading about people who do, you can find plenty of inspiration in our cookbook collection. After years of buying cookbooks, only to find I end up using only one or two recipes per book, I now turn to the library when I feel like I'm in a food rut. So far it's working pretty well.

Pegasus and the July 4th Parade

2009-07-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

In 1924 Pegasus, a "book wagon" owned and operated by the Everett Public Library, became the second bookmobile west of the Mississippi. Multnomah County had the first, but theirs is long gone. After some discussion with an English bookmobile publication, we have concluded that Pegasus is the oldest existing bookmobile in the world, and we'll continue to make that claim until someone proves otherwise.

Pegasus was retired in 1950, but resurfaced in 1992. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Everett and many dedicated volunteers she is looking good--although not yet completely restored--and is a regular entry in Everett's 4th of July Parade. This year library IT head Doug Oakes and myself drove down Colby, with belly dancers in front of us and the Casino float behind.

If you're interested in learning more about Pegasus, visit the library web site by clicking right here.

So Many Books

2009-06-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

The Summer Reading Program has officially started at the library, and kids are signing up like crazy at both libraries. We've made some changes in the program, simplifying it and aligning the reading requirements with what reading experts recommend. That means no more 100 books to get the Mayor's Award--unless you really want to. Experts say reading 1/2 hour a day is all you need to maintain or improve your skills, and that translates into 44 books or 22 hours of reading over the course of the program.

We're also excited to be giving away four bikes as grand prizes, thanks to the generosity of the Peninsular Lodge #85. We've never been able to offer truly grand prizes, and we hope the possibility of winning a bike will inspire more kids to read more than ever. We'll also be handing out Library Champion yard signs again, so if you didn't get yours last year you've got another chance.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at a stack of books I want to read that's getting precariously high. I'm always torn between working in my garden and reading. And I still have to finish The Omnivore's Dilemma for my next book club meeting before I can even start working my way through the pile on my nightstand.

A Very Little Read

2009-05-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Big Read is over, and although I don't have a final report yet all I needed to do to know that it was a success was look at how many copies of the Maltese Falcon were checked out. We started with over 100 copies of the book here at the Main Library, and for most of the month there were only about 6 copies available at any one time. We've never bought so many copies of one book before and it was gratifying to see them being used.

While the Big Read was in full swing on May 10, I was AWOL in Boston to attend the annual Make Way for Ducklings Mother's Day Parade. I grew up on the East Coast, and I always thought everyone my age was familiar with Robert McCloskey's lovely picture book about a family of ducks wending their way through the streets of Boston to get to the pond in Boston Garden. That turns out not to be true--but if you have a small person in your family, you won't regret reading the story to them. It was a Caldecott winner when it was published in 1942, and the illustrations are terrific.

The parade follows the route the ducklings and their mother took through Boston, and families from all over the area get decked out in their finest duck attire to march in the parade. I went with my grandson, who at not quite 4 months was one of the youngest participants, and the 1/2 hour walk on a warm, sunny Sunday seemed just right. Afterwards many families enjoyed picnics in the garden, but we headed home.

The Falcon Has Landed

2009-05-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Big Read has arrived in Snohomish County, and it looks as if the months of planning that went into this month-long celebration of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon have paid off. We ordered over 200 copies of the book, and between book group sets and individual copies, most of them are now checked out. Check out our Big Read website for a complete list of programs and book discussions. It's exciting to see so much interest in a book that has been around for more than half a century. I don't think it's too early to say The Big Read looks like a success.

National Library Week

2009-04-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

We're celebrating National Library Week April 15 at both the Main Library and the Evergreen Branch. At the Main Library we have a line-up of local celebrities to serve you cake, the Wild Snohomians to entertain you in the coffee shop from 3-4 p.m. with their unique rockabilly sound, and librarians to introduce you to what's new at your library throughout the day. The Evergreen Branch will have cookies and information of library services and programs all day.

Then at 7 p.m. Joe Raiola, editor of MAD Magazine, will speak (perform?) on The Joy of Censorship. Raiola is stopping in Everett as part of his first-ever West Coast Tour, and he's been speaking to large audiences in public libraries from Eugene north. Joe takes an illuminating, satiric and at times disturbing look at America's most hotly debated First Amendment issues, the history of MAD, and censorship in the United States. The program is free and open to the public. It's also unrated--and uncensored.

A Poem for National Poetry Month

2009-04-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a poem by Mary Oliver, one of my favorite poets, in honor of National Poetry Month:

Some Questions You Might Ask
Is the soul solid, like iron?
Or is it tender and breakable, like
the wings of a moth in the beak of the owl?
Who has it, and who doesn't?
I keep looking around me.
The face of the moose is as sad
as the face of Jesus.
The swan opens her white wings slowly.
In the fall, the black bear carries leaves into the darkness.
One question leads to another.
Does it have a shape? Like an iceberg?
Like the eye of a hummingbird?
Does it have one lung, like the snake and the scallop?
Why should I have it, and not the anteater
who loves her children?
Why should I have it, and not the camel?
Come to think of it, what about the maple trees?
What about the blue iris?
What about all the little stones, sitting alone in the moonlight?
What about roses, and lemons, and their shining leaves?
What about the grass?

No More Snow?

2009-03-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

I'm a gardener, so I always look forward to spring. This year I've got a lot of dead plants to remove. I am particularly sad to see that my bay laurel looks like a casualty of the long cold spell. I've had it for almost ten years now, and I enjoy picking my own fresh bay leaves. Winter's damage is also an opportunity to redesign my garden, and try some new (hopefully hardier) plants.

But people aren't done talking about our snowy winter yet--I noticed an article in today's Seattle Times revisiting the city's snow removal problems. The article quotes Cliff Mass, KUOW weather forecaster and UW professor of atmospheric sciences. On Sunday, April 5, you can hear Dr. Mass talk about his new book right here in Everett, The Weather of the Pacific Northwest. He'll be at the Main Library at 2 p.m.

We'll be hoping for a rainy day so people aren't tempted to work outside instead of coming to the library!

Babies and books

2009-02-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

On Inauguration Day I became a grandmother. Henry lives in Boston, so I'm afraid I won't get to see him very often--but I gave him his first books before he was even born, and I am looking forward to being able to read to him whenever possible. I remember fondly all the wonderful books I used to read to Henry's father--but that was many years ago, and many equally wonderful books have been published since then.

I know Henry's mother and father will read to him, and take him to the library. That is such a great gift, and it will help him be ready to learn even more when he finally enters school. I hope his hometown library has baby storytimes and allows library cards for babies. I hope that library has children's librarians who will take the time to recommend books with beautiful illustrations and terrific stories and memorable characters. And I hope for a productive and happy life for Henry--and for all children.

Small museums and travel guidebooks

2009-01-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

I spent part of the holidays with my brother's family, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. I knew I wanted to visit the Barnes Foundation, whose world-famous collection of Impressionist art used to be almost impossible to visit. Then my husband was perusing a guidebook to Pennsylvania, and came upon Fonthill, the home of Henry Mercer of Doylestown. After reading about Fonthill, I knew I had to visit.

Mercer began building his very eccentric home in 1908 from poured concrete, and decorated it with inlaid tile from his Moravian Pottery and Tileworks (the factory is on Fonthill's grounds). The Moravian Pottery was a major supplier of Arts & Crafts style tile, and it is still in operation. Mercer didn't believe in architects or levels, something that's pretty obvious when you tour the house. Although they don't let you take photos inside the house, I took some outside--and you can see them above. It was a fascinating place, and we would never have known about it if we hadn't looked in a travel guide.

The Barnes Foundation was interesting in a completely different way. There are more Renoirs at the Barnes than in all of France (if I'm remembering correctly). Dr. Barnes had his own ideas about art. The paintings are organized and labeled according to his own system (a bit like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, if you've ever been there), and the paintings have no titles or dates on their labels. There's been quite a bit of controversy over how Barnes set up his museum, how it was run, its finances, etc. It's too much to go into here, but you can read more about it online at the New York Times.

So be sure to check our guidebooks before you travel. You never know what you might miss!

Book Babies

2008-12-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share a picture of some very cute babies whose parents are getting them off to a great start. These little ones attend the very popular Baby Storytimes at the Evergreen Branch (there's one at the Main Library, too), and they just signed up for their very first library cards. They all received a free book worm bookbag to help tote their books home.

This happy event was made possible by a recent change in library policy that allows children of any age to get a library card. Previously you couldn't get a card until you were 4 years old. The change was made in response to a patron request, and we hope to see many more baby cardholders in the future.

Count Your Blessings

2008-12-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

For my monthly podcast I reviewed the library's accomplishments in 2008. I'm a project person, and sometimes prone to being impatient. If I have an idea, I'd like to see it happen sooner rather than later. So I think I have a tendency to focus on what hasn't happened yet rather than just how much has been done.

Writing the podcast proved to be a good exercise because it forced me to remember all the good things that the library has accomplished since January. I won't repeat them here--you can listen to the podcast if you're interested--but I do want to focus on an end-of-the-year highlight that didn't make the podcast. That's our library giving tree. Instead of traditional decorations, the staff has donated mittens, hats, gloves, and scarves--all of which will be donated to area shelters to help keep people warm this winter. If you'd like to contribute to this effort, drop off your donations of new items in our Circulation Office. We'll add them to our tree, for distribution just before Christmas.

I know I'm counting as a blessing the fact that I can give to others in this way, and that library staff members have embraced this project so enthusiastically.

Authors I don't read anymore...

2008-11-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

I'm a big mystery fan, and like most genre readers I am always pleased when I find an author whose work I like because this means I have hours of enjoyable reading ahead of me. I just finished books by two long-time favorite authors, Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller. Grafton is now up to T in her alphabet series, and Muller's been publishing a book a year for a long time. But I was bored by both T is for Trespass and Burn Out. The characters don't feel fresh, and the plots dragged along.

I got to thinking about other authors whose work I no longer read. I loved Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series when it first came out, but Plum's inability to choose between bad boy Ranger and Joe the cop finally did me in. I enjoyed J.A.Jance, but haven't read one of hers in years. Ditto for Earl Emerson. I've also given up on Robert Parker. Spenser and Hawk are beginning to seem like cartoon characters, and I'm sick of Susan Silverman and her dainty eating habits.

Some of you undoubtedly still love these authors, or are discovering them for the first time--and I'm glad, because I loved them once, too. I haven't stopped reading mysteries, and next post I'll talk about some of the authors I still like or have just discovered.

A long time coming...

2008-10-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed a new feature on our website--a tasteful gray box in the upper right hand corner that links to our brand-new strategic plan, adopted by the Library Board of Trustees on October 21.

We began working on the plan shortly after I became library director in 2007. We worked with Providence Associates to gather public comment that fall. Providence coordinated a telephone survey, held many focus groups with the public and with staff, and met with the Mayor and City department heads. We conducted online and in-house surveys. Providence also conducted a technology and children's services assessment, and benchmarked our library against similar libraries in other communities. Then, after all the data and opinions had been gathered and analyzed, we began working on the actual plan.

I hope you'll take the time to read it. And whether or not you had the opportunity to provide us with in-put during the planning process, we hope you'll see something in the plan that pleases you. I promise to provide you with updates on our progress as we begin implementation. And your comments are always welcome.

Back from vacation

2008-09-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

This month we took a week off to go on a white water rafting trip through Hell's Canyon on the Snake River, visit wineries in Walla Walla, and see both the Palouse and Grand Coulee Dam. This was all new territory for me, never having gone much beyond the Tri-Cities since we've lived here--and it was amazing.

Our rafting trip was very exciting, although we really didn't have to do any work even when we went through two class four rapids. Our guides took care of rowing, setting up camp, and provided gourmet meals with organic produce (really), far from any grocery store. We saw a wild sheep, but the mountains that line Hell's Canyon are so tall it was difficult to identify without binoculars. I'm including some photos, so if you've never been there you can see what it looks like.

I don't think you can travel through this part of the country without thinking about the impact water and dams have had both in Oregon and Washington. We traveled with a variety of guidebooks to help us understand what we were seeing. And we could have brought others from the library that would have explained the politics and history of the dams we saw on the Snake and the Columbia. We had with us Bruce Bjornstad's On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods, and while staying in Walla Walla we looked at William Layman's River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia, a collection of photographs documenting the Columbia from its source to the sea. Empty Nets: Indians, Dams, and the Columbia River by Roberta Urich
and Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner are books that address the affect dams have had on the land and its people.

This list just scratches the surface of our collection, which includes much more on the history, policy, and geography of this region, as well as guides to the ever-growing wine industry in Walla Walla should you want a break from natural wonders. I would encourage you to start any vacation with a visit to the library--we'll guide you on your way!

The Future of Reading

2008-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Everett Public Library is joining Sno-Isle Libraries for The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts. The program, which began as a pilot in 2006 in libraries throughout the country, was created to in response to a 2004 report issued by the NEA, entitled Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, which found lots of bad news about the decline in reading for pleasure and enlightenment, especially among the young.

The NEA wants "to restore reading to the center of American culture," and to do this they are providing support to libraries and community groups to develop innovative reading programs throughout their communities focused on a single book. Everett and Sno-Isle have chosen The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

I think you can argue about whether reading ever really was the center of American culture, and intelligent people have argued over the methodology of the NEA study that led to the conclusions in Reading at Risk, but public libraries are firmly on the side of whatever gets people reading.

Sno-Isle and Everett librarians have already begun meeting to plan a month-long "Falcon Fest," although the Big Read won't officially begin until May, 2009. With all this planning, I think it's going to be great. There will be lots of copies of The Maltese Falcon to check out, programs in communities all over Snohomish and Island counties designed to get people reading--and to help all of us remember that reading for pleasure can be just that--a pleasure.

Each community event lasts approximately one month and includes a kick-off event to launch

You Can't Fight Mother Nature

2008-06-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

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Every year in the spring we begin what we call "sea gull vigilance." The idea is to keep the gulls from building their nests on the roof of the library. You can break up the nests while they are building them, but once they lay their eggs you are not supposed to disturb them until the chicks leave.

One year we didn't pay attention to what was happening on the roof--and the roof was a mess by the time the birds left. It was dirty, messy work to clean up the debris.

This year, with the end of the Elks building, the birds have been numerous and determined as they look for other nesting places. We thought we were doing really well--no nests on the roof. An observant patron, however, has pointed out that an enterprising gull has built her nest in one of the planters on the west end of the library. It's not much of a nest, but there are eggs in it, so she's there to stay for a while. I took some photos of the mother and the nest (such as it is).

The Big Read

2008-06-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about reading these days. One reason is because I've been cleaning out my father's house. He died in January, and his house is full of books. When he retired about 30 years ago he began frequenting used book stores and library book sales. He was interested almost exclusively in mysteries, and mostly older mystery writers. He kept a handwritten catalog of his purchases, organized by author, so he wouldn't duplicate something he already had in his collection. At one point, everything was on shelves, alphabetized by author. But soon his collecting obsession overtook the available shelf space. So he added more shelves, and when those were full he put shelves into his seldom used workshop. Finally, he just left them in boxes on the floor. I don't think he can ever have read most of what he bought, although I don't know that. I do know that about a year ago my husband had read about an old mystery that intrigued him. He asked Dad if he had heard of it--and even though my father was not well and his memory was failing, he said he thought he actually owned it. And he was right. And even better, he knew where it was.

My father was almost always reading something, until the very last weeks of his life. When I think of him now, it's with a book in his hand and a cup of coffee or glass of wine by his side. As his health declined he stopped reading books, but continued to read newspapers and magazines. I think I can trace his physical and mental decline by the length of what he chose to read, although I didn't think about it that way at first.

He loved his family, but seldom seemed to feel the need for much conversation away from the dinner table. He enjoyed sitting among us, reading a book for his book club, or just for pleasure. I think you could truly say that he would almost always rather be reading. So I think of him as I go through his library. The family has all gone through it, and picked books we will add to our collections. And there is so much left. It's plenty dusty, and most of it is not great literature--but it made him happy to buy these books, read them, and have them around him. I've found his "catalog," and think I will keep it, even as I disburse many of the books he spent some much time accumulating.

The book cover on this post is just one of his many treasures, and I thought I would share it with you just because it tickled me to come across it.

Big trucks and cool cards

2008-05-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we started issuing brand new library cards. This is our first complete redesign in a number of years, and I think they look great. We won't be doing photo library cards any more. This will save time (yours and ours) and money since printing the photo cards was expensive. You can pick from any one of five designs, or keep your old photo card if you prefer.

I stepped outside today, and noticed the biggest cement pouring operation I've ever seen. They are pouring the foundations for Library Place, and it was an amazing sight.

Changing of the Guard

2008-05-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

I think all of us here at the library are in a state of denial over Margaret Riddle's retirement next week. We've known she was going to do it, but now that the end is near (May 30 is her last day), I find myself looking back at all the things Margaret has accomplished just in the 9 years I've known her, and realizing how much I'll miss her.

Margaret has quietly but persistently pushed us to be the best possible resource for local history. Her ability to track details and see the big picture, her interest in preservation, and digitization...well, I could go on and on extolling her virtues, but I know it would embarrass her. Margaret would always rather talk about history, so I think I'll focus on her most recent project instead. And that is the preservation and digitizing of our Sanborn Insurance Maps.

These valuable resources are used by homeowners and historians to see the location, footprint, and type of structure on a particular piece of property. The first set of maps was published in 1914. In 1955 the original maps were updated, allowing patrons to see changes over time. These have been given a new life in mylar protective sleeves and a very heavy duty binding. They are also now available on our website. We've scheduled a day-long farewell for Margaret in the Northwest Room on May 30. Stop by to see her, and to check out these very special resources.

Books and Relationships

2008-05-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

My husband passed along an article he had printed off from the New York Times entitled "It's Not You, It's Your Books." It's an amusing article about the pitfalls of dating someone whose taste in books is not yours.

We are both dedicated readers, but his taste is much more eclectic than mine. He also has a lot more time to read than I do, since it is his major interest in life--while I spend time gardening, knitting (well, not that so much lately), etc. I seldom recommend books to him. I don't exactly know why, although I think he wouldn't be that interested in most of what I read. I'm a big mystery reader--he's not.

He often recommends books to me, and although he's sometimes frustrated that I don't seem to get to all of them, I have to say that I almost always really enjoy the ones he tells me to read.Over the years he's recommended A.S. Byatt's Possession, Absolute Friends by John LeCarre,and The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga.

There's never enough time to read, but it's reassuring to know the library has something to suit almost every reading taste.

April 26, 2008

2008-04-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last December, we conducted a patron satisfaction survey as part of our strategic planning process. One of the questions we asked was intended to gauge interest in podcasts of library programs and local history topics. The responses were favorable, so we are launching our first podcasting effort. I agreed to be the guinea pig, but we promise to provide more interesting content after this! Here's the link . Let me know what you think.

April 24, 2008

2008-04-24T10:59:00.001-07:00

I thought I would add some pictures of our new family reading area. I wrote about it a while ago, and someone actually posted a comment asking to see pictures. It was fun to know that at least one person is reading this.

One of the projects we've been working on at the library is to introduce all of our staff to web social networking applications. Yesterday I took the 4 hour class that Anita Johansen and Kate Mossman have been offering to staff members over the last several months. For my homework project I decided to start another blog. This one has nothing to do with the library, but it has been entertaining (to me, anyway) to put together. You can check it out at by clicking here.

April 23, 2008

2008-04-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

When I first came to Everett almost nine years ago, I remember driving north on Hoyt to get to the library for a job interview--passing the plasma center, a tattoo shop, and a dilapidated strip of shops. The tattoo shop is long gone, the plasma center burned down, and there's an amazing amount of construction either recently completed (the Imagine! Children's Museum), in progress (Library Place and the new Elks building), or in the planning stages (ArtSpace).

It's been interesting to watch the project next door. It looks like something my son would have loved when he was young--lots of dirt and large trucks. I took some photos the other day to post here.

April 11, 2008

2008-04-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I planned to keep you informed about some of my experiences with technology. So here's a progress report. I have a Flickr account that I opened last summer for my photos. Last week I got an email from someone named Emma at Schmaps asking permission to possibly use one of my photos for an online east coast guide. I almost deleted it, thinking it was spam, but I scrolled down and saw a photo I had taken in the Arnold Arboretum whe we were visiting Boston last August, and subsequently posted on Flickr. I gave my permission for them to use it if it makes it past their selection committee. I was surprised at how pleased I was that they had found my photo, and were even considering using it. Now I want to try adding some photos to this blog--starting with the Arnold Arboretum photo.

March 24, 2008

2008-03-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a party to celebrate the upcoming retirement of Dorothy Matsui, Head of Children's and Outreach Services for the past twenty years. We held the party in the new Family Reading Area at the Main Library, which is just the last of Dorothy's many ideas for improving the service we offer to children. It's been a privilege for me to work with Dorothy, and while I'm sad to see her go, I know she's ready to try new things. The Friends of the Library has donated money to purchase children's books in Dorothy's honor, and those books will serve as a wonderful reminder of someone who spent her career thinking of the best ways to help children learn to love books and reading.

The other day Dorothy and I were talking about books we remembered from our childhoods. I remember loving Pippi Longstocking , the Jenny Linsky books, and Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr, among many others. Pippi is newly popular because of her movie fame, but young readers and their parents can still check out books about the little black cat named Jenny and the Swedish brothers whose adventures are so beautifully illustrated by Maj Lindman. I think this is truly one of the joys of a library--not only do we offer the opportunity to find wonderful new books, but we also make it possible to revisit those we loved years ago.

Dorothy leaves us this Friday. She's looking forward to working in her garden, lots of reading, and probably some travel. If you're in the library, stop by to say goodbye.

March 7, 2008

2008-03-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

This weekend the Everett Women's Film Festival will be screening independent films by women filmmakers at the Historic Everett Theatre. It's the festival's 11th year. I've been involved with the event for about eight years because I love movies. I've also been responsible for purchasing the DVD collection here at the library, and this has allowed me to include some of the favorite films from past festivals in the Everett Public Library's collection. A few of these films are only available on VHS, others we have in DVD--but they're all worth watching. Here's a partial list of past festival favorites available for checkout from the library:

Chaos
A Hero for Daisy
Regret to Inform
Three Women and a Chateau
The Story of Mothers and Daughters
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Sour Death Balls
The Language You Cry In
In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger
Mad, Hot Ballroom

Happy viewing.

February 28, 2008

2008-02-28T14:22:00.001-08:00

On Friday, February 22, the library held our third Evening for Excellence. This year we celebrated the naming of the Main Library reading room in honor of former director, Mark A. Nesse with a talk by Nancy Pearl entitled the Pleasures and Perils of a Life of Reading. Nancy is the former director of the Seattle Center for the Book, and is now an author and NPR commentor. Some of you may remember Nancy from her previous visits to the Everett Public Library. She always recommends good books to read, and I was pleased that we have almost all of the titles she mentioned on Friday night in our collection.

I made a note of the books she talked about, and thought you might like to check out her suggestions. In no particular order they were:

Paperboy by Pete Dexter
Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert by Georgina Howell
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halbertam
In the Woods by Tana French
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck
Feed by M.T. Anderson

and, anything by Patrick O'Brien, Lee Child, and William Laschner. Someone has already checked out The Towers of Trebizond, so I'll have to wait for that one.

January 6, 2008

2008-01-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

I had planned to post a very short list of books that I have particularly enjoyed at the end of 2007, but now it's already 2008. The books are still worth reading, so here's my belated list of good reads.

I just finished Ann Patchett's new novel, Run, and it was lovely to read. Patchett's novel takes place over a period of 24 hours in the life of Bernard Doyle and his three sons, two of whom are adopted. An accident brings the family together with Tennessee, a single mother, and her daughter Kenya, changing all their lives profoundly.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka is another novel about families. Nadia and Vera, middle-aged sisters with no great love for each other, try to cope with their aging, widowed father, and his infatuation with Valentina, a gold-digging Ukrainian determined to marry him. Lewycka's writing is both amusing and poignant, and rings especially true if you have an aging parent in your life.

December 20, 2007

2007-12-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

The consultants have been here, conducted many focus groups, and interviewed a number of key City officials. We hope for a preliminary report sometime in January, but we do know some of the things they heard from Everett residents during their visit. People want more books, more programs, and more technology. No surprises there. I'll post information about the planning process as it is available to us, and I thank everyone who took the time to attend a focus group or fill out a survey.

If you haven't been in the Children's Room at the Main Library lately, stop by and take a look. The Family Reading Area is really beginning to take shape. Although the permanent furniture is not here yet, we've moved some of our upholstered arm chairs into the room to let people start using it now. We have new magazine shelving so that all of our children's and parenting magazines are in one easily visible spot. Our easy readers are now on the south wall on shelves within easy reach of their intended audience. Computers are no longer the first thing you see when you walk in the room.

Our downloadable e-audio books are finding listeners. With very little fanfare on our part, one quarter of the available titles have been checked out. I have finally decided on an MP3 player for myself, and placed an order. I am looking forward to downloading my first book.

December 7, 2007

2007-12-08T17:04:00.001-08:00

I'm starting this blog as a challenge to myself. Although I've used email and the Internet in my work for years now, I've been relatively slow to adopt many new technologies. I got my first cell phone less than two years ago. While that may not be so unusual among people in my age group, it must seem positively retrograde to many others.

Providing access to the Internet is a large part of library business these days. People use it to look at our catalog, to put materials on hold, to search our online databases, and to use what's called the social web. Web sites such as MySpace, Flickr, and FaceBook are hugely popular. This fall I took a class that introduced me to a few of these sites, and I promised myself afterwards that I would make an effort to find out whether there might be a way to incorporate the social web into my work and home life.

I've been using Librarything.com now for several months, and would recommend it to any reader. It lets me keep a list of books I've read, or might want to read, tag them with words that help me remember what the book was about (I have a terrible memory for book titles), and see what others are reading who enjoyed the same books I have.

I've also been using Flickr.com since September. Last year I got a digital camera, but wasn't so good about doing anything with the photos once I took them. Now, I upload them to Flickr, arrange them in sets, and add labels. I can share them with friends and family easily and cheaply--and frankly, since most of my photos aren't that memorable, I don't have to devote shelf space to albums of photos.

Which brings us to this blog. This is my latest foray into technology. I intend to use it to tell you about what's going on at the library, books and films I've enjoyed, and about my experiences as I explore technology that's new to me and maybe a bit outside my comfort zone.

Feel free to comment--otherwise I won't know if anyone is reading this.

December 10, 2007

2007-12-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

As 2007 comes to an end, the library's strategic planning process is building momentum. Last week Kim Bolan, youth services and technology consultant, spent two days with various staff members. Kim will return in January for more interviews. This week PROVIDENCE Associates will be in town to conduct a number of public focus groups as well as interviews with key city officials.

This is a busy time of year, and for those unable to attend a focus group, we're offering both an online survey from our website, and a paper version available at either the Main Library or the Evergreen Branch. We really do want your input, so we hope you'll either attend a focus group or take a few minutes to complete a survey.

Watch this blog for more information on our planning process, and additional opportunities for public input.