News & Stories

  • Free Books @ the library!

    In what some have called a daring and radical departure from the successful business models of Barnes & Noble, Netflix and iTunes, The Seattle Public Library is loaning books, DVDs and music free of charge to anyone with a library card. In a scheme well-calculated to take advantage of the current thrift craze (or cheap… Continue reading

  • Gentrification and the Arts

    If you have picked up this year’s Seattle Reads novel, The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu you’ve had a chance to get one novelist’s take on some of the issues and pressures that can fracture a community changing in the face of gentrification and immigration. Facing similar issues, particularly those of gentrification… Continue reading

  • A conversation with Daniel Schorr

    It’s been more than a week since he came to Town Hall, but our conversation with Daniel Schorr is still on my mind. Mr. Schorr shuffled out on fragile limbs but, at nearly 92, his wit and mental clarity are razor sharp and  “the voice”- – pure gravitas.  His relationship with us seemed almost intimate.  We offered a standing ovation when… Continue reading

  • Calling all Parents! Homework Help to the Rescue

    Is your kid’s homework getting YOU down? How’s that “new math” working out at your house? Fortunately for you and your children, The Seattle Public Library offers free homework help in-person on-line. Trained volunteers at some of our Branch Libraries are on hand to assist your children and teens with their homework.  Student who work with our Homework Help volunteers consistently report getting… Continue reading

  • Got Back Pain?

    Many people suffer from back pain. According to MedlinePlus, a free service offered by the National Library of Medicine, “Back pain is one of the most common medical problems, affecting eight out of 10 people at some point during their lives.” It is also the second leading reason that people visit their physicians. A lot of time and… Continue reading

  • Flower Frenzy

    It’s flower season here in the great northwest!  If you want to get up close to fields and fields of colorful tulips, don’t miss the 25th Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. If you’d like to explore some of the fascinating history of these blooms, here is a bouquet of books exploring the appeal of flowers… Continue reading

  • Cool Site: Overbooked

    Websites aimed at readers are often labors of love created by people who would really rather be reading, and so even the most promising sites come and go with unsettling rapidity.  So when a site like Overbooked.org sticks around for a dozen years, it is something to celebrate.  Years before metacritic or bookmarks magazine began summarizing critical consensus from the vast array of book… Continue reading

  • Book review: Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell

    Mary Doria Russell visits The Seattle Public Library this Thursday (March 20) to introduce her new book, Dreamers of the Day, to the delight of her many Seattle fans. Mary’s first book, The Sparrow, won the James Tiptree award in 1996 and the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1998, and still is in constant demand… Continue reading

  • Happy Birthday, Betty MacDonald!

    Every so often history offers us a chance to revisit a good book. This March is the centennial of the birth of Betty MacDonald, author of The Egg and I (1945) which is a memoir of life on a “chicken ranch” on the Olympic peninsula near Chimacum from 1927-1931. Betty observed the very rural and… Continue reading

  • Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Children’s Book Blogs

    Have you ever wondered how to keep up with the thousands of children’s books that are published in a year? Have you always wanted to be able to know more about a book than what you can look through at a bookstore or read the reviews about on amazon.com? Well, here are a few blogs… Continue reading

  • March Question of the Month: An irregular series

    The reference librarians at The Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we… Continue reading

  • Have you heard about “Seeds of Compassion” ?

    A historic five-day gathering to focus the world’s attention on the importance of nurturing kindness and compassion will take place at large-scale venues in Seattle from April 11 to 15, 2008. This spiritually-significant event will include public presentations by the Dalai Lama, as well as other luminaries. For a complete listing of events see Seeds… Continue reading

  • Gardeners, Start Your Engines

    It’s Spring, and a young (or not so young) gardener’s fancy naturally turns to PLANT SALES! Of course we’ll all run off to our favorite members of the Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association and the Specialty Nursery Association of Western Washington. But don’t stop there. There are dozens of local plant sales every year… Continue reading

  • Synchronicity in the Backyard

    Even with the gardening season right around the corner, the thoughtful gardener will still always find time to read, dream of and ponder the natural world around us. After reading about global warming via the lengthy series of New Yorker articles excerpted from Elizabeth Kolbert’s acclaimed recent book Field Notes from a Catastrophe, documenting the… Continue reading

  • Sleuthing for a good mystery?

    I don’t know why, but somehow reading a good mystery has a soothing effect on me. Go figure. The Library has lots of mysteries, but how to know which ones you will like? Librarians are always happy to talk to you and try to match up your tastes with the “right” book. There are also… Continue reading

  • Northwest author Jo Dereske creates a ‘loving sendup’ to librarians in Miss Zukas mysteries

    Turns out my favorite librarian in the universe will be making an appearance at our very own Green Lake Library this week. Okay, make that my favorite fictional librarian, created by Northwest author Jo Dereske, who will be reading from her popular Miss Zukas mystery series and discussing writing mysteries (she has a new series… Continue reading

  • Tapping your feet at the Ballet

    Ballet is a feast for the eyes. But don’t forget your ears. DIRECTOR’S CHOICE, the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s March 2008 program, includes some material from new choreographers and some unusual composers. Musical selections by Mikel Rouse, Arvo Paart, Phlip Glass and Thom Willems will be previewed in the Microsoft Auditorium of the Seattle Public Library’s… Continue reading

  • Spun to distraction – surviving life between the primaries and the general election

    This is probably the most exciting election year I’ve ever seen. It’s exhilarating and exhausting. Just keeping track of the code words and the spin cycles, not to mention the charges and counter-charges is enough to give even a committed political junky a headache. Enter unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation. Written by… Continue reading