Programs & Services
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July Question of the Month: An irregular series
The reference librarians at 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 showcase.… Continue reading
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Celebrate Seattle’s Farmers Markets!
Seattle has long been famous for the Pike Place Market, which will be 101 years old this August. The Seattle Public Library has some fantastic books to help the average shopper explore both the Pike Place and neighborhood farmers markets, such as The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally by Ivy Manning… Continue reading
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Baseball with the Seattle Pilots
This challenging season for local baseball fans brings to mind another last place team in our fair city, the famous and short-lived Seattle Pilots of 1969. An expansion team in the American League, they played at Sicks’ Stadium, a converted minor league ballpark. In their one year here they launched Jim Bouton’s literary career through… Continue reading
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Knitting
In 1917, the West Seattle Branch of the Seattle Public Library had a Knitting Club, to help in the War effort. Girls would meet once per week, and while one of their members read out loud, they would knit socks and ambulance pillows out of sturdy wool. A Red Cross volunteer handed out the yarn,… Continue reading
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Finding that elusive poem
How do you find a poem when all you remember is the first line or the title? We have two excellent resources you can use to track down that elusive poem: one in print, the other online. In this post, let’s use the two volumes of the Granger’s Index: The Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry… Continue reading
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Artist Oliver Herring at the Seattle Public Library
On Saturday June 28, The Seattle Public Library downtown hosts an all day group performance of TASK by Oliver Herring. Co-sponsored by the Frye Art Museum, On the Boards, and the Tacoma Art Museum, the piece revolves around spontaneous interactions between a group of volunteer local performers working to complete “tasks” assigned first by the… Continue reading
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Bringing the Ghosts to Life – Doing House History Part 2
Going back to the 1900 census to do similar searching, I learned that my house was not there at all, and so had apparently been built some time between 1900 and 1910. Useful information indeed! I focused now on the family I’d found, and now that I had a family name to go by, my search was… Continue reading
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TV, TiVo or DVD?
Take your pick — which couch potato format would you prefer? After sampling all three formats, I choose TV on DVD for my maximum viewing pleasure. The obvious virtues pertain — no commercial breaks, no need to skip activities that may occur and interfere with a television program and (for an addling brain) the ability… Continue reading
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Bringing the Ghosts to Life – Doing a House History
People who live in old houses must sometimes be aware of the residents who came before them. Just for the briefest time, there may be a shadow, or a current of air—something that suggests another presence or, perhaps, earlier residents. Sometimes they have left some physical object behind, tossed in a corner somewhere … that… Continue reading
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Closing the Drawers: Photo collection focuses on a family’s 80 years in Fremont
The Fremont Branch is hosting a display of photos tracing the history of a Scandinavian family and the Fremont home they shared for more than 80 years. The photos will be on display from June 17 through 30, with an Opening Reception in the Library this Thursday, June 19, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Michael Kleven… Continue reading
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There are few limits to our determination…
…to answer your questions. Librarianship is a cooperative profession. If one of us can’t answer a reference question, we consult with our colleagues. But there are occasions when no one local can find the answer. Now, through the magic of the Internet, we can consult instantly with librarians across the country, or even on the… Continue reading
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Tomatoes – are they safe?
And what about lettuce? avocados? cantaloupe? Here are some links to university and government research with updates on how to be sure the fresh produce you bring home is safe to eat as well as nutritionally sound and just plain delicious. Salmonellosis Outbreak in Certain Types of Tomatoes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA… Continue reading
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Climbing the stairs of Queen Anne
Wednesday, May 28, was a banner evening for attendees at the annual meeting of the Queen Anne Historical Society at the Queen Anne Branch. Thomas Horton, an architectural designer, gave a fascinating and colorful presentation on the public stairways of Queen Anne Hill, showing various types of stairs, the materials of which they are made and some history of… Continue reading
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June 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
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The New Wing Luke Museum Opening
From its humble beginnings in a converted garage, the Wing Luke Asian Museum once again opened its doors to the public on May 31, 2008 as a newly expanded 60,000 square foot facility. It is located at 719 South King Street in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. As the nation’s only pan–Asian Pacific American museum, WLAM engages… Continue reading