Ann G.

  • Suggestions for a Seattle Book Crawl

    Today’s guest post is from Ann Glusker, formerly a librarian with the Seattle Public Library and now with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Thanks to the Medical Library Association News for sharing this post; we trust with this handy guide that the medical librarians visiting our fair city later this month will have a… Continue reading

  • Creepy Medicine!

    There’s just something fascinating about weird medical history. It seems impossible that anyone ever thought, “Wow, I could stick a leech on that wound and it might help it get better!” but, someone did (and they were right—leeches are used today in recovery from various types of surgery and they have been used medicinally for… Continue reading

  • Homelessness and Our Society: A Deeper Dive

    Follow us throughout the fall for posts which highlight library resources and information that supports the Tiny: Streetwise Revisited exhibit at the Central Library and its community programming. As you may know, the Central Library is currently presenting a thought-provoking and poignant exhibit, called Streetwise Revisited. We’ve put together some great resources that focus on the… Continue reading

  • Mosquitoes—They Suck!

    Mosquitoes actually have some good points—they are a food source for many animals, they pollinate flowers, and they even have the capacity to learn. But mostly, as any of us who have been bitten can attest, THEY SUCK (at least, the females do). August 20 is World Mosquito Day, and we welcome you to come… Continue reading

  • Book Bingo: Nonfiction

    Join The Seattle Public Library and Seattle Arts & Lectures for our 2nd annual Summer Book Bingo for adults! Follow us throughout the summer for reading suggestions based on each category.  Fancy a walk in the countryside? The English love a long walk through the rainy countryside– much like Seattleites! We here in Seattle tend to like our countryside a bit wilder,… Continue reading

  • How to Find a Financial Planner (for Non-Millionaires)

      ~posted by Ann G. Getting your finances in order can seem daunting, especially if you are not wealthy.  You know that most of us are in very good company in wondering how to get good financial advice at lower (!) incomes if you consider that a household income of $450,000 a year puts you… Continue reading

  • FIRST FOLIO! Much Ado About Costumes

    ~posted by Ann G. Shakespeare’s First Folio is still here in Seattle for a few more days—if you haven’t gotten a chance to stop by, consider getting tickets and coming to see it! The library hosted a program recently called “Make Your Own Shakespearean Costume”; we had stations where you could make ruffs, cuffs, brooches, beards, and… Continue reading

  • Tuberculosis in Novels and Film

    Last week we posted about the history and science of tuberculosis to highlight the upcoming World TB Day program coming to the Central Library on March 24. This week, let’s take a dive into representations of tuberculosis in literature and movies. If you like historical fiction at all, you’ve heard of the heroine who tragically died… Continue reading

  • World TB Day at the Central Library

    TB IS THE WORLD’S #1 INFECTIOUS DISEASE KILLER.  EVEN MORE THAN AIDS.  If you found that statistic surprising, you’re not alone!  Tuberculosis seems like something our grandparents dealt with and then it sort of petered out, but that’s not the case.  It is widespread, and many of the more virulent forms in today’s world are… Continue reading

  • The Science of Love

    We often think of love as a mystery, or even a fairy tale, but there is science underlying our attractions! Next Tuesday, February 2, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Dr. Pepper Schwartz will be here at the library discussing the science of love, and how understanding it can help improve your love life. She… Continue reading

  • A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

    ~ posted by Ann G. Sadly, this post is NOT going to be about pretty pictures or images.  It is about data visualization—WAIT, DON’T STOP READING!  They can be fun!  Whenever you see an infographic (which is one small subset of the many types of data visualizations), like this one about what happens to your body… Continue reading

  • You Know You Love Data…

    ~ posted by Ann G. Or, if you don’t now, we can help you become the best kind of data geek!  Even if all you do is read news articles, in print or online, you need discerning data skills, to know what to believe.  Data is also behind many of the cool apps we use… Continue reading

  • Going Bananas!

    ~ posted by Ann G. In order to celebrate tonight’s food fest at the Central Library, with exhibitors and speakers to encourage us learn about and appreciate our food even more than we already do, let’s consider one of the most ubiquitous foods around: the banana. According to Chiquita Bananas, the average American eats 27… Continue reading

  • Come See What’s Cooking…

    There are all kinds of literacy—cultural literacy, health literacy, financial literacy—and this month we celebrate food literacy.  Which is, as defined by Nourish, “Understanding the story of our food from farm to table, and back to the soil.” And, as with any type of literacy, the way to raise literate adults is to start with… Continue reading

  • Most sincerely dead: Glorious and gory coroner stories

    by Ann G. I’m sure the first time I heard the word coroner was in The Wizard of Oz:   “As coroner I must aver I thoroughly examined her—and she’s not only merely dead, she’s really most sincerely dead!” Since then, I’ve become an aficionado of murder mysteries, true and fictional, on pages or on-screen.  There… Continue reading

  • Polio: Ongoing challenges

    posted by Ann G. Polio was one of the most dreaded diseases on earth during the first half of the 20th century, but if you were born after about 1970 you probably haven’t given it much of a thought—until recently. Current news reports include both accounts of the concerning increase in cases of Enterovirus 68,… Continue reading

  • Polio: Before the vaccine

    — by Ann G. This October 28 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jonas Salk, who developed the first safe and successful polio vaccine (the library is celebrating this milestone with a program called Polio Then and Now: From Salk’s Game-Changing Vaccine to Today’s Resurgence on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the… Continue reading

  • Alaska beckons

    It’s been quite the hot summer — it has many of us dreaming of going even further north to catch some cool breezes and gain additional daylight hours to play in. Alaska beckons! Ann says: Alaska is vast, beautiful and unforgiving. Many men (and a few women) have been lured to Alaska by its beauty and its… Continue reading