library staff

  • Branches in Bloom: Photos of Spring at the Library

    Branches in Bloom: Photos of Spring at the Library

    We usually associate libraries with the indoors — buildings, books, computers, programs and classes. But a lot of thought and care goes into the landscapes surrounding our buildings as well. Mathew Roland, senior gardener, is a member of the Library’s Facilities team, which works hard around the year to keep our spaces clean, safe, well-functioning,… Continue reading

  • FIRST FOLIO! Shadows of Shakespeare: Biographies of a Folio and a Forger

    ~posted by Carl When William Shakespeare died in 1616, he was not yet the literary giant of the English language. His reputation grew over the centuries, following the development of the Shakespearean cult in the 18th century. About seven years after Shakespeare died, his colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell published the first collection of… Continue reading

  • Kids Agree: Books are no longer cool

                     ~ Posted by David W. To many it came as a shock. Just as conventional wisdom chorused that in our increasingly plugged-in society print books were destined to get left behind, a series of studies and articles from such sources as Nielsen, Publishing Technology, Hewlett Packard, The Pew Research Center,… Continue reading

  • Sketch Away!

    Does the very idea of drawing draw you in? We hope so! Come on down!  Downtown, that is, because The Sketchbook Project: A Traveling Library of Artists’ Sketchbooks will be visiting the Central Library, July 10-12 between noon and 3pm. Consisting of more than 31,000 books from 130 countries and counting, the Sketchbook Project is a… Continue reading

  • Isn’t It a Pity

    by Library Staff   Are you tired of cookie-cutter songs with interchangeable melodies, sung by manufactured celebrities packaged in sound-bite-sized pieces? If so, I invite you to listen to one song which is the complete antithesis of this: “Isn’t It a Pity” by Nina Simone, from the album Emergency Ward (also available on Freegal). Continue reading

  • Mystery: Thanks to Dick Francis’s son, Sid Halley keeps going

    Dick Francis’s Refusal by Felix Francis Francis takes one of his father’s best characters and sets him against a man who is determined to undermine British horse racing. Sid Halley is able to turn the tables on his adversary and come out the winner. Francis writes a fast-paced novel in his dad’s footsteps and leads… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: Staff Favorites

    Here are a few science fiction (and one fantasy) book recommendations from our staff: In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker In the dystopian future, biodiversity and cultural treasures have been lost through human folly… or would be, if a shadowy entity called “The Company” was not working behind the scenes, sending immortal misfits through… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Teen fiction our library staff loves

    Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger Reading Gail Carriger is like eating a favorite pastry and discovering an unusual filling: light, decadent, funny, paranormal steampunk adventure—this time for teens! Sophronia is a young lady who’d rather climb the side of a building than the social ladder. Fortunately for her, she’s been sent to the right finishing school. Delightful hijinks… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: 5 nonfiction books we love

    Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love & Karaoke by Rob Sheffield Rolling Stone editor Rob Sheffield oozes popular culture and arcane rock music trivia from every pore. But in a good way. In this memoir (his third!), he explains his addiction to singing karaoke, even though he can’t sing. He also tells endearing… Continue reading

  • Savory goodness in a dish

    Comforting. Yummy. Satisfying. Those words are from the back cover of Potpies: Yumminess in a Dish and they perfectly describe this type of savory mini-pie. After trying several commercial varieties, I thought to myself, wouldn’t a salmon potpie be delicious—and oh-so-Northwest? I wasn’t able to find one (either store-bought or from the many excellent pie… Continue reading

  • Struck By Lightning!

    Were you mesmerized by the recent news story about the motorcyclist who survived a lightning strike on I-5 during our severe weather last week? His hair was singed and an ear blackened, but other than being a little dazed, he lived to tell the tale. Although the odds of being struck by lightning in the… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: One for the Guys, One for the Gals

    There are precious few movies about LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people in which a character doesn’t die, kill somebody, commit a crime or remain closeted and self-loathing. Why is it so difficult for Hollywood to make a grand gay romance—or even a simple one? Be that as it may, in recent years the number… Continue reading

  • Fountain of Wisdom

    As a student in the University of Washington’s Library and Information Science Program, I have been helping digitize photos from the Library’s Seattle Historical Photograph Collection. I’ve discovered a lot of interesting photos, but one of my favorites is a photo of the library’s Fountain of Wisdom with the artist just peeking out from behind… Continue reading

  • Was the movie as good as the painting?

    We’re all familiar with movies based on books—and how they often don’t measure up to the written word. But what about movies based on paintings? A film that takes us inside a single painting, dramatizing its imagery as the primary action or narrative, is certainly not a new idea. This newspaper article from 1921 describes… Continue reading

  • Haiku Hullabaloo: Enter the Library’s Poetry Contest

    Isn’t it interesting that you can find books about haiku on the shelves of our library, but not one book of haikus about libraries? Let’s show the world what we’re made of! In celebration of National Poetry Month  (April), National Library Week (April 14-20) and National Haiku Day (April 17), we’re having an all-ages haiku… Continue reading

  • Cold nose, warm heart – a dog’s life

    I am a working dog: I protect, I comfort, I listen. I am a good dog. Here are some of my stories. Dog Heroes: Saving Lives and Protecting America by Jen Bidner This history of canine search and rescue celebrates brave dogs with special talents, such as detecting skin cancer and locating unmarked Civil War… Continue reading

  • Gift Giving Ideas

    This is the time of the year when many people give gifts. Some people are easy to buy for and others are more challenging. We have both types on our lists! For inspiration, we took a look at books on gift giving in the library’s collection, did some internet searching and brainstorming, and came up… Continue reading

  • Dark Reads for Dark Winter Days

    In many ways, winter is an ideal setting for a story. Stark landscapes of vast white nothingness, silence punctured by the occasional chirp of a bird or a distant train whistle, and the sense of time standing still provide a fitting backdrop for tales of sorrow, solitude, suspense and ennui. Here are five fiction selections… Continue reading