library staff

  • Public Health

    There probably aren’t many people who could say they “like” diseases, but they are interesting subjects for researchers and writers.  Especially interesting are accounts of how society copes with illness, now and in the past – and in what ways particular diseases were perceived by the society struggling with them.  Here are a few investigations… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Three novels to take to the beach

    Looking for a good novel to take along on your vacation—or read in your backyard? The Summer edition of Staff Favorites for Adults is hot off the press and available at your branch. The bright green booklet highlights 27 books, fiction and nonfiction, recommended by Library staff. The three novels suggested here are also available… Continue reading

  • 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

  • Summer Reads: Fremont and Queen Anne reader suggestions

    Want to share what you’re reading? Enter the Adult Summer Reading Program at any branch (or downtown at the Central Library), write one or two sentences about three books you’ve read. You’ll be entered in a weekly drawing to win a book bag (one winner per week at each location; lots of chances to win!).… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Wallingford and Ballard readers offer suggestions

    How do you find what to read next? Most of us count on personal recommendations from friends and neighbors (and, of course, librarians!). As part of the Adult Summer Reading Program, readers throughout Seattle are writing super short “reviews” of what they’ve been reading. Readers in Wallingford recommend: The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters A Brother… Continue reading

  • 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

  • After a bike ride, read a book about bicycles

    Bicycles are magical.  Learning to ride one is a rite of passage. The bicycle wobbles between the thighs – yet stays upright. Suddenly, the world extends from the yard to the block, from the neighborhood to the city, and beyond. This skill, once mastered, becomes intimately connected to memory, to knowledge.  It’s like riding a… Continue reading

  • 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

  • Deborah Jacobs’ Nightstand Reading

    When I came to The Seattle Public Library almost eleven years ago, one of my key commitments was to help improve the library materials budget and the ability of Technical Services to streamline its work and get materials ordered and ready for the public more quickly. We even had an internal campaign we called: “The… Continue reading

  • The Decoration of Houses

    Here are some interesting books about interior design, plus some about unusual buildings: The Elements of Style: an Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Detail (edited by Stephen Calloway) For anyone who wants to restore their historic house, or for anyone interested in the history of house styles, this beautiful book is a goldmine of information and… Continue reading

  • 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

  • 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

  • David and Brutus

    The gifts of a great artist can be used to further political ends. Jacques-Louis David, painter of the French revolutionary era, created several wonderful paintings that were fraught with political and social meaning, but are still notable on a purely artistic level. One such painting tells a remarkable story. Called Brutus, or Lictors Returning the… Continue reading

  • Buildings and Cities

    The Seattle Public Library has a large and varied collection of books about architecture and city planning. Here are a few that I find interesting and useful. I hope you enjoy them too. The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs’ classic ground-breaking attack on the planning of American cities,… Continue reading

  • 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

  • Metro Reads 2: What are you reading on the bus?

    Do you notice what people are reading? At a coffee shop? At the dentist’s office? On the bus? We notice — and not just because we work at a library. Sometimes we notice because we want a good book to read; sometimes we get excited because we read and loved that same book. Most of… Continue reading

  • 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

  • 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