library staff

  • Bicycling Everywhere (in the Central Library)

    There have been a lot of blogs about biking, I know, I know. But I hope this one is a little different. It’s about how books on a topic can turn up anywhere. Let’s start at the top of the Central Library and work our way down. Way up on the 9th floor (History, Travel… Continue reading

  • A little investment help from your friends: Tips from the library for bond investors…..

    Library users who invest know that stock information is available 24/7 online via The Library’s free databases Valueline, Standard and Poor’s NetAdvantage and Morningstar.  But what kind of help can the library give with bonds?  Bonds are harder to research than stocks, especially prices, and the library has never really furnished bond price information.  But we… Continue reading

  • The World’s Fair

    The Century 21 Exposition (or Seattle World’s Fair) took place in Seattle from April 21 to October 21, 1962. The first major American world’s fair after World War II, it presented an optimistic vision of a future improved through science and technology, and promoted Seattle to the world as a space-age city. Exhibits focused on… Continue reading

  • Start Spreading the News

    If there is any industry or service that has had to hear the braying prognostications of pessimistic doomsayers more than the library, it has to be the newspaper business. In that regard I feel a particular kinship with those who continue to toil tirelessly for the journalistic profession, especially if we are related by blood.… Continue reading

  • Librarians’ picks for fourth- and fifth-grade readers

    Looking for a few books for your nine or ten year old? Take a look at the eight books suggested here, and be sure to check our Seattle Picks: Books for Fourth and Fifth Graders 20-item list in our catalog. Extra Credit by Andrew Clements (2009) Abby takes on an extra credit pen pal project… Continue reading

  • How about a little horror for your summer?

    Our librarians put together a list of some of their favorite horror novels and short stories from the past couple of years. Most of the books are available now, or have short waitlists. Here are a few to get you started: Horns by Joe Hill After the murder of his girlfriend, Ig Parrish gets drunk… Continue reading

  • Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin.

    If I were a benevolent dictator (and how could it be otherwise?), I’d make everyone read Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Snyder’s work is too important to gather dust; it must be on the move, it must pass from hand to hand until we’ve all read it. From cover to cover. Why? As… Continue reading

  • Origami Boxes

    I like to fold paper. A lot. I don’t like make cranes, other cute animals or little people. I like making boxes, and putting together geometric shapes. There is one origami author and artist that is the queen of such things: Tomoko Fuse. Her boxes can be fairly (and I use the term loosely) simple, to… Continue reading

  • Five Presidents — and their Civil War battles

    Do great generals make for great presidents? From George Washington to Ike Eisenhower, our nation has often elevated military leaders to the White House. The Civil War battlefields, now being recalled upon the 150th anniversary of the war, launched several future presidents and presidential contenders. Touched With Fire: Five Presidents and the Civil War Battles… Continue reading

  • Fashion Redux

    I know, I just posted about pre-1950 fashion designers, but the new Alexander McQueen book, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011), has got me excited again about some later designers of note. Sadly, McQueen committed suicide in February of 2010, but his work is amazing. He said that he designed from the side, because that is… Continue reading

  • Subject heading of the day: ‘Generosity’

    Today is Give BIG Day in Seattle — and that means donations you make to any one of dozens of King County charities will go even further, thanks to the $500,000 pool of money The Seattle Foundation is spreading around to give a mid-year boost to some of your favorite organizations.  And we might as… Continue reading

  • June Question of the Month – an irregular series

    Hi, I am looking for children’s picture books about or set in the Puget Sound area.  Non-fiction books for children about Puget Sound and marine life found there would also be appreciated.  Perhaps something like Davy’s Dream or There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout. Hello! Thank you for your question about books… Continue reading

  • From Tideflats to Tunnels: The Transformation of Seattle’s Central Waterfront

    Seattle’s central waterfront is about to undergo some major transformations. The Alaskan Way Viaduct will soon be a memory. We’ll be voting on a tunnel referendum in August.  And a new design aims to transform the waterfront into a “civic heart for the City.” No matter what happens, the waterfront is going to change significantly… Continue reading

  • The Poetry Lesson, by Andrew Codrescu

    If you already are an Andrei Codrescu aficionado, have read any of his books (26 titles are available in The Seattle Public Library Catalog), listen to his weekly commentaries on NPR, then you’ll delight in The Poetry Lesson, his latest publication by the Princeton University Press that recently hit bookstores and libraries. One may hope… Continue reading

  • Omar Souleyman: Syria’s ambassador of pop

    Seattle is in for a treat on June 9, as international legend Omar Souleyman graces Neumos with his heady blend of Syrian folk and pop. Though he is well-known in his native country and actively performing material since 1994, it wasn’t until recently that Souleyman’s recordings have been released stateside, thanks to Seattle label Sublime Frequencies.… Continue reading

  • Treasures of the Library: Old, Big Magazines

    While perusing the magazine shelves at the Central Library one day, I came across some very large, very aged magazines we have in our collection that aren’t in publication anymore. I took a look. I was delighted with what I found inside. Each one is about  11 inches by 17 inches in size (they are… Continue reading

  • What’s funny?

    Sometimes we just want a funny book, but our definitions of “funny” differ widely according to individual taste, background and predilection. When I was six going on sixteen I thought my mother’s sense of humor was just bizarre. She loved Jerry Lewis, Tony Curtis and Lucille Ball: it was the slapstick humor she loved. To… Continue reading

  • Fashion, Fashion, Fashion

    You watch “Project Runway,” or “The Fashion Police.” You hear names like Christian Lacroix, Issey Miyake, John Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, and Michael Kors. But how did it all begin? The first fashion design houses began around the turn of the century (the 20th century that is). Fashion design itself started in the late 19th… Continue reading