reader’s resources

  • A Day in the Life with the New Catalog

    A staff member’s day with the Library’s new catalog: 12:33 PM: While on a break, I want to do a quick post to my blog about a documentary I watched last night, but can’t remember the name. I type “dogs unconditional” into the new catalog’s search box and the film pops up as the very first result: My… Continue reading

  • Book clubs for kids

    Ever since I started the Kids’ Book Club at the Northeast Branch, I’ve been getting requests from families about offering more book clubs for different ages, schedules and so on. I often tell families that they can help their kids start their own book club. “Oh no, that would be so much work!” It sounds… Continue reading

  • Kirkus Reviews to cease publication.

    More bad news on the publishing front, I’m afraid. Today it was announced that KIRKUS Reviews will be closing its doors, to the dismay of librarians (and the secret delight of authors) around the world. I can think of few better ways to pay tribute to and commemmorate the passing of this epoch-making review source, than… Continue reading

  • Book Groups for Busy People

    Did you get a chance to make the lastest meeting of the Central library’s book discussion group “Let’s Talk About Books”?  I missed it, and it’s too bad, because LTAB is a wonderful opportunity for book lovers like us to share our thoughts on whatever we’re reading now and get ideas for what to read next.  Plus there’s… Continue reading

  • Appreciating Book Bloggers

    Did you know we’re smack in the middle of Book Blogger’s Appreciation Week? Yuh-huh. So let me take this opportunity to appreciate a recent arrival on the scene that really fills a gap in the local blogosphere: Reading Local Seattle. Started by up this past July by local author Matt Briggs as a sibling of Reading… Continue reading

  • Finding a Good Book, with NoveList Plus

    Have you ever had a new toy that was so exciting that you had to tell everyone you knew about it? This is how I feel about the Novelist Plus database that is among the many fantastic and free databases available for all Seattle Public Library cardholders. I find myself effusing enthusiastically about Novelist Plus… Continue reading

  • Living Urban & Living Green

    The greening of Seattle isn’t really new.  People have been practicing the art of green living in our emerald city for some time.  There are a range of organizations and guide books providing ideas, inspiration, and support for people exploring the various shades of green living. Green urban living has an aesthetic all its own. … Continue reading

  • Getting started with downloadable books – Overdrive’s Adobe format

    Welcome the wonderful world of digital books. Watch this video to learn how to use our Overdrive collection. You’ll be able to download books right to your computer. No driving around to get the books you want. As with any new technology, sometimes there can be a few glitches the first few times you use… 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

  • You know the author, Neil G-A-I-M-A-N. Guyman? Gayman?

    If you like to talk about books with your friends, you’ve probably discovered how many fantastic authors have puzzling, exotic names that it’s unclear how to pronounce. I have discovered in myself an almost superstitious preoccupation with the correct pronunciation of author names. The more I love the author, the more compelled I feel to… Continue reading

  • Cool Site: Overbooked

    Websites aimed at readers are often labors of love created by people who would really rather be reading, and so even the most promising sites come and go with unsettling rapidity.  So when a site like Overbooked.org sticks around for a dozen years, it is something to celebrate.  Years before metacritic or bookmarks magazine began summarizing critical consensus from the vast array of book… Continue reading

  • Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Children’s Book Blogs

    Have you ever wondered how to keep up with the thousands of children’s books that are published in a year? Have you always wanted to be able to know more about a book than what you can look through at a bookstore or read the reviews about on amazon.com? Well, here are a few blogs… Continue reading

  • Looking for a good read?

    Of course you are!  But the problem is, how to sort through the plethora of reading lists and suggestions?  Wouldn’t it be cool if someone – someone trustworthy – could poll award winning novelists, historians, poets, critics and biographers and then compile the top vote-getters into a tidy list?  Plus, it would be nice if… Continue reading

  • Shelf Talk: The Seattle Public Library Blog

    Shelf Talk is created and maintained by the staff of The Seattle Public Library. This is our first post! Seattle loves its libraries. Four out of five Seattlites has a library card (what’s with you other fifth, anyway?), and our per capita library circulation is among the highest in the country. We’ve been ranked the nation’s… Continue reading