Thank You From the Friends of The Seattle Public Library November 20, 2009

The Friends of The Seattle Public Library wishes to express true appreciation for all the individual and neighborhood support given to the Advocacy committee’s fall budget campaign.  Emails, letters, blogs, phone calls, over 2,000 petition signatures from Facebook and neighborhood branches, public testimony, and a successful “500 emails” campaign all raised City Council’s awareness to a new level.

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously to restore $860,000 to The Seattle Public Library’s operating budget. In Mayor Nickels’ proposed 2010 budget just 5 neighborhood branches were slated to operate at 60 hours a week and the other 21 at 35 hours a week.  The restoration of $860,000 placed an additional 6 neighborhood branch libraries onto the 60 hour a week schedule – 11 branches will now be open 60 hours a week and 15 will be open 35 hours a week.  The Library’s 2010 operations budget will still be reduced by $1.77 million dollars.  All neighborhood branches will feel the effects of another one week closure of the entire system.  The impact of the revised 2010 budget on The Seattle Public Library is available on The Library website HERE.

The efforts of all those who participated in the Friends fall budget campaign served to illustrate the importance of The Seattle Public Library to the Seattle City Council.  The education of our public officials about the importance of neighborhood branch libraries couldn’t be done without your voice and the collective voices of neighborhood library supporters.

Please consider thanking council members for the bold step of partial funding restoration.  Their email addresses are:   sally.clark@seattle.gov; jan.drago@seattle.gov; tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov; richard.conlin@seattle.gov; jean.godden@seattle.gov; richard.mciver@seattle.gov; tim.burgess@seattle.gov; bruce.harrell@seattle.gov; nick.licata@seattle.gov  

As Seattle residents you now have a unique educational opportunity to continue to share the importance of your neighborhood library by participating in Mayor Elect Mike McGinn’s Transition Input Survey.  The deadline to participate is Sunday, November 23^rd at 6 pm.  You can fill out the survey HERE. Or share your views on the Mayor-elect’s Ideas for Seattle HERE.

You might also consider emailing incoming Seattle City Council members Mike O’Brien mike@obrienforseattle.com and Sally Bagshaw info@sallybagshaw.com so they begin their terms understanding how important The Seattle Public Library is in Seattle’s neighborhoods.

To help further the Friends’ understanding of the diverse and dynamic ways people use their neighborhood library branches in Seattle, please take five minutes to answer our Library value survey and encourage friends and family to do the same.  Click HERE for the survey.

The Friends of The Seattle Public Library thanks you again for your involvement. While this year’s budget victory is bittersweet for many, the Friends commends you.  The Friends will look for your support to get back to the reality of Libraries for All as soon as possible.

The Seattle Public Library: A World Class Site — in More Ways Than One! November 7, 2009

Thanks to a grant from the Friends, the Seattle Public Library expanded its web site earlier this year to include more information for its patrons who speak Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, and to add information in Somali and Amharic.  To reach these new web pages, go the Library web site and see the Audiences column on the right hand side of the page.  The Library staff compared the number of Web pages that these audiences used from March 2008 – October 2008 versus March 2009 – October 2009, and were delighted to see significant increases in usage as follows:

Spanish:  2,003 to 9,761 web pages used

Chinese:  3,041 to 10,114 web pages used

Vietnamese:  1,038 to 8,168 web pages used

Russian:  1,364 to 8,632 web pages used

The Friends are able to make grants like these from donations, revenues from the FriendShop, and proceeds from the Book Sale, so we’d like to share these thanks with all of you who support the Friends and the Seattle Public Library:

Gracias a los Amigos de la Biblioteca Pública de Seattle por proporcionar los fondos para el sitio Web de la biblioteca en idioma español (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Spanish language Web site).

衷心感谢Friends of The Seattle Public Library为扩建图书馆中文网页提供经费。 (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Chinese language Web site).

 Xin cám ơn Thân Hữu của Thư Viện Công Cộng Seattle đã cung cấp ngân quỹ cho trang Web tiếng Việt của Thư Viện (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Vietnamese language Web site).

Благодарим Общество друзей Публичной Библиотеки Сиэтла за предоставление финансовых средств для веб-сайта Библиотеки на русском языке (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Russian language Web site).

Mahadsanid Saaxiibta Maktabada Dadweynaha ee Seattle bixinta kharashka lagu soo saaray horudhacan Maktabada (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for this introduction to the Library in the Somali language).

ለሲያትል የህዝብ ቤተ መጻፍት ጓደኞች ለዚህ የቤተ መጻህፍት ማስታወቂያ እርዳታ ገንዘብ ስላቀረቡ ምስጋናችንን እናቀርባለን። (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for this introduction to the Library in the Amharic language).

More Book Recommendations from the Friends’ Board October 16, 2009

With the advent of the rainy season, what a comfort to think of curling up by the fireplace with a drowsy cat and a good book.  Here are recommendations from the Friends’ October board meeting.  You can click on the links below to get to the SPL site to reserve a copy of these books.

Emperors of the Ice : a True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic, 1910-13, by Richard Farr. Farr’s debut novel has been named winner of the 2009 Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award (part of the annual Washington State Books Awards) in the category of Books for Middle Grades and Young Adults (10-18 year old readers), although our board member believes it will appeal to adults as well.  This story of the ill-fated Antarctic journey led by Robert Scott to find the South Pole is told from the viewpoint of Apsley Cherry-Garrard:  “A bad navigator, inexperienced with dogs, blind as a bat, I was not the best man for the job, but I was the man available for the job.”

Pictures at an Exhibition, by Sara Houghteling.  This novel, set in Paris, is about a Jewish family dealing with the Nazis’ looting of French art masterpieces during World War II, including the destruction of the family’s art gallery.  The son returns after the war to try to recover the family’s masterpieces and in the process learns about family secrets and the many losses caused by the war.

 

The School of Essential Ingredients, by Erica Bauermeister.  Our board member first heard about this book through the Phinney Neighborhood Association blog, and characterizes it as enjoyable escapist fiction, with wonderful descriptions of cooking.  The  characters in the novel all attend a weekly cooking class together, lead by a chef who doesn’t believe in using recipes.  We learn about what has motivated each student to attend, what they each wrestle with, and how their cooking and their lives are transformed by learning to listen to their senses.  Per the PNA blog entry, the author is a PNA member and volunteer instructor in the PNA  education program.

 

Labor Day, by Joyce Maynard.  According to Carol Haggas’ review in Booklist, “Stranger danger” is a concept unfamiliar to 13-year-old Henry, who befriends an injured man during one of his and his agoraphobic mother’s rare shopping excursions in town—with disastrous results for all. . . . Told from Henry’s point of view, Maynard’s inventive coming-of-age tale indelibly captures the anxiety and confusion inherent in adolescence, while the addition of a menacing element of suspense makes this emotionally fraught journey that much more harrowing.”  City Librarian Susan Hildreth confessed that this was the first book she’s read in a while that made her think “I wonder what Nancy Pearl thinks of this book?”  She checked in with Nancy, who hasn’t finished reading it yet, so stay tuned for Nancy’s verdict . . .  . or read it yourself and let us know what you think!

Summer Reading Program a Smashing Success! September 23, 2009

Well folks, the results are in, and all of you readers out there helped exceed every goal for The Seattle Public Library’s 2009 Summer Reading Program, both as to books read and number of readers:

Category	Goal	Actual
Books Read (overall)	125,000	156,361
No. of Readers (overall)	12,029	12,352
Books Read by Teens	2,018	4,898
No. of Teen Readers	734	871
Books Read by Adults	5,220	14,035
No. of Adult Readers	2,040	2,380
Books Read by Children	112,170	137,428
No. of Child Readers	8,505	9,101

Congratulations and thanks to all those who participated!   The Friends of the Seattle Public Library were pleased to join the other entities (The Seattle Public Library Foundation, Verizon Wireless, U.S. Bank, the Burke Museum, Parent Map and Sheraton Seattle Hotel) who sponsored this worthwhile program.  Check back in spring 2010 to see what the Library has planned for the 2010 Summer Reading Program.

And if you are looking for book recommendations for this fall, here are some suggestions from the Friends’ Board meeting in September.  You can click on the links below to get to the SPL site to reserve a copy of these books.

Borkmann’s Point:  An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery, by Hakan Nesser.  This mystery won the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Prize for Best Novel in 1994.  The Inspector is an irascible and occasionally near intuitive character who is called on to solve a mystery in a small town.  The board member who recommended this believes that Borkmann’s point (that in every case a point is reached where enough information is available to solve the crime with “nothing more than some decent thinking”) applies equally to life and the conduct of board meetings.  Having said that, our board member admitted that he hadn’t been able to figure out who had done it until it was revealed at the end of the book.  Why not read this novel and see how long it takes you to figure it out?  Starred review by Booklist.

Fieldwork: A Novel, by Mischa Berlinski.  Several board members enjoyed reading this novel with its multiple and overlapping story lines about a young anthropologist living in Thailand, a nomadic hill tribe, and the multigenerational missionary family seeking to convert the tribe members.  One member was entranced by the detailed descriptions of the fictional hill tribe and their rituals and culture, calling it a tour de force.

Summer Reading Program Coming to a Close; All Library Branches Closed August 31 – September 7 August 25, 2009

Thanks to all our patrons, fans and sponsors who participated in the 750+ free programs that were held this summer throughout Seattle for the Summer Reading Program!  What a great array of choices there were — African Drumming, Bee-Boppin’ Bugs, Duct Tape Mania, Bookmaking, Nature Printmaking, Snake Experience, Make Your Own Comic, and Watercolor Workshop, to name just a few.

We’ll report back in September as to whether the city-wide goal of 125,000 books read this summer was reached, but in the meantime here are photos from some of these events for you to enjoy.

Friendly reminder:  all branches of The Seattle Public Library will be CLOSED from Monday, Aug. 31 through Sunday, Sept. 6 due to citywide budget cuts. Monday, Sept. 7 is the Labor Day holiday so regular Library operations will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 8.  Click here for more information about the closure.  We’d love to know how the closure affects you, so please write us at advocacy@friendsofspl.org.

Start Reserving Books to Tide You Over During the Furlough August 13, 2009

A friendly reminder that that all branches of The Seattle Public Library will be closed Monday, Aug. 31 through Sunday, Sept. 6 due to citywide budget cuts.  The Library will also be closed on Monday, Sept. 7 for  the Labor Day holiday, so regular Library operations will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 8.  Click here for more information about the closure.

Here are suggestions from the Friends’ Board meeting in August in case you need books to read during the furlough.  You can click on the links below to get to the SPL site to reserve copies of these books.

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout.  This novel features 13 interconnected stories, elegantly and sparingly told, of life in rural Maine.  Olive Kitteridge is a retired schoolteacher who provides a common thread in all of the stories, and we see how her choices in life play out as she moves from middle age to old age.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart.  Nancy Pearl recently recommended this young adult novel on a radio show, and I wasn’t able to write down the title while driving, so was delighted that another board member brought it in to our meeting.  Frankie attends a private boarding school and finds intrigue in infiltrating an all-male secret society called the Loyal Order of the Bassett Hounds.  Can our heroine turn the tables on her male high school classmates who underestimate her and the other girls at school?  Read it and find out!

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.   A college graduate and aspiring writer returns to her hometown of Jackson Mississippi in the 1960s and decides to write down the stories of the black women who provide the domestic “help” in many of the white households.  The three narrators must deal with the fears and repercussions (and sense of pride) that result from publishing stories that challenge the prevailing concepts of race, class, family and gender roles.

Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan.  This historical novel explores the relationship of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress Mamah Borthwick Cheney, a scholar in her own right.  The board member who recommended this especially enjoyed the lively discussion held at one of the branch library book groups, and commented that “Librarians run the best book groups!”   For more information about upcoming book group meetings at various branches, click here.

109,594 Books Read This Summer, and Still Counting . . . Can We Make It to 125,000? August 5, 2009

Well folks, it’s official: as of July 31, the 11,009 readers out there participating in The Seattle Public Library Summer Reading Program have reported reading a total of 109,594 books! Wow, we’re well on our way to meeting our goal of 125,000 books read by 12,029 readers of all ages by Aug. 30.

Here’s a breakdown of who is participating, and how much they’ve read:

-77 percent of the participants are children, and they’ve read 98,124 books

-17 percent are adults, and they’ve read 7,925 books

- 6 percent are teens,and they’ve read 3,545 books

But we still need your help to meet the goals of 125,000 books and 12,029 readers! Haven’t signed up to participate yet? Click here to go to the Summer Reading Program’s Facebook page for more info on how to join the fun! And remember to check out the Facebook photo albums of pictures from past Summer Reading Program events. Or better yet, post your own fan photo to let your Facebook friends know that you support The Seattle Public Library and its programs!

Liberate Your Books! July 14, 2009

Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of books yearning to breathe free in the hands of a new reader! That’s right, folks, although the Fall Book Sale isn’t until September 25 – 27, the Friends accept book donations year-round (except for the 2-week period before and after each sale). We’re looking for the following:

 

 

 -Hardback and paperback books
-Audio books
-CDs and DVDs
-Computer software
-Sheet music
-Art prints and posters (framed or unframed)

Click here for more information about donating these materials.  You can get a charitable donation AND feel good about supporting the Library.

And if you are looking for something fun to read, consider the book recommendations below from the Friends’ Board meeting in July. You can click on the links below to get to the SPL site to reserve a copy of these books.

What Was Lost: A Novel, by Catherine O’Flynn. O’Flynn’s first novel opens with 10-year old Kate Meaney, who acts as a detective of possible criminal activities in her neighborhood. “Crime was out there. Undetected, unseen. She hoped she wouldn’t be too late.” Twenty years later, the novel traces the repercussions of Kate’s haunting disappearance on her friends and acquaintances. Received a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly.

Inside Inside, by James Lipton. James Lipton is the host of the TV-show Inside the Actor’s Studio, where he conducts in-depth (and often parodied) interviews with famous actors and directors. This autobiography includes excerpts from interviews with luminaries such as Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Steven Spielberg, but also traces Lipton’s career and insights.

Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way, by Ruth Reichl. “Irreverently immortalized as the klutzy cook who renounced edibility in favor of creativity, Reichl’s mother, and her quirky kitchen habits, provided frivolous fodder for Reichl’s previous culinary memoirs. But in this keenly felt retrospective, Reichl reveals another side of her mother, whose life seemed a shining example of what not to do.  .  .  .   Only upon discovering a hidden trove of diaries and letters after Miriam’s death was Reichl able to understand the full extent of her mother’s sacrifices. Candid and insightful, Reichl’s intensely personal and fiercely loving tribute acknowledges her mother as both the source and inspiration behind her success.” — Carol Haggas

Quoted book review excerpts are reprinted with permission from Booklist.

Happy Birthday to a Friend for Life! June 18, 2009

The Friends want to say “Happy Birthday!” to Mrs. Mildred Huehn Schwagerman Mandeville, who is turning 100 years young on June 21, 2009 (pictured here on her 99th birthday last year).  Mrs. Mandeville has been a member of the Friends for many years, and served on the Friends’ Board at one time.

She collected and enjoyed many older books about the Pacific Northwest, and flying.  One of her favorite books is “The Egg and I”  by Betty MacDonald, a humorous autobiography detailing the trials and tribulations of  life on a rustic chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in the 1940s.

Mrs. Mandeville was also the editor and publisher for a number of years of various editions of “The Used Book Price Guide:  an Aid in Ascertaining Current Prices:  Retail Prices of Rare, Scarce, Used and Out-of-Print Books.”  What a resource those guides must have been for book collectors and book sellers in the days before that information was readily available over the Internet!

 And, while we’re not going to say that becoming a Friend will mean that you’ll live to 100, we’d love to have you join the Friends today! 

Catch Up on Your Reading This Weekend May 19, 2009

Just a friendly reminder that all locations of The Seattle Public Library and the Central Library book drops will be closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25.  If you are looking for books to read over the weekend, consider the book recommendations below from the Friends’ Board meeting in May. You can just click on the links below to get to the SPL site to reserve a copy of these books. Quoted book review excerpts are reprinted with permission from Booklist.

 The World Before Her, by Deborah Weisgall.    This novel “explores the parallel worlds of two marriages a century apart yet forever interwoven through the beauty of Venice. We first encounter Marian Evans Cross honeymooning in Venice. Marian led an unconventional life for the late Victorian era through her lengthy extramarital relationship with George Henry Lewes and publication of Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, and Middlemarch under the pseudonym George Eliot. . . . A century later, sculptor Caroline Edgar Spingold returns reluctantly to Venice on a surprise tenth-anniversary trip planned by her husband, Malcolm.  .  .  .  Marian’s life will end unexpectedly without having attained great happiness or contentment . . . . , while Caroline will emerge from the fog of complacency to achieve the happiness she sought as an artist and as a woman. A compelling novel of introspection, the story is enhanced by vivid attention to the artistic and literary detail in both the historical and contemporary settings.”  — Laurie Sundborg

Dream When You’re Feeling Blue, by Elizabeth Berg.  This story is set “in Chicago during World War II, featuring three Irish Catholic sisters—Kitty, Louise, and Tish Heaney. The novel opens as Kitty and Louise say good-bye to their boyfriends at Union Station as they head off to war. Over the next three years, the sisters—amid the usual sibling squabbles over borrowed clothes and makeup—learn what it means to sacrifice during wartime. . . . [Berg] deftly mixes up the tone, moving easily between the wry dialogue of the long-married Heaney parents and the sad and affecting letters from the soldiers at the front. Although a final plot twist may not be fully credible, it does little to detract from this affectionate tribute to the patriotic 1940s and the women of the Greatest Generation.” — Joanne Wilkinson