Art, Family, Playgrounds and Greenlake Library November 8, 2009

“On a typical Sunday outing we’ll take our bikes and scooters down to the lake, have breakfast, play at the playground, go to the library and go home,” Greenlake patron Rebecca Albiani told us over morning coffee.  The library serves an important role in both her family and professional life. Her eldest son, 8, “is an avid reader; it would bankrupt us to keep him in books by purchasing them,” she said. His current reading list: Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians, Septimus Heap books,  and 39 Clues. The youngest son, 6, “memorizes books so he needs a constant flow of simple stories as he learns to read.”

In professional life, Rebecca “gives talks for general audiences at the Frye Art Museum.” For the past ten years she’s lectured on everything from ancient Egypt to Pop Art. “I couldn’t do that without the library. Every month I have a new topic. 95 percent of my research materials come from the public library,” she said. Wouldn’t the UW Art Library be a stronger resource, we wondered, but Rebecca said the public library’s catalogue is usually ample. “The public library has THE book on the Index of American Design, for instance, which is the New Deal program I’ll be lecturing on in December. I could get a UW library card but it’s so much more convenient to walk to my public library [Greenlake Walkscore: 89] where I know people who work there and I don’t have to worry about parking.”

“The library is a crucial leveling factor. Plus it is simply a wonderful community gathering place” she told us. “When I think about the proposed library budget I worry about Saturday hours and Sunday closures in particular. On Sunday I see people on computers or sitting in the magazine section—that’s where my husband goes. There are always a lot of families reading to kids or kids coloring. At the playground I often hear moms saying, “Shall we go to the library now?”

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A conversation with Secret Garden Bookshop owner, Christy McDanold October 20, 2009

“Welcome,” Christy McDanold said when we met at her business, Secret Garden Bookshop , this past summer. “This is our front porch. It’s wonderful to have a library on Ballard’s front porch. When you have a gem like the Ballard branch library near the business core it draws people and keeps people in the area of commerce. We’re in a city that survives primarily on sales tax and secondarily on B and O tax. If retailers don’t see customers then the city doesn’t collect sales tax. If you’re going to rely on tax then you need to ensure that the business core is kept in mind and realize that there are public services, like the library, that impact commerce, well being, and health.”

Secret Garden partners with Ballard branch library to host author readings. “We’ve produced about 100 readings,” McDanold told us. ”We wouldn’t be able to do our author readings without the Ballard branch because we don’t have that much space available. The rent we’d pay by square foot would be prohibitive. In exchange for using the public space we open our events to the public. Library patrons value that access to author events because we hear about that all the time.”

McDanold first saw the value of library meeting space when she headed a tutoring program for the Central Area Youth Association. “It was a tutoring program for at risk youth. We paired over 2000 volunteers with youth and they met together in branch libraries,” she explained. A teacher before starting her own business, she has great appreciation for libraries. “Libraries are the brain trust. Libraries translate questions into ideas and resources,” she told us.  But her strongest reason for library support  springs from her perspective as a  mother, “The one thing that consistently makes a difference in a child’s life is a caring adult in the community. As a parent I’ve always looked for someone that can connect with my children. The chance of it being a librarian is as good as it being a teacher. A library is a public open space. It’s a place where kids go even if they’re not looking for a book. As a society we should never back off from making places where that can happen. It’s a community responsibility.”

“The library makes it possible that I have a rich life” October 13, 2009

Libraries are very important in writer Jon McKinley’s everyday life. He uses Highpoint library frequently “to enjoy the great selection of movies, CD’s and books —those things we should all have access to collectively,” he said. But he also talked with us about a time when libraries played a pivotal role in his life.

“I immediately went to the library when I arrived in Seattle because if there’s one thing I need in life it’s reading material. At that time, around 1998, I didn’t know what a PC was. I was intimidated by computers and I thought I might have to take a college course to learn Windows and Word.  I may never have learned if I hadn’t seen the sign for the library’s free classes. I took two hour and a half classes with a group of 35 or 40.

In the first class, we learned how to turn the computer on, start up Word, double-click the mouse and scroll up and down,” he said, laughing at the memory. “When I saw how fun it was I stopped feeling intimidated. That class sure helps me out as a writer because I probably wouldn’t be able to understand my own handwriting today!”

“The library really makes it possible that I have a rich life,” he explained. “I  live humbly and frugally but can feel the excitement of travel and adventure, have the rush of gaining relevant knowledge, and see some wonderful movies because of the library.”

Highpoint branch, which is located in West Seattle next to a large, diverse, mixed income community,  is a convenient neighborhood walking destination [walkscore 66].  “Parks and libraries are some of the last free places we have for community,” McKinley said. ”Libraries in our neighborhoods make for happier communities because all people from all walks of life know that its an enrichment that we  have in common and a place that we share between us.”

Meeting our Neighbors at Northgate Branch Library October 6, 2009

Northgate patron Tsukina Blessing pulled out her MP3 player when we met at her branch library and shared her enthusiasm about Overdrive books. “I can’t read on the bus because it makes me ill but on my MP3 player I can listen to audio recordings I get in the library’s Overdrive catalog. I have a concert of Herbert Howells, a workshop, even BBC radio programs sometimes show up there. Recently I read an article in Natural History by Frans de Waal, on human correlates of ape behavior, and I was able to find a book by him on Overdrive. That’s the way I read on the bus. I’ve also brought pieces of these audios to meetings we attend. These days if you send out an artricle or other information before a meeting people may or may not read it but if you ask a small group to listen to a seven minute audio snippet then everyone has the same shared information.”

Her family relies on the library for access to books, DVDs, CDs,  computers, and as a space that’s pleasant to hang out in while other people in the family are looking. They often meet friends there and chat.  Her husband is an artist and uses the library for artistic research. She also turns to the library for work research and described the wonderful support she receives from library staff, “I’ve been able to call up downtown (library)  and say, ‘I see you have this magazine or scholarly book’ (some of the scholarly books are so old they don’t put them out in collections) and they will either scan what I need and email it or photocopy and fax it. In addition, we’re setting language standards for our office.  It’s been quite a while, and language changes so quickly these days, so I use the Old English Dictionary at the library’s database online all the time. I use Safari online books for computer programming and application use reference.”

Tsukina also expressed appreciation for the non commercial aspect of our libraries, “Libraries are a place to meet and hang out that aren’t about the consumer ethic – this is an extremely valuable way of centering community. You don’t have to pay for things here.  In the  outside world I have this sense of needing things like carrots for the rabbit, dinner,  the nuts and bolts of living. All these transactions are commercial. The library is the one place where I don’t have to do this.  For instance, the other day my son saw Indiana Jones. We saw a real live movie and it cost ten dollars…per person. Here I can order the Indiana Jones handbook and Indiana Jones 1,2, and 3 and I don’t have to pay anything. He gets many interests and I love the sense that we can keep coming back here for information. If we had to buy it all we wouldn’t do it.”

The library is like a hidden treasure. The more you dig down into its resources the more you find. October 2, 2009

“The library is always the first place I look for when I move to a new community,’” Daisy Almonte said when we sat down for lunch to talk about the library. She uses Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill branch libraries. “The first library program I went to was on how to purchase a house,” she recalled. ”I drove all the way to Northgate to attend the seminar. I couldn’t believe it was free!  I remember walking in and asking, ‘Are you sure there’s no fee?’  I learned a lot of information from that seminar and felt that I was no longer scared to buy a house when I walked out of the library. I just couldn’t believe this seminar was free! I wish there were more community training programs like that,” she said.

“The library is like a hidden treasure,” she explained. “The more you dig down into its resources the more you find. When I was in graduate school, I was able to download a whole book from the library for one of my classes. I also didn’t realize that the conference rooms weren’t just for business-specific reasons instead, anyone can actually use them.  I didn’t expect them to be very equipped and roomy. My graduate classmates and I met there to work on projects. They made it so convenient and in addition, it’s free. Lots of places require deposits, but all we had to do was show our library card and we felt like we were VIPs.”

It’s not just her own use of the library that makes it so important she told us, “Organizations send people to the library all of the time. I have worked in hospitals to help clients with their financial needs. If they were not able to complete a DSHS application with us and were not able to go to their local DSHS office, we would recommend the individual to complete an application on-line using the library computers. I have observed many organizations having on-line forms and many of these people having to apply for resources are low income families without computer access. This is why the library is such an important resource.”

Daisy also uses the library for research. With library resources she created a film for her graduate practicum, “ I have no filmmaking experience, but I was able to take books out from the library that gave me the information I needed to create a short film. I was told by my practicum supervisor that the movie has been very successful and individuals from other organizations were requesting copies to use for training purposes and to increase awareness in their communities.”

Like many library patrons she enjoys using online holds to explore library collections, “It’s great to be able to drive to the library that is convenient for me and even ask for a CD that is from another library,” she said. ”But I wanted to mention that through the library, I got exposed to music from all over the world. My friends always ask what I’m listening to and it surprises them when I mention that it’s from the library.  I love the library and I feel that they love their patrons too.  I always look forward to going there.”

“What would happen if the library were to go away?”, she wondered. “We wouldn’t have that face-to-face interaction with the helpful staff to help us with some community resources questions, we wouldn’t have these beautiful buildings, and library patrons wouldn’t get free Wi-Fi internet connectivity. I mean, the library offers so much to my life, that the only thing that would make it perfect is if it came with a free cup of tea.

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A conversation with Jennifer Power September 16, 2009

Jennifer Power is the president of Capitol Hill Community Council. She sat down with us at a coffee shop on Capitol Hill and talked about how she uses the library, how it contributes to the Capitol Hill neighborhood and what libraries may be like in the future:

“I use the Capitol Hill library a little bit. I live really close to a used bookstore so I need to make an effort to go down to the library. But I’m there once or twice a month for community meetings- it’s the only free meeting space. Oh Lord, do we need that meeting room. We’re short on meeting space up here; we don’t really have a community center. You can go to coffee shops but you have to buy something in order to spend time there. The library is free, which is amazing because Seattle is so expensive, and it’s not like the problem of finding free gathering space is going to get any better. It’s kind of weird (socially unjust) if you have to pay for things all the time just to have a place to meet your neighbors.”

“On Capitol Hill we have lots of anchors, organizations that anchor the neighborhood. But community groups often meet at the library and classes are also occasionally offered there, like through Seattle Free School. So I guess it’s kind of like the anchor of the anchors. It’s also an information space and, more and more, it’s a learning space.”

“I like the renovation at Capitol Hill library – they have window seats and vines growing everywhere!  It’s nice there. It’s a good place for people to spend time. It’s a human place. If you have a city then you have to have density. If you have density then people need a place to hang out together. Parks are good, but libraries are quieter.”

“The library needs to continue to operate as a community center and a learning center to stay relevant. Libraries are still relevant but they need to change.  They need to bring people into gateways for information, particularly academic gateways. It would be amazing if libraries would play the role of bringing together all the arcane information that isn’t digitized yet. They also need to ally with community groups. The more we give libraries a free hand to collaborate with the community the better.”

For more of  Jennifer’s ideas about life see her blog.

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I understand Kindles but I’m sorry, I need a book September 10, 2009

Kirby Lindsay

Blogger and writer, Kirby Lindsay uses Fremont branch and the virtual library and,  in the days before her blog Fremocentrist launched,  she talked with us about why she values libraries and books.   “The library saves me money. As I see books, magazines, music, and movies that I want, I think, ‘Oh good, I’ll be able to get that at the library’.” Kirby also mines the library’s subscription databases. “I wouldn’t subscribe to a database if I was only going to use it once so the library’s subscriptions allow me research options in my work. There’s an article from 1987 about the Aurora Bridge, for instance, that I have accessed.” She stops  in to check Consumer Reports when she’s researching a purchase, pops in with her nephew, and drops by to look at movies on her way to her weekly movie date with her 95 year old grandfather. Like several people we’ve talked with, Kirby uses online holds to  preview cross platform titles of interest, “Being able to go on-line to the library and say I want this, and this, and this, and having it appear on the shelf saved for me, feels like a magic trick.”

The library brings the Fremont community together. Kirby said, “Fremont gathers at its library, and yet the library serves as a calm, non-political entity in a chaotic neighborhood. The library is a draw point for the community. I go to meetings there and our library now has wheelchair access.  They have fascinating information on display from the Fremont Historical Society. They also have archives of the Outlook newspaper in print — something that modern technology can’t have. “

And about library relevance Kirby says, “I’m someone who understands Kindle but I’m sorry, I need a book. I need something to hold onto. I travel and I like to have a book I can take with me. Libraries won’t even slightly fade in relevance. As the world becomes more technology based we MUST preserve a place for the written word in a portable medium that is accessible without electricity – also a gathering place for people to meet face-to-face rather than through electronics.”

See Kirby’s writing about Fremont branch

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Remembering Wilmot Library August 29, 2009

Do you remember the Wilmot Library? In 1948, Wallingford resident Alice Wilmot Dennis offered a house at 4422 Meridian Avenue N to Seattle for a library. Dennis was a former teacher and the daughter of Green Lake pioneer Lemuel Alan Wilmot. The gift stipulated that it be used as a library for at least 30 years and be named for her late sister, Florence Wilmot Metcalf. Seattle Mayor William F. Devin and State Senator W. Ward Denison dedicated the Wilmot Memorial Library on September 9, 1949

Susan Scott of Secret Garden Bookshop sends us this remembrance:

“When I was quite young, in the mid-1950s, I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents, who lived just three doors down from the Wilmot Memorial Library -a precursor to today’s Wallingford Branch. It was then housed in a bungalow, with, as I recall, the adult collection in the living room, children’s books in the dining room, and mysteries and westerns back in what had been the kitchen.

My grandparents were voracious readers, so my grandad was a regular visitor, checking out tall stacks of books each time, which he always deliberately kept a day or two past their due date; he thought the library could use the money. In those days, long before computers, you checked out a book by writing your library card number on the narrow card in the book’s fly-leaf pocket, handing it to the librarian, then receiving a rubber-stamped date-due card in return.

My grandad had grown impatient with this system, particularly since he checked out so many books at one time, and had eventually badgered the good librarians into keeping his card under glass at the big front desk. He just collected the cards and handed them over to the obliging ladies of Wilmot. If they thought he was a pain in the neck, they were too nice to say so.

At a very tender age – those were simpler times – I was allowed to visit the library alone, since it was so nearby. And when it was time to check my books out, I’d been instructed to explain that my grandad’s card was “there” under the glass – I could barely reach high enough to point – and I was allowed to use it. This worked well unless there was a new employee, who had not yet been introduced to the eccentric borrower down the block, let alone his very young granddaughter. Then the whole story had to be explained all over again and a co-worker fetched to corroborate, before I’d be allowed to leave with my books.

I took to looking straight to the desk when I walked in, to see if I needed to gird my 4-year-old self to break in another rookie on this visit.

Eventually, I asked one of the library ladies if I couldn’t have my own card. “Well, you could,” she said, “but you’d have to be able to write your name.” Well, that was no problem, I quickly explained – I’d been able to write my name for ages. She looked at me skeptically, but took out the form, it was duly filled out, and on my next visit to my grandparents, I skipped happily down the street to pick up my newly minted Seattle Public Library card. As it was handed over, the librarian told me I was the youngest person in town to have one!

Naturally, I was very proud at the time, and as the years have gone by, of course there has always been a library card in my wallet. My first job was at the Northeast Branch, not so very many years later. And now, as a bookseller, I haven’t strayed too far from these bibliographic beginnings. But my favorite part of the story is the flexibility of all the parties involved – most especially the library staff. Our much faster paced, more standardized and regulated world today rarely affords an opportunity for this kind of institutional improvisation. But when it does, I always say the same thing: This is the way the world should work.”

Read more about Wilmot Library at History Link

Seattle Free School Started in Meeting Rooms of Public Libraries Says Founder August 28, 2009

Jessica Dally

“Libraries create a space where groups can meet to do community building without having to pay anything,” Jessica Dally told us when we met up with her in a Belltown coffeehouse. She reads a lot and regularly uses Greenwood library to check out books, but her role as the founder of Seattle Free School makes libraries even more important in her life. “Seattle Free School wouldn’t have been able to start or at least wouldn’t have started so strong without the library’s free meeting rooms. We now have alternate meeting spaces but those opportunities came along because we were able to gain credibility over time,” she said.

Seattle Free school is completely free. The school doesn’t take donations and is run by volunteers. “We’re unique among free schools. Most have a political affiliation or they take donations.” The library’s philosophy of providing free resources  fit well with the model of Seattle Free School.  “It’s easy for us to use the library system and it helps us spread our classes out across the city. For us it’s about getting people in lots of neighborhoods involved and offering convenient class locations. We’ve had classes in the meeting rooms at many public libraries: Ballard, Montlake, Greenlake, Greenwood, Highpoint, West Seattle… ” Most of Seattle’s new and renovated libraries now have public meeting spaces which host a wide variety of uses and are always busy.

Have you attended a Seattle Free School class at your neighborhood library? Have you been to a meeting held in the library? Let’s talk about it. advocacy@friendsofspl.org

“Library is invaluable, ” Literacy Americorps teacher says August 25, 2009

Kenny Short worked with Casa Latina this summer as a volunteer teacher coordinator through Literacy Americorps. He talks about how The Seattle Public Library’s resources strengthen and supplement Seattle’s social service network and why our libraries have special relevance for people without technological resources.

Short says: The library is invaluable. If we didn’t have library services there would be a serious lack in educational resources for those who don’t have money or the free time to pursue education on their own. It’s important that the library has those resources, offers them consistently and is open on a regular basis.

Some of the library’s services overlap with the services of other helping organizations but many of those organizations rely on The Seattle Public Library to supplement resources or to offer something that they don’t offer, like computer access. There is overlap in programs, but not redundancy. ESL classes across the city are full and there’s a strong need for them. The library adds onto and expands that service system. In addition, the library offers ESL computer literacy classes. We send students there for added literacy because I don’t think that free program exists anywhere else.

The idea that libraries may become less relevant with technological advances like google and google books is a socio- economically biased belief. There are good statistics on who has educational technology and who doesn’t, and they fall along socioeconomic lines. In general, the less you have the less opportunity you have to access those resources. For the population I work for or for everyday people who don’t have much, the library will continue to be an invaluable resource.

I think the library can and will adapt and change and provide new services and resources. They will continue to serve a need as long as they are organizing and managing new educational technologies and information. One of the things I think public libraries do well is present new technology and information in a format that both young and old, versed and unversed can understand. There will always be a need, especially for poorer folks, to present people with usable, manageable new technologies or information, give them access and knowledge of how to access/use it, without taking too much time, money or prior knowledge. This is the gatekeeping equalizer that the public library offers, in my opinion, and it is truly a worthwhile public service.

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Why is the library important in your work or intellectual life? Let’s talk about it. advocacy@friendsofspl.org

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