AlkiThe Washington Library Association Journal December 2006 • Volume 22 Number 3 Inside this Issue: Rural Libraries: A Story of Survival... 5 Whitman County Farmers Reap Benefits of Library Services... 16 My Mom, the Librarian... 29 ALKI • December 2006 Up Front The President Speaks Library Service Through- out Washington HERE’S A CRITICAL FACT about library service in Washington: In this state, all public library funding is local funding. Without local community support, there is no public library service – whether along the I-5 corridor, in the Spokane region, in smaller cities such as Richland, or in the vast and sometimes isolated rural regions and small towns comprising much of Washington’s geographic area. This fact – the requirement of local support for all public libraries – must, I believe, shape many elements of the persistent agenda of Carolynne Myall the Washington library community: • to promote appreciation for the idea of libraries, whether Another great WALE conference school, public, community college, academic, or special, The Washington Association of Library and to develop understanding of the educational and Employees held its 2006 conference in recreational value libraries bring to communities, schools, and Bellingham. The conference was wonderful, organizations; with good programs, stimulating conversa- • to promote funding for adequate library service in every tions, strong positive energy – and, of course, community, in all regions of the state; and, the frequent prize-giving that WALE has • to build connections among libraries and library people, in raised to an art form! order to share expertise, reduce fragmentation and isolation, Thank you to WALE Conference Chair and make best use of resources in all regions, whether densely Heidi Chittim, WALE Chair Katie Cargill, or sparsely populated, prosperous or struggling. and all the members of the conference committee for their leadership in creating this Rural regions in Washington may be served by library districts valuable event. And thank you to the WLA covering adjacent urban and rural areas, by libraries in small munici- members who gave excellent presentations at palities, or by library districts explicitly identified as “rural.” Some the conference, and who provided support rural areas, alas, are not served at all – yet. Developing local support to for the conference in many ways. establish library service in previously library-less communities, though strenuous, is possible and exciting. This important issue of Alki, A double WLFFTA Friends and with its portrayals of varied rural libraries, demonstrates the benefits Foundations Forum of library service for rural regions, and reveals some of the creative In 2006, for the first time, WLFFTA thinking taking place. added “Foundations” to its Friends forums and offered the event at two sites, Spokane Two new appointments: Margaret Thomas and Lisa Hill and Issaquah. The Eastside-Westside innova- This is the first issue created under the direction of new Alki tion made attendance more convenient for Editor Margaret Thomas. Margaret, a reference librarian with a a lot of us. There were pertinent sessions, journalism background, served as assistant editor last year. Congratu- lots of goodies, and opportunities to lations, Margaret! We look forward to more of your work. network with other library people. Thank Lisa Hill recently became the Washington Library Association’s you to Patience Rogge, Carol Schuyler, new webmaster. Lisa is already exploring possible new developments, Kristy Coomes, and Jennifer Wiseman for including some “members only” features many of you have wanted. organizing and publicizing Friends Forum. Thank you, Lisa, for undertaking the care and feeding of our Web site. Thank you, Spokane County Library District and King County Library System, for hosting. Recently the Grassroots! interest group Carolynne Myall, Head of Library Collection Services at Eastern for promoting library advocacy merged with Washington University, is president of WLA. Please send her See UP FRONT on page 4 your ideas for the association at [email protected] 2 ALKI • December 2006 Alki Table of Contents The Washington Library Association Journal From the Editor .................................................................4 4016 First Avenue N.E. Rural Libraries: A Story of Survival ...................................5 Seattle, WA 98105-6502 By Micheal Wood Email: [email protected] Shared Spaces ....................................................................9 Web: www.wla.org/ By Theresa Kappus Alki Editorial Committee The Orcas Island Story: Volunteers, Lynn Barnes Tradition and a Guy from the Desert ............................11 Theresa Kappus By Brian Soneda Nancy Huling Brian Soneda Washington Idaho Network Helps Rural Rayette Sterling Libraries Automate .........................................................13 Bonnie Taylor By Konny Thompson Konny Thompson Erica Delavan, Intern Whitman County Farmers Reap Benefits of Mary Wise, Chair Library Services ................................................................16 Margaret Thomas, Alki Editor By Sabrina Jones Alki (ISSN: 8756-4173) is published Confessions of a Lone Librarian .....................................19 three times per year in March, July By Lynn Barnes and December, and mailed to over 1,100 WLA members and interested WLA Communiqué ..........................................................20 parties. Print subscriptions are available at $20 per year, or $7.50 per Who’s on First? single issue. Contact the WLA office Net Neutrality: Why Librarians Should Care ..................22 at the address above. By Elena Bianco Alki’s purpose is to communicate Tribal Libraries Preserve philosophical and substantive Native American Heritage ..............................................24 analyses of current and enduring By Rayette Sterling issues for and about Washington libraries, personnel and advocates, Roslyn Library Stretches to Serve a and to facilitate the exchange of Changing Community .....................................................26 research, opinion and information. By Erin Krake Direct your submission queries to: National Conference Focuses on Rural Libraries ...........27 Margaret Thomas By Erin Krake 3824 107th Ave. SW Olympia, WA 98512 The Solinus Page: (360) 481-1250 My Mom, the Librarian: Email: [email protected] Extending the Definition of Rural Library Service ........29 The layout and cover for Alki was designed By Angelina Benedetti by Gerry Rasmussen Design. Gerry Rasmussen retired from state service as a graphic designer I’d Rather be Reading in 2003 after thirty-three years. He started his government career at the Washington State Those Amazing Librarians! .............................................31 Library, working there from 1969 to 1981. By David Wright Cover photo by Sandy Martin. On the cover: Twelve-year-old Taylor takes a break to read Boys’ Life at harvest time on his grandparents’ farm near St. John in Whitman County. His mother Sandy Martin snapped the cover shot and this one of her son. ALKI • December 2006 From the Editor AUDIO BOOKS from the library keep farmers company on the combine. When one town’s economy withers, its library survives most of a year on donations alone. At another library, five dozen volunteers handle everything from landscaping to book selection. These are among the stories in this issue – my first as the new editor of Alki. The theme is “Rural Libraries.” Whether nestled in the Palouse, perched in the Cascades, or secluded on a San Juan island, rural libraries have one thing in common: They do a lot with a little. For the luxury of a library, rural residents share space. In Roslyn, children’s programs take place in the City Council chambers beside an old potbellied stove. Metaline’s library users endure the drumbeat of music lessons upstairs. In Onion Creek, you can pick up milk and a book at the only store in town, which houses what is reportedly the smallest library in the country. Fancy services and amenities are often out of reach. Patrons may not find wireless Internet or an espresso in Washington’s rural libraries; what they do find is the kind of service you get from people Margaret Thomas who are also neighbors and friends. And remote no longer means removed. The best rural library workers seek out training and other opportunities for professional Up Front development. Small libraries collaborate and tap into the expertise Continued from page 2 and resources of their urban counterparts. WLFFTA, which kept its initials but changed Keeping rural libraries open calls for ingenuity and creativity the meaning of its last A from “Association” and you’ll find plenty of examples on these pages. If you like what to “Advocates,” to become Washington you read (or you don’t) please write. Your letters make Alki more Library Friends, Foundations, Trustees & interesting. Advocates – a name change signifying its Finally, I need to thank Cameron Johnson, who ably edited increased responsibility. Alki for four years and oversaw its transition to the era of desktop publishing. During my apprenticeship, he and his wife and graphics assistant Laura McCarty were generous with their time, skills, insights Mark your calendars for WLA and humor. Library Legislative Day 2007 Laura danced a jig in my kitchen. I ate banana nut waffles in And speaking of advocates: On Library theirs. On one Alki production day in the Johnson-McCarty living Legislative Day, Washington libraries need room,