PNLA Quarterly, Vol. 63 No.3 Spring 1999
WASHINGTON
Linda Pierce
Washington Representative
Washington Library Association (WLA)
WLA is going strong this year, WLA has also recovered from some very slim years financially and is looking forward to a good year. The Association has had profitable conferences and good management and is gaining financial strength and membership additions also.The Association has also decided that it is time to revisit and reexamine the current statements on Intellectual Freedom that govern the Association. The current Association documents are from 1959 and 1971 and an open forum at the spring conference will beginning a year long discussion of these issues. A new Intellectual Freedom Handbook is also in the works. The Board has approved supporting the Libraries: An American Value an ALA document regarding the importance of libraries. The document may be viewed on the ALA web page at www.ala.org.
The Board also amended its standing meeting rules to prohibit any video or audio recording of meetings (including conference sessions) without the consent of the President or her designee.
Upcoming continuing education events include a program, Lawyers for Libraries: a Summary, presented by attorney Stephanie Delaney. The program will focus on legal challenges facing libraries and will be presented in Bellevue March 5 and Spokane March 19. The WLA conference will be in Pasco, WA April 28-30. The Conference theme is Fond Farewells and Bold Beginnings and will feature Sherman Alexie, Dr. Michael Eisenberg, Director, University of Washington School of Library and Information Science, Paul McCarthy, Executive Director OCLC/WLN and Don Muccino, Executive Vice President, OCLC to discuss the WLN/OCLC merger, and Aki Namioka, President, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility who will speak on "Internet Challenges: Freedom of Speech, Privacy and Intellectual Property". For further information on continuing education and the association check out the web site at www.wla.org.
The Washington Library Friends and Trustees Association has completed a new Washington Friends of the Library Handbook that will be distributed this spring.
WLA held it's annual Legislative Day February 23 in Olympia. The weather was wet but over 200 people came out to attend and talk to their legislators about issues affecting libraries. As always there were many library trustees and friends as well as librarians. The morning consisted of an opening time for informal discussion followed by an update on federal and state legislation affecting libraries, including reports from Nancy Zussy, the State Librarian and Steve Duncan, WLA Governmental Relations representative.
Both Steve and Nancy reported that there were very few controversial issues about libraries, censorship or the internet that were expected to make it out of hearing this session. The two major items of concern was the passage of the Governor's budget for the State Library and the request for additional funds to support the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library.
After legislative briefs there were two presentations on Libraries and Filtering. Sharon Hammer, Director, Fort Vancouver Regional Library and Tom Mayer, Director, Sno-Isle Regional Library give brief histories of how their two systems have approached the problem of internet filtering, the process used, public input, the changes they have made in their policies and what direction they think their policies might take in the future. After lunch the everyone hit the hill to meet their legislators and get the word out about libraries.
News
The reading room of the Downtown Branch of Spokane Public Library was featured in the February 26th issue of USA Today as one of the 10 best public reading rooms in the country. The rooms ambiance, and views of the Spokane River were cited as examples of a wonderful public space.The Little Boston Branch of the Kitsap Regional Library has been awarded the Service Award for Excellence in a Small And/or Rural Public Library given annually by the Public Library Association. The award is given to the best small library in the United States! The Little Boston Branch is located on the Port Gamble S'Klallam Reservation and has a strong relationship with the S'Klallam tribe which has put its resources into building and supporting a first rate library. The library stands as a working example of cooperation between Native American and non-Native American communities. Branch Manager, Suzanne Jones will travel to the ALA meeting in Now Orleans in June to formally accept the award on the behalf of Kitsap Regional Library. Included with the award is a $1,000 prize funded by EBSCO Subscription Services.