PNLA Quarterly, Vol. 63 No.4 Summer 1999
Washington
Linda Pierce,
Washington Representative
People/News
The following people and groups were recipients of WLA Awards which were presented at the Pasco conference. President's Award, Don and Gail Willis; WALE Outstanding Employee of the Year, Ruth Poynter; CAYAS Award for Visionary Library Service to Youth, Evie Wilson-Lingbloom; Emeritus Membership, Janice Hammock; Merit Award for Outstanding Performance in a Special Area, Tom Mayer; Merit Award for Advances in Library Service, Sharon Hammer; Distinguished Service as an Individual Friend, Jan Hanson, Friends of the Aberdeen Timberland Library; Distinguished Service by a Friends Group, Friends of the Snohomish Library; Distinguished Service by anmIndividual Trustee, Ron Miller, Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees;mDistinguished Service by a Board of Trustees, Board of Trustees of the Milton Memorial Library.LinkNet, Kitsap Regional Library's online service, has been selected as a finalist in the Global Bangeman Challenge in the Public Services and Democracy category. Michael Schuyler, Chief of Support Services, attended the prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on June 9.
Nick Thompson, formerly Clerk/Treasurer at the city of South Bend, is the new Business Manager at Kitsap Regional Library. His predecessor, Art Wuerth, is the new Business Manager at Timberland Regional Library.
The City of Ellensburg Public Library is working with the Lewis Architects of Bellevue on a feasibility study for library and community center expansion and remodel to be complete in summer 1999. The Hal Homes Trust fund is supporting the study. Once the study is complete it is hoped the City will fund the design and then the construction phases. Library expansion is very needed and is included in the city's capital facility plan that has been developed during growth management planning.
The Spokane Public Library reference services staff will offer a series of six classes, entitled Business, Books and Bytes at the Spokane Area Business Information in June. Theses classes are designed to show how business of all types and sizes can maximize use of reference services available through Spokane Public Library.
The Orcas Island Library is involved in the development of a "library park" on three empty lots adjacent to the library. Private donations, the Orcas Island Community Foundation, San Juan County Park Board, the San Juan Preservation Trust and the library were all involved in the development and ownership agreement of the park. Library Director, Victoria Parker, says the end result is a beautiful addition to the library and the community, and true example of collaboration and community groups working together.
The Seattle Public Library board of trustees has unanimously and enthusiastically selected the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to design the city's new 355,000-square-foot, $156 million downtown library. The five-member board made its decision before a standing-room only crowd at a special meeting on May 26, at the Central Library. OMA, which will partner locally with LMN Architects in Seattle, rose to the top from an original pool of 29 renowned local, national and international architect firms who sought the job. The board had recently narrowed the list to two firms--OMA and Steven Holl Architects, based in New York. Both have designed buildings influential on the direction of modern architecture.
Washington Library Association (WLA)
The spring is a busy time for WLA--elections, conferences, planning retreats, and awards make for a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. The 1999 Annual conference was held in Pasco, Washington April 29-30. It was a great conference with over 480 attenders who went to outstanding programs, toured new library facilities and heard engaging and entertaining keynote addresses--one by the new Director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Washington, Dr. Michael Eisenberg, and one by Don Muccino of OCLC and Paul McCarthy of OCLC/WLN. For many, the highlight of the conference was the banquet speech by Sherman Alexie who shared his love of books and reading and his secret passion for librarians! The association is already looking forward to the 2000 conference which will be May 17-19 in Tacoma, Washington with the theme R/evolution.This spring the Association elected new officers. The following people were elected to help lead the Association into the next century: Vice-President/President elect . Carol Gill Schuyler, Kitsap Regional Library; Treasurer Kimberly Hixon, Fort Vancouver Regional Library; Coordinator of Strategic Planning,Sandra Sebbas, Timberland Regional Library; Conference Coordinator for 2001 Merri Hartse, Spokane Public Library; PNLA representative Mary Campbell, Anacortes, WA. Also new to the Board this year is Nikki Maounis of Camas Public Library, Interest Group Coordinator.
The year begins Cindy Cunningham's presidency. Her focus will be membership and inclusiveness. Cunningham will be working on ways to make the Association more relevant to its members and would like to do more coordination with other state and regional associations to maximize resources and enhance what WLA is already doing. The annual planning retreat focused on those issues and the next two years of Cunningham's presidency will see ongoing development and planning in those areas.
During this next year, WLA will review its official statements regarding Intellectual Freedom. Some of our official documents are dated and need to be revised. The Intellectual Freedom Committee will be working throughout the year on new language and format and will hopefully present new documents for membership ratification at the 2000 Annual Meeting.
As always check out the WLA website for news and current events, www.wla.org.