Washington Report

by Mary Campbell

Washington Representative 

People

Washington welcomes Monica Weyhe, new Deputy Director of Yakima Public Library.  Tom Mayer’s retirement from Sno-Isle Library System did not last long: he is now with the Gates Foundation.

Passages

Margaret Chisholm, former director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Washington, and president of the American Library Association in 1987-88, died on November 20, 1999. In remembrance of her extraordinary leadership, the “Margaret Chisholm Motivate, Inspire and Lead Fund” has been established by her daughters to bring important leaders in the field of librarianship to the School to inspire the next generation of librarians. To contribute to the fund send checks made out to the University of Washington to: Carrie Lowe, Asst. to the Director, School of Library and Information Science, University of Washington, Box 352930, Seattle, WA 98195-2930. Please write “Chisholm Fund” in the memo line of your cheque.

Libraries

The new Redmond Regional Library, a 30,000 square foot facility in the King County Library System, opened on schedule with great fanfare. Outside, it features a beautiful sculpture of four ravens called “The Wisdom Seekers”, by Tony Angel, and four fabulous author-inspired gargoyles by David Jacobson. Inside, readers will find a cozy fireplace nook, lots of computers, and a great collection of new books and other materials.

Washington Library Association News

Cindy Cunningham of Amazon.com is currently President of WLA. Carol Gill Schuyler of Kitsap Regional Library was elected Vice President/President Elect and Karen Highum of the University of Washington replaced Carol as Secretary. At the December board meeting the WLA Board approved an updated Intellectual Freedom statement. The document will be published for members to review before voting on it at the annual conference. The idea of hiring a conference coordinator was dismissed as being too expensive. Instead, it was

recommended that conference coordinators be invited to remain on the board for an additional year for better coordination, with a new board member to be appointed for vendor relations.

WLA’s annual conference, “R/Evolution”, will be held in Tacoma May 17-20, 2000. Conference highlights include Ray Bradbury, celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451 and a host of other remarkable fiction, and keynote speaker, William J. Mitchell of MIT, author of E-topia: Urban Life, Jim – But Not As We Know It. A joint ALA/PNLA breakfast on Friday, May 19th will feature Sarah Long, ALA President.

CAYAS, the Children and Young Adult Services Interest Group, will present “Brain Research in Children from Infancy to Middle School” in Seattle and Spokane, March 17-18, 2000.

WLA submitted the following individuals for the ALA Millennium Honor Roll: Bill and Melinda Gates, Anne Haley, Sharon Hammer, Tom Mayer, Maryan Reynolds, Eleanor Ahlers, Margaret Chisholm and Irving Leiberman.

Washington Legislative News

Library Day 2000 was held at the State Capitol in Olympia on January 26,

2000. Jeanne Crisp from the Washington State Library spoke on the K-20 Network and the Statewide Database Licensing Projects. Library staff, friends and trustees spent the afternoon meeting their legislators and bringing the needs of libraries to the attention of government

representatives. A copy of the K-20 Network brief published by WLA is

available on the WLA web site at www.wla.org.

Mary Campbell

1302 28th St

Anacortes, WA 98221

360-299-9049

campbellmary@hotmail.com

Return to PNLA Quarterly Winter 2000 Table of Contents