Washington State Library

10/16/2026

En route to the WNPA Convention in Everett, Washington Digital Newspaper manager Shawn Schollmeyer stopped in to meet with Everett Public Library History Specialist, Lisa Labovitch, to discuss the preservation of the Everett Herald. The main library will be working around construction in October and November preparing for a new HVAC system and they are looking forward to a newly renovated space for their special and northwest history collections. Check their website for closures and nearby branches.

10/15/2026

Washington State Library and Washington State Archives staff recently travelled to Spokane to attend the Pacific Northwest History Conference. This conference, put on by the Washington State Historical Society & Washington State Council for the Social Studies, had the mission of supporting history and social studies teachers and celebrated the theme “Whose History? Our History!.”

WSL's Head of Collections, Crystal Hicks, presented practical ways to check for false AI resources. And a sponsoring team comprised of Archives staff, Ben Helle, Ed Echtle, Sako Chapman, Devrick Barnett; Civic Engagement coordinator, Michael Bowman, and Washington Digital Newspapers librarian Shawn Schollmeyer, showed up to share the great resources available from the WA Secretary of State’s office for educators, researchers and historians.

10/15/2026

In mid-September, Washington Library staff visited the Gilmour Memorial Library/Kittitas Public Library at its new temporary location on Main Street in the Catalyst Building (a Co-Working / Office Share service of the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce) where it occupies two rooms within the facility. WSL staff also attended the board meeting, met with board members and Friends of the Library, answered some questions regarding library funding and talked about opportunities and services offered by the Library Development unit of the Washington State Library. Their old building, known to be the first schoolhouse in Kittitas County, was recently razed due to structural degradation and now they need a new permanent home.

10/13/2026

Celebrate Indigenous People's Day by reading books by Indigenous authors - today and every day. Here's one great book that also happened to represent Washington state at the National Book Festival earlier this year!

10/12/2026

10/09/2026

State Library Staff visited the Lake Stevens and Granite Falls branches of Sno-Isle Libraries earlier in September for a tour and introduction to the Self-Service Access offered at both these locations. While there we also learned the latest about the new Lake Stevens Library currently under construction and how Sno-Isle Libraries succeed in meeting the unique needs of their various local communities. In order to better serve their patrons, Granite Falls retains one of the more robust physical audiobook and video collections we have seen in years, bucking the recent trend across libraries to reduce and in some cases eliminate physical audio-video materials altogether in favor of streaming options. In the case of Lake Stevens, caregivers to the memory challenged asked the library for informational support and the library delivered by creating, in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association, Washington State Chapter, a series of memory kits, divided into the three stages of memory care, all of which include activities, games, support materials and resources. This circulating collection has proven so popular that Sno-Isle plans to introduce it across their system of 20+ libraries.

10/06/2026

Washington authors speak out against censorship in honor of Banned Books Week

Check out our press release and blog post and the latest phase of our Washington Reads Freely project including a series of Washington author videos created in partnership with the Washington chapter of Authors Against Book Bans.

10/02/2026

Book Club of Washington recently gathered both in person and virtually to honor Danielle H. Miller, Director of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), and recipient of the 2026 Emory Award.

Under Miller's leadership, WTBBL now serves nearly 10,000 active patrons statewide each year and circulates close to 400,000 audiobooks annually. The library has been recognized three times by the Library of Congress as Network Library of the Year (2009, 2016, 2022), reflecting its standing as a national model for library service.

Miller has shaped WTBBL not simply as a provider of alternative formats, but as a system that enables reading itself. Through a coordinated infrastructure of braille, audiobooks, digital delivery, and assistive technologies—including braille e-readers, digital talking book players, and sip-and-puff access—the library ensures that thousands of Washingtonians can read without barriers or delay. This is not an enhancement to book culture; it is what makes participation in it possible.

In 2025, Miller led WTBBL through a period of acute disruption, as state and federal budget cuts forced the library to close to the public and operate by appointment only. Access was sharply curtailed, and individuals seeking to use the library’s services were turned away—making visible how immediate and absolute the loss of access to books and libraries can be. Even under these constraints, Miller ensured continuity wherever possible, maintaining many core services for the WTBBL community.

Following sustained advocacy, WTBBL reopened this summer. Its long-term funding, however, remains uncertain, underscoring both the fragility of this system and the significance of the work Miller has sustained for nearly two decades.

The Emory Award recognizes an extraordinary contribution to the culture of the book in Washington. Danielle Miller’s exemplary leadership meets that standard by establishing and sustaining the conditions under which participation in book culture can exist. Her work does not simply expand access—it defines it.

10/01/2026

09/28/2026

Next Tuesday, September 29th, at 4 pm PT is the next NLS "That All May eRead" program.

Topic: Effective Use of the NLS eReader Dictionary. For more information and to access the program, visit: www.loc.gov/nls/TAME