News & Stories

The goal of the Creative Aging project was to bring older adults into the Library to gain new skills and improve their quality of life. This project served as a pilot to test the concept of the Library as an active learning center and its ability to work more intensively with seniors in their neighborhoods.

Foundation support from donors like you allowed two groups of seniors to explore the art of painting with watercolors as part of the Library’s Creative Aging project. The classes scheduled at the Greenwood and West Seattle branches this fall ended with an art show featuring their work.

The project was an overwhelming success—32 seniors were part of the watercolor classes taught by two local teaching artists. The classes were so popular that they filled quickly and there was a long waiting list in both neighborhoods.

Here are some comments from the grateful program participants:

“I really appreciate the many opportunities the library offers. This was an amazing offering. So glad I was able to be part of it.”

“The classes stretched my brain, in a good way!”

“We all surprised ourselves with the creativity we didn’t know we had.”

“Because of this class, I started dreaming in color.”

“Now it takes me twice as long to walk to the library because my eyes are open to colors, nature, and patterns!”

Are you planning to buy books for holiday gift giving? Here are some thoughts from Library staff on what they’d like to give and receive for the holidays.

Linda Johns, Adult Services Librarian, wants to give “Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl” by Carrie Brownstein. She says, “I’d love this memoir no matter what, but the Seattle and Puget Sound references sealed the deal for my devotion.” Linda wants to receive “By the Book,” edited by Pamela Paul; selected pieces from the New York Times Book Review feature where writers and other notable people talk about books they love and their lives as readers.

David Wright, Adult Services Librarian, will be giving “On Cats,” by Charles Bukowski, a collection of thoughts on our feline friends from the laureate of American lowlife. To receive, he’d love nothing more than the new Library of America volume “Frederick Law Olmstead: Writings on Landscape, Culture and Society.” David says,“ I spend a lot of time enjoying his sons’ parklands here in Seattle, and feel like he’s one of the family.”

Chris Higashi, Director of the Center for the Book, looks forward to sharing Gloria Steinem’s memoir, “My Life on the Road,” which left her, a longtime fan, with even greater respect for how Steinem has lived her life. Chris would like to receive a copy of “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. She adds, “Every recent interview with Coates makes me eager to read this book in order to see everyday life from a perspective other than my own.”

 

The 2015 Washington State Book Awards were announced on Saturday, October 10 at a special ceremony at the Central Library.  In case you missed the announcement, here are the winners along with links to reserve them in the Library catalog.  Your support helps the Foundation continue the tradition of honoring our state’s best writers.

Fiction:

• “The Hour of Lead” by Bruce Holbert

Poetry:

• “Bugle” by Tod Marshall
• “The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse,” translation and commentary by Red Pine

Biography/Memoir:

• “Loitering: New and Collected Essays” by Charles D’Ambrosio

History/General Nonfiction:

• “Trying Home: The Rise and Fall of an Anarchist Utopia on Puget Sound” by Justin Wadland

Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award winners: Picture Book:

• “Two Speckled Eggs” written and illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann

Book for Middle Readers (ages 9 to 12):

• “Phoebe and Her Unicorn: A Heavenly Nostrils Chronicle” by Dana Simpson

Books for Young Adults (ages 13 to 18):

• “The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender” by Leslye Walton

Children and teens got a really wild prize for participating in the Library’s Summer of Learning program this year – free passes to the Woodland Park Zoo! This weekend the zoo welcomed 4,800 children and families for a free day of fun and learning. Your support of the Foundation helped families from across the city take part in this program and keep reading during the summer months.