News from your local libraries

Lopez

from Lopez Library Director Lou Pray

Please excuse our construction! The county road widening project has begun phase one and getting to the library can be a bit daunting, but the workers are leaving an opening for cars to enter the parking lot, so don’t be intimidated by the orange cones.

Lopez Community Church has also generously allowed library patrons to park in their parking lot if ours is full.

Do you own a power boat or have a generator that is having trouble? Consult the Small Engine Repair Reference Center™ database on the Lopez Island Library’s website (www.lopezlibrary.org). Just like the Automotive Repair database, Ebsco’s Small Engine Repair is available from home or travel just by entering your library card number.

Want more motivation to get to the library? The apples are ripening and will soon be ready for picking. Being blessed with having the library in middle of an apple orchard does have its advantages, so stop by for an apple and a book or movie today!

We’ll be showing the presidential and vice presidential debates in the library community room on Sept. 26, Oct. 2, Oct. 7, and Oct. 15. Stop by to see and hear it all on the big screen!

The San Juan Country Transportation Summit (www.islandway.org/transummit/index.htm) on Sept. 17 will focus on real transportation solutions that can be put to action now. The day will revolve around six discussions and each one will feature two prominent speakers presenting the state of affairs and leading into “world café” style conversations. Parts of this summit will be filmed and the film will be available at the Lopez Island Library along with any available documents showing outcomes/action plans. If you are interested in learning more about common sense solutions and getting pumped for the summit, check out these new books and audio books at the library: “Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How it Can Renew America” by Thomas L. Friedman. Call No. 363.77 FRI. “Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization,” Third Edition by Lester R. Brown. Call No. 333.7 BRO. “Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living” by Doug Fine. Call No. 333.7 FIN.

Orcas

from Orcas Library Director Phil Heikkinen

Thanks to the Islands’ Weekly for providing this venue in which I can share recent developments at our library.

Our bread-and-butter service levels have reached record numbers for this time of year, averaging 585 visitors and 390 checkouts per day in July and August, not counting dozens of laptop users sitting on benches outside the building and in their cars each day and night due to our 24×7 wireless internet availability. For some people, I guess if you can’t bring your vacation to your workplace, bring your work to your vacation!

Due to current and projected increasing use, we’re gathering input about at a possible building addition. Please fill out a survey available at the front desk so that we can get your thoughts. Or you can email or phone me at pheikkinen@orcaslibrary.org, 376-4985.

One of our other newer ventures includes the Crossroads Lecture Series, with the first lecture of the season scheduled for September 21 (Reza Aslan on “God and Globalization”). Get free tickets at the library or Darvill’s Bookstore, and look for upcoming lectures on our website (www.orcaslibrary.org).

Also, we’re sponsoring the Orcas Chess Club on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. (except for the second Tuesday of each month), downloadable audio books via our website, development of the Whole Islands Catalog (www.wholeislandscatalog.net), which is a fantastic new networking tool to support local businesses and talents, English as a Second Language classes (next class starting September 23), and a new magnifying machine donated by the Orcas Lions Club. And come to our open house on September 26 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. – enjoy great snacks, a building tour, the Friends Annual Meeting, sharing and gathering ideas about the building project.

San Juan

from San Juan Library Director Laura Tretter

When Colleen asked me to contribute to the Islands’ Weekly, I immediately said “Yes!” As Director of the San Juan Island Library I have so much to share about libraries and the work we do.

For my first column I want to highlight a project San Juan, Lopez, and Orcas have all independently been participating in with our State Library: Washington Rural Heritage. Over the past year we have each put together digital online collections using our unique historical resources. The San Juan Library and the San Juan Historical Museum contributed the Jim Crook Collection.

Jim Crook’s family homesteaded English Camp on San Juan Island in 1875 shortly after the Pig War when Jim was one year old. Jim lived out at English Camp until his death at age 93 caring for the land and the people on it. Jim Crook’s spirit of ingenuity and resourcefulness represent a way of life valued and still practiced on the islands. He was an inventor, farmer, carpenter, brother, neighbor, and friend. If something needed doing, he did it. If something needed building, he built it. If something needed inventing, he invented it. By many accounts he was a bit of a curmudgeon. A little gruff and rough with the softest heart you can imagine. He may be most well known for the wool carder he invented, but he is most remembered for his generous soul.

To view the collection go to: www.sjlib.org, www.washingtonruralheritage.com.

Mark your calendar for a special event on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 6:00 p.m. at the San Juan Island Library when local historian Mike Vouri will bring to life the story of Jim Crook.