Banned Books from the Library’s Collection

As part of The Big Read, the library’s Northwest Room presents a new exhibit of banned books. Books are generally banned or suppressed on political, sexual, religious or social grounds. To Kill a Mockingbird, this year’s featured book for The Big Read, is one such book.  Since its publication in 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has sold over thirty million copies worldwide and often appears on high school reading lists. It also appears on another list: the American Library Association’s top ten list of frequently banned books. Reasons cited for its censorship include the language and the portrayal of race relations.

Other books in the display include Dante’s Inferno, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Ovid’s The Art of Love, and Reginald Scot’s The Discoverie of Witchcraft. Come into the Northwest Room to see the full exhibit and discover why each book was banned or censored.

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It is Archives Month

October is Washington State Archives Month. The theme of Archives Month this year is “Washington at Play.” The Washington State Archives has created a website to highlight collections across the state. “Archives, historical societies, museums, public libraries, and university special collections throughout the state invite you to explore how Washingtonians have enjoyed life in the Evergreen State.” Check out the wonderful collection of photographs submitted from special collections throughout Washington. See if you can find the submission from the Northwest Room.

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At Work in the Northwest

In honor of workers in the Northwest and just in time for Labor Day, there is a new photographic exhibit up in the Northwest Room. Titled “At Work in the Northwest,” it features images of miners, loggers, farmers, railroad workers and others doing their jobs. The photographs illustrate the tremendous growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries based on the extraction of the region’s natural resources. Lumber, mines, and agriculture formed the basis for the growth in this region. In addition, the ore, timber and grain had to be moved, creating thousands of jobs building and operating the railroads. The exhibit also includes men building dams - both by local irrigation districts and by workers on the Grand Coulee dam. It also has men and women doing other jobs, such as blacksmithing, operating stores, and one library worker.

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Early Washington Maps

The Special Collections at the University of Washington and Washington State Universities combined forces to create this digital collection of Early Washington maps. It’s easy to search and there are maps of the entire state from the earliest surveys through the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam.  We have some of these maps in the Northwest Room, but using this collection, you can browse from home and make copies.

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Postcard exhibit

We have a new exhibit up in the Northwest Room. It’s called “Wish You Were Here! Postcards from Spokane.” It features postcards of Spokane from the early twentieth century into the 1970s. It is divided into five areas - views of Spokane, picture postcards, postcards of Spokane’s parks and nearby natural areas, buildings, and one case of postcards from the Davenport Hotel.  The exhibit has about 100 postcards and I think you’ll see some views you haven’t seen before, so be sure to come in and take a look. It will be up through August.

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World War I Records

The Northwest Room has a collection of Spokane County World War I material. It is a collection of correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs and forms concerning Spokane County’s involvement in World War I. This includes the men who served in the military as well as the community involvement at home. In 1921, the Spokane County War History Committee compiled lists of men who served in the War, sending out forms to the men and their families. During the war, they also collected newspaper articles on any subject relating to the war overseas and at home, including the Red Cross, food conservation and the draft.

Several years ago, the Washington State Digital Archives digitized some of the material, not the entire collection. The digital archives has now added another World War I collection, which includes far more information. It looks like a great resource for finding those World War I military records.

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Northwest Maps

The Northwest Room has an impressive collection of historic maps. The collection includes maps of Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, the West, exploration, railroad surveys, and mining. The maps have long been a part of the collection in the Northwest Room, but they are now accessible through the SPL online catalog. For example, if you want to see Spokane street maps, you can do a subject search under Streets — Washington (State) — Spokane — Maps and you will find records that show the location as NW DRAWER and then a brief location. Then just come into the Northwest Room and we’ll pull them out for you to view. For the most part, they cannot be photocopied due to their size, but if you bring in a digital camera, you can make a copy.

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New exhibit

There’s a new exhibit up in the Northwest Room display cases. It’s called “Transient Documents: Ephemera of the Northwest.” As I have been getting to know the Northwest Room collection, I have discovered some great examples of ephemera. If you’re not familiar with the term, ephemera are sometimes defined as “the minor transient documents of everyday life.” Created for a temporary purpose and meant to be discarded, ephemera includes greeting cards, tickets, brochures, receipts, handbills, advertisements, labels, trading cards and many other bits and pieces. This display includes Spokane brochures, invitations, dance cards, and some examples of ephemera collected into scrapbooks. Come in and take a look.

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New Northwest Librarian

Hi. I’m Riva Dean - the new Northwest Librarian. I’m thrilled to be working in the Northwest Room. I’ve been working in libraries and archives for 25 years and have a MA in Northwest History so this is the ideal job for me. I’m getting to know the wonderful collection of materials and look forward to helping you with your research. Come on in and see what resources we have or give me a call if you have any questions.

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Fall House History Workshop

The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture(MAC) in co-operation with the Spokane Public Library is conducting a Fall workshop in finding the history of your home. The workshop will be held at the MAC on Saturday October 18, 2008. For more information contact the MAC at (509) 456-3931. Here’s a copy of the flyer: House History Flyer Fall 2008

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