Posted on October 21, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Rachel Edmondson In the interest of keeping things real, this is a blog post I really didn’t want to write. But as parents, there are so many things we have to do that we wish we didn’t. For me, worrying about Internet safety is one of them. I hate that we live in a […]
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Tags: cyberbullying, internet safety, kids, safety
Posted on October 16, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Cara Strickland When it comes to trains, I am like a six year old boy. LEAD ME TO IT (and can I blow the whistle, please?) So, it won’t be too much of a stretch for you to imagine my delight when I discovered (several years ago) that the North Pend Oreille Valley Lions […]
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Tags: Lions Club, staycation, trains
Posted on October 15, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Brian Vander Veen Last year, my partner Sheri and I started our own Little Free Library. If you’re not familiar with what Little Free Libraries are, they’re simply containers, usually near a sidewalk or similar publicly accessible space, where people can take and leave books for free. Little Free Libraries first began appearing in Wisconsin […]
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Tags: community, little free libraries, reading
Posted on October 8, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Sheri Boggs In late August, I was privileged to join three fellow SCLD youth librarians at a day’s worth of Common Core training sponsored by the Central Valley School District and the Washington State Library. Usually trainings are one of those workplace obligations that everyone has to do but nobody really likes. But the […]
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Tags: common core, education, kids, parents, schools, teachers
Posted on September 18, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Kelsey Hudson September 22nd is Hobbit Day—and with that joyous day around the corner, a proper Middle-earth celebration is in order. By Shire-Reckoning, both Frodo and Bilbo Baggins were born on September 22nd. If that isn’t enough reason to celebrate, The Hobbit was also published this week back in 1937. Hobbit Day even kicks […]
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Tags: Hobbit Day, hobbits, The Hobbit, Tolkien
Posted on September 16, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Sheri Boggs I was not popular. Pale, uncoordinated, sensitive and bookish, I was the kind of kid who hung around the margins, who waited for other kids to talk to me, and who tried not to care if I wasn’t invited to a party. I’m not exaggerating when I say that books saved me—through […]
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Tags: books, bullies, kids, parents, school
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Kim Harshberger I am not a cheery person. No one ever calls me sunshine. (Well, that’s not true. A salesman did. Once.) I don’t look on the bright side. I don’t give greeting cards with my presents. I don’t volunteer. I don’t have a community, or even many friends. I am terrible about asking […]
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Tags: eating out, food, kids, kindness, parenting, pay it forward
Posted on September 9, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Rachel Edmondson Recently, my girls have become obsessed with dogs. Any dog they see, they want to pet. We’ve been driving down the road and had them beg us to pull over because they want to pet a dog (we don’t pull over.) If we are at the park and a dog shows up, […]
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Tags: dogs, kids, parenting, pets, safety
Posted on September 2, 2014 at 6:00 am
By Cara Strickland I talk about libraries a lot. Those who know me can attest to the fact that I usually end a book or movie recommendation with the words: “I got it at the library.” Through these conversations, I’ve discovered a common misconception about the kinds of things you can check out through the […]
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Tags: Books to Go, digital libraries, library hacks, new releases, overdrive
Posted on August 27, 2014 at 6:00 am
By T. Andrew Wahl Guest Writer There is a question I am often asked: Why do you love comic books? My answer: Comics are a gateway. Not to other universes filled with super-humans locked in near-mythological battles. Or epic adventures in alien cultures and faraway lands. Or anthropomorphic worlds filled with funny—and not-so-funny—animals. Thou […]
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Tags: childhood, comic books, graphic novels, Humanities Washington, T. Andrew Wahl