The library has embarked on the ROOTS Project — an exciting partnership with the Skagit Valley Genealogical Society. Local Genealogists are honing their research skills and learning to use library sources, and they will then use their skills to help high schoolers discover their family histories. As part of this project, we are offering a number of exciting workshops, all of which are free and open to anybody who is interested!
On June 24, July 1, 8 and 15, Steve Baylor will present a four-part Introduction to Genealogy series. Steve is the past president of both the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society and the Washington State Genealogical Society, and is also a member of the Washington State Historical Records Advisory Board.
On July 29, Janice Blackhurst will present on Hispanic/Latino Genealogy Research. Janice is a Professional Genealogist with a B.A. in Spanish, and is a member of APG and NSDAR.
All of these workshops are 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. in our large meeting room, and are free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!
On June 16, 1884, the country’s first roller coaster opened to the public on Coney Island in New York. The 1884 coaster, named the Switchback Railway, may not look particularly terrifying to modern coaster fans. But according to the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Coney Island installed a second roller coaster called the “Flip-Flap”, which “used centrifugal force to keep riders in their seats.” Even those that didn’t ride the newer coaster were wowed by it: the St. James Encyclopedia reports that “an amazed public paid admission to watch” the Flip-Flap.
If you have a library card with us, feel free to browse these expert-written entries in the St. James Encyclopedia about roller coasters, amusement parks, and fairs:
Tuesdays are Tech Tuesdays at the Burlington Public Library!Library staff is available every Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. for extended questions and instruction. These are not a formal classes, but an opportunity to work one-on-one with library staff to get an answer to your personal computer and tech questions.
Feel free to bring your e-reader, tablet, phone, or laptop! This is your chance to learn to download ebooks and audiobooks, or try out a new software program or Internet application. We also can coach you in word processing skills for your resume, uploading and downloading photos, cut/copy/paste skills, online test taking, career research, email, general troubleshooting, and any other tech questions you bring.
Tech Tuesdays are free and open to the public, so drop by some Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and we can help to de-mystify your tech experience.
While the I-5 bridge collapse has certainly caused unprecedented frustration as drivers struggle to find their own alternate routes, it was not the first Skagit River bridge to collapse. I was digging around in our old newspaper clippings, and found a piece from the Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times about a deadly railroad bridge collapse in 1903.
A photograph that accompanied the Courier-Times article, showing the locomotive (right) being fished out of the Skagit River after the railroad bridge collapse.
According to Jack Healey, whose two cousins were eyewitnesses of the disaster:
The bridge at that time was a wooden truss span. Built of timbers but thoroughly supported by long and heavy iron bolts set vertically in iron plates alow and aloft to give the whole structure necessary tension and structural strength. A short time before the wreck [...] a log car was derailed on the bridge and the moving logs displaced some of these important bolts and footings. A repair crew was sent out to put things in order and keep traffic moving.
[Bridge watchman] Dan Healy didn’t like the looks of things since it was his job to signal the trains across. After the north-bound passenger train had crossed, Dan [...] said he could see that the bridge was now definitely out of line. Then [engineer] Hetherington came down from the north and stopped his freight train at the north approach to the bridge. He blew four evenly spaced blasts on his whistle, asking for a crossing signal.
According to the paper, this led to an argument between Dan Healey and a railroad official (other accounts say that the argument was with a “construction man”) about whether the bridge was safe to cross. At the end of the argument, Healey had lost his job, and the other man swung the lantern, telling Hetherington that the bridge would hold [1].
The Burlington Journal reported:
The engine had barely reached the south end of the bridge when the crash came, and the entire south bent of the bridge went down carrying with it four cars and the engine. Besides the engineer and fireman in the cab of the engine was the head-breakman, Pat McConnehaugn, who managed to escape through the cab window.
The engineer and the fireman were not so lucky, both losing their lives in the collapse. The Journal also noted that the railroad bridge was not down long:
The work of reconstruction has been going forward as rapidly as possible, and by Monday [January 26, 9 days after the collapse,] it is claimed that the bridge will be safe for all trains [2].
Moving back to more modern times, WSDOT has released a video of the temporary I-5 bridge construction process. Check it out:
-Jane
[1] Healey, J. (1963, January 25). Local man tells of tragic train wreck of 60 years ago. Courier Times [Sedro-Woolley], p. 1?. Ask for help finding it in our Burlington Local History File; its call number is LHF030. [2] (1903, January 23). Terrible disaster. Burlington Journal, p. 1. You can find this in the library’s microfilm collection; ask at the desk if you want to see it.
This is our final post in our May Zombie Awareness Month blog series. Each Thursday this month, we brought you ways to celebrate and learn about all things Zombie using resources from your library. If you want to see other posts in this series, here’s the whole series on one page.
This week, I just wanted to point out that you can find zombie book selections and more on our Zombie Pinboard on Pinterest. If you haven’t used Pinterest before, it is a fun new social networking site where you can group pictures and other stuff together on virtual pinboards. Feel free to explore our other pinboards as well, or check out What Are You Reading?, a pinboard where librarians from across the country pin information about their current reads.
Even though Zombie Awareness Month is drawing to a close, remember that the library is happy to help find an answer to any of your questions, zombie-related or not. Call us at (360) 755-0760, email us at blibrary@ci.burlington.wa.us, or just stop by!
The library will be closed this Monday in honor of Memorial Day. Even though we’ll be closed, you can still get your history fix: there are some amazing vintage photographs now available from the newly-launched Digital Public Library of America. They don’t have all the bugs worked out quite yet, but there are already some really great historic images available when you search for Memorial Day, or the holiday’s old name, Decoration Day.
May is Zombie Awareness Month, and so every Thursday this month, we will be showing you ways to use the library to learn more about zombies.
How can you get hands-on knowledge of how to survive a zombie apocalypse before it’s too late? At your library, of course! We are looking for teen volunteers to join our zombie horde next month.
June 15th the library will showcase our “Juicy Brains” in the Berry Dairy Days parade, and we need zombie volunteers to get in costume and walk with us.
Then, June 26th from 2:30-4:30 the Burlington Public Library will be overrun with Zombies for our first-ever Zombie Survival Scavenger Hunt. Zombies will roam the book stacks, looking for participating “survivors” and trying to infect them before they gather all of the required pieces of their Bug Out Bag survival kits.
For the Survival Scavenger hunt, volunteer zombies will be made up by the good folks at the Northwest Hair Academy, and will have their hands dusted in glow powder so that when they touch the Survivors’ arms or backs the “infection” will show under a blacklight sweep (Blacklight courtesy of the Burlington Police Department).
Zombie volunteers can earn community service credit, as well as get some sweet photos taken of themselves in full zombie regalia at our zombie “photo booth.”
Want to be a part of our horde?
Email SarahL [at] ci.burlington.wa.us,
Come sign up in person (ask for Abby or Maggie), or
Tomorrow, May 22nd, marks the 154th birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle is, of course, known most for being the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but he also wrote historical novels, science fiction, and non-fiction about war, spiritualism and real-life crimes.
Both the Holmes books and Doyle’s other books have been adapted for the screen countless times, and the library can offer you a number of videos and books to help you celebrate Doyle’s birthday in style!
We have the first two seasons of the BBC’s excellent Sherlock series, which mixes together the original stories and places them in a modern setting. Here’s season one, and here’s season two.
May is Zombie Awareness Month, and so every Thursday this month, we will be showing you ways to use the library to learn more about zombies.
This week, we will be highlighting our fabulous zombie ebooks and audiobooks, which you can check out and enjoy from your computer, e-reader, phone, or other device. If you want to read a book, but the library’s copy is checked out — or if you just want to try out reading a book on a new device — you can find the following zombie titles (and more) online through your library.
Zombie Makers, a non-fiction book about “nature’s zombie makers — including a fly-enslaving fungus, a suicide worm, and a cockroach-taming wasp — and their victims.”
World War Z, by Max Brooks — available both as an ebook and an audiobook.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith’s “classic regency romance, now with ultra-violent zombie mayhem.” Also available as both an ebook and an audiobook.
Grampa’s Zombie BBQ, an audiobook about Wiley and Jubal, two boys who unknowingly cause a zombie outbreak at their grampa’s annual neighborhood barbecue! “Only Vera the lunch lady’s spicy beet borscht can save the party-goers now.”
Rot and Ruin, a teen audiobook novel about Benny Imura, a 15 year old who reluctantly apprentices with his older brother, Tom, as a zombie killer.
Of course, both theWashington Anytime Library and One Click Digital have plenty to offer for all of you who aren’t interested in zombies as well. Just check out the links below and search for your favorite books.
Overdrive, one of our e-book vendors, is hosting a Big Library Read. People from 35,000 libraries worldwide are simultaneously checking out and reading the same book: Michael Malone’s The Four Corners of the Sky.
According to the reviews I read, the Four Corners of the Sky is “a long but satisfying tale of crime and death foretold”, with an “ambitious blend of humor, mystery, adventure and sentimentality.” The plot follows “navy pilot Annie P. Goode, [who] comes home for her 26th birthday to her doting aunt and uncle in Emerald, NC, exactly where her con man father, Jack Peregrine, left her 19 years earlier. But Jack’s urgent message that he’s dying and needs Annie to fly his old Piper Warrior to St. Louis upends her life. Annie agrees, hoping finally to learn the name of her mother.” However, the book is not for all tastes — one reviewer said that “this long novel could have used some serious editing, and a love scene or two between Annie and her Sergeant Hart would have been a welcome relief from the extensive Peregrine family history and the overuse of the f word.”
Every year (for the past 20+ years!) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sponsors an art competition to select an image for Federal Junior Duck Stamp–a collectible stamp that is sold to support youth conservation education programs.
K – 12 students from all over the country submit “duck art” for their state’s competition; then first, second, and third place winners are selected in each age group. The “Best of Show” is selected to compete in the national Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest.
For the next month or so we have 24 of the paintings that were submitted for this year’s state competition–including the best of show winner that went on to the national competition. Come in and check them out–they are pretty amazing, and beautiful.
May is Zombie Awareness Month, and so every Thursday this month, we will be showing you ways to use the library to learn more about zombies.
Zombie Awareness Month happens in May because it is the month that provided the setting for the 1968 zombie classic Night of the Living Dead, the film that launched the zombie film genre. Here’s the story of Night of the Living Dead from the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture — an online encyclopedia that the library subscribes to.
In October 1968 a low-budget horror film titled Night of the Living Dead, directed and cowritten by the independent filmmaker George Romero, opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, far from Hollywood and the mainstream cinema. Shot in the Pennsylvania countryside using mostly amateur actors and boasting ludicrously low production values, Romero’s short black-and-white film nevertheless managed to leave its first viewers disturbed, even traumatized[...] Decades later the film is considered a classic. Recognized for its cultural significance, the film was placed in the National Film Registry in 1999 by the Library of Congress.
You can read the full article, complete with a still from the movie, here. If you have a library card, you can use the St. James Encyclopedia yourself to find articles about famous and influential movies, music, authors, and shows — both with and without zombies.
“Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican national holiday commemorating the triumph of the Mexican army over the French on 5 May 1862, the battle of Puebla. General Ignacio Zaragoza led the Mexican army, consisting of about 2,000 conscript soldiers, to victory over a French force of some 6,000 well-equipped professional soldiers commanded by General Charles Latrille, Count of Lorencez. The battle was part of a campaign by the French to place the Austrian Archduke Maximilian on the Mexican throne and to establish an American empire. Although the French were ultimately successful in defeating the Mexicans and imposing Maximilian, the Mexican victory at Puebla, in the face of inadequate manpower and weaponry, inspired the Mexican nation to fight with new determination. Mexico, in honor of the victory, made Cinco de Mayo a holiday and an important national symbol. Cinco de Mayo has been celebrated for many years in the United States, especially in the Southwest and other areas with substantial communities of Mexican origin. It is often confused with Mexican Independence Day (16 September).”
So, now you know–go celebrate!
PS For a great local commemoration check out the Cinco de Mayo celebration at West View Elementary School, today (Saturday) from 2-8 pm.
May is Get Caught Reading month, a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read.
Get Caught Reading is supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Launched in 1999, “Get Caught Reading” is the brainchild of former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAP, the industry association representing book publishers. She saw the opportunity to spread the word about the joys of reading through an industry-supported literacy campaign.
According to the Get Caught Reading website, “because of research indicating that early language experience actually stimulates a child’s brain to grow and that reading to children gives them a huge advantage when they start school, we hope to encourage people of all ages to enjoy books and magazines and to share that pleasure with the young children in their lives.”
I just finished The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe, a wonderful book about a life well lived–with books. And now I’m about halfway through Girl Gone by Gillian Flynn–the twisting thriller that seems to be on everyone’s must-read list. So, what you are reading? Reply to this post and let us know.
Are you familiar with the author James Patterson? If not, you’re the only one… he writes an amazing number of books, from tweens to adults: quick-reading thrillers. He’s also quite an active advocate for reading, and last weekend, he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times. (Click on the image to enlarge.)
What do you think? Are books and libraries at risk? What should happen?
It’s National Volunteer Week, that time of year in which we attempt to make sure that our wonderful volunteers feel as appreciated as they are.
We have a small volunteer program because we have a small staff, and volunteers require staff support. I know many more people throughout our community would volunteer if we could accommodate them, and I’m sure someday we’ll be able to do that.
As for now, we have the best, most steadfast, cheerful, patient, willing, generous group of volunteers that I’ve ever worked with. They brighten our days, take loads off our shoulders, and provide hundreds of hours of effort every year. So find a volunteer somewhere this week, and thank them!
If you’re ready to explore the wonderful world of volunteering yourself, a great place to start is with our local Volunteer Center.
With or Without You, by Dominica Ruta
This best-selling memoir is being compared to Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Zimmel, and James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces. Ruta grew up north of Boston, with a mother that began sharing her addiction to Oxycontin with her when Ruta was a teenager. If you like the reading about the challenges of dysfunctional family and addiction, this is one to watch for.
Untouchable, The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, by Randall Sullivan
What is it about Michael Jackson that continues to fascinate us? Here is a hefty tome “of unprecedented depth” by a former editor for Rolling Stone magazine. Pages of photographs completes the work.
How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, by Matt Kepnes
Can’t afford to travel, you say? Learn the tricks of free airfare and much more in this book by a long-time travel blogger. Great way to stoke your daydreams.
On April 17, 1961, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear disaster. More than 50 years later, more information continues to come to light about that scary time. History buffs will enjoy two new books in particular:
The brilliant disaster : JFK, Castro, and America’s doomed invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs, by Jim Rasenberger, is a meticulously researched volume described as reading like a spy thriller, and shedding light on the past, present and future.
Listening in : the secret White House recordings of John F. Kennedy , by Ted Widmer
JFK began taping Oval-Office conversations in 1962. This beautifully illustrated book, which includes two CDs of the tapes themselves, offers about 25 of the most interesting conversations, including the Bay of Pigs incident.
The library has embarked on the ROOTS Project — an exciting partnership with the Skagit Valley Genealogical Society. Local Genealogists are honing their research skills and learning to use library sources, and they will then use their skills to help high schoolers discover their family histories. As part of this project, we are offering a number of exciting workshops, all of which are free and open to anybody who is interested!
The brilliant disaster : JFK, Castro, and America’s doomed invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs, by Jim Rasenberger, is a meticulously researched volume described as reading like a spy thriller, and shedding light on the past, present and future.
