Tag Archives: library

Pierce County Library Administration Building

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My group had a tour of the Pierce County Library Administration Building at 3005 112th St E. Tacoma, WA 98446-2215 and I loved getting to see where the books come into the library system and are process. I didn’t realize there is actually a small public library in the lobby of the building. I’m especially enamored with the wonderful, space saving shelving that wheels flush. And there was a glimpse of the bookmobile! Little known fact, I applied to drive/manage the bookmobile many a year ago! Anyway it was a great tour.

 

Little Free Library #7684, Tacoma

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imageThis Little Free Library is located at 3815 South Ainsworth Avenue, south of South 38th Street and is part of the Little Free Library Project. This high quality Little Free Library has a lovely varnished wood with details including side windows and a sun. There is a little walk up area also. Inside there are over a dozen books, with an emphasis on good quality children’s chapter books. For the first time, I found a book I actually wanted, Tacoma-Pierce Co Walking Guide.

Little Free Libraries is part of a community movement which offers free books. When I considered my first Little Free Library in November 2012, a Wikipedia article informed me that there were over 200 of these libraries. Per their website, there are now over 25,000!  Each of the libraries is registered and can be located by their GPS coordinates.

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Little Free Library #9134 and the Boze Community Garden

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imageLittle Free Library at the corner of East ‘L’ Street and 68th Street and is part of the Boze Community Garden. It is a well constructed Little Free Library and has about a dozen books, mostly for children.

On the same parcel, there is the Boze Community Garden. More information about Tacoma’s Community Gardens can be found here.

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Little Free Library #14444, Tacoma

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imageThe Little Free Library #14444 is at 6720 Park Avenue, Tacoma, across the street from Park Avenue School.  It is cleverly located in a cheerful red newspaper box, the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Inside there are about almost dozen books. The one that I have read for sure is Amy Tam’s Joy Luck Club, but I’m pretty certain that I’ve also read The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.

What really stood out with this visit was the sidewalk next to the Little Free Library. There was a small stand with three new food products: Shredded Coconut, Panko Breadcrumbs and How & Sweet Pepper Jelly. I don’t know about the coconut, but the other two items were from Trader Joe’s. Those three ingredients can pretty much be used to make Coconut Chicken with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. Well, ok then. One does wonder why. They are obviously available for the taking and certainly quality ingredients. And I can see why the milk and chicken wasn’t included, it being hot and all. I guess it will remain a mystery and mysteries are good.

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Little Free Library #8353, Kent and the Neely Soames House

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todayMy dentist use to be kind of nearby, but she moved to a new office in Kent and I faithfully followed here. After my appointment, I wandered off to find a park that promised a pirate’s ship (that didn’t happen) and the adjacent Little Free Library. The historic home was just a bonus!

The Neely Soames House is located at 5311 South 237th Place, Kent in a residential area next to the Green River Trail. The house was constructed in 1884 making it the oldest standing residence in Kent. What I loved about the house was the amazing porch and wisteria. Looking at my photo, it looks like a one story house with abundant landscaping, but it is really a two story house with the wisteria almost completely covering the porch. More information including some interior photos can be found here.

The Little Free Library #8353 is around the corner from the Soames House was built by Orval Dealy at the request of the Kent Senior Center. It has a delightful paint job featuring children at the adjacent park. Inside there are about two dozen books, mostly paperback. The titles include The Fountainhead (which yes, I’ve read) in case you were on the lookout for a little light summer reading.

I found this interesting Pinterest Page with Little Free Libraries from around the glove.

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Little Free Library #6267, Tacoma

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imageWooHoo! Two Little Free Libraries in a row. Tacoma has a couple of dozen Little Free Libraries which were part of the Little Free Library Project. This Little Free Library was created by a grandfather/granddaughter team is located on the south side of N. 22nd between North Hudson Street and North Ferdinand Street.

This “Little Free Library” is unusual in that it has a two toned blue paint job and some kind of sports boards attached to the side. Inside there are over a dozen books.

Little Free Libraries is part of a community movement which offers free books. When I considered my first Little Free Library in November 2012, a Wikipedia article informed me that there were over 200 of these libraries. There are now over 15,000!  Each of the libraries is registered and can be located by their GPS coordinates. Per the November 2012 website:

Our Mission

  • To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.
  • To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity, and wisdom across generations
  • To build more than 2,510 libraries around the world – more than Andrew Carnegie–and then more. (yes, they made that one!)

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Little Free Library #16986, Lakewood

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19256413431_e5b9895279_kBack in November of 2012, Tacoma had two little free library, which were part of the Little Free Library Project. Now there must be a couple of dozen little free libraries and Lakewood, WA has two.

This “Little Free Library” is located at 10317 Interlaaken Drive SW, Lakewood, WA. It is unusual in that it is attached to a tree stump and has a darling dragonfly handle. Inside there are about a dozen books, but none for me today.

Little Free Libraries is part of a community movement which offers free books. When I considered my first Little Free Library in November 2012, a Wikipedia article informed me that there were over 200 of these libraries. There are now over 15,000!  Each of the libraries is registered and can be located by their GPS coordinates. Per the November 2012 website:

Our Mission

  • To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.
  • To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity, and wisdom across generations
  • To build more than 2,510 libraries around the world – more than Andrew Carnegie–and then more. (yes, they made that one!)

 

Bookin’ at Washington State University

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I dropped my dear daughter off at Washington State University to begin her adventures as a college student. Yes, that was just as hard as it sounds. While there, she told me that I could have one photo and that it would be in front of the book statue by the library. (She’s kind of bossy like that!). Bookin’ by artist Terry Allen was installed on the Terrell Mall in 2006. Terry Allen’s website can be found here.

 

American Library Association@Seattle

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ALA

The Theme of the ALA Midwinter is “The conversation starts here”. ALA takes place this weekend in the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. I went up for the day to visit the zillion vendors (more or less) The first person I ran into was somebody that I know! Really there were a bunch of friends there and one long time Facebook, AAUW friend that I got to meet face to face 🙂 And while there were a plethora of phones and tablets, there was also a great deal of discussion. And the vendors were friendly and had excellent freebies! I was particularly interested in learning that Gaylord was promoting Little Free Libraries “Libraries Big & Small We <3 Them All!” I put my name in to win a premade little library structure. While there I also snapped a photo of some of the art, the view and the ALA poster that my daughter (via phone) insisted I purchase.

 

Allen C. Mason Plaza

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8320716904_7aa7a27563_cAllen C. Mason was a real estate developer who coined the phrase City of Destiny for Tacoma. He arrived in Tacoma in 1883 with almost no capital and eventually became a major developer for Tacoma’s North End. His statue festoon in holiday finery is located in Allen C. Mason Plaza at the southeast corner of North 26th and Adams Street near the Wheelock Library. The plaza also features six pillars from Mason’s mansion. In addition there is a replica of the Star of Destiny, which is pretty interesting.

http://www.proctordistrict.com/index.php/aboutus/masonplaza/

Dear daughter and I hadn’t actually had this plaza in mind when we set off in the night, but the parking lot and ancillary parking lot for zoo lights was full! The plaza is pretty cool anyway. I’m glad I saw it!

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