Audio books from the library keep farmers company on the combine. When one town’s economy withers, its library survives most of a year on donations alone. At another library, five dozen volunteers handle everything from landscaping to book selection.
These are among the stories in this issue – my first as the new editor of Alki. The theme is “Rural Libraries.” Whether nestled in the Palouse, perched in the Cascades, or secluded on a San Juan island, rural libraries have one thing in common: They do a lot with a little.
For the luxury of a library, rural residents share space. In Roslyn, children’s programs take place in the City Council chambers beside an old potbellied stove. Metaline’s library users endure the drumbeat of music lessons upstairs. In Onion Creek, you can pick up milk and a book at the only store in town, which houses what is reportedly the smallest library in the country.
Fancy services and amenities are often out of reach. Patrons may not find wireless Internet or an espresso in Washington’s rural libraries; what they do find is the kind of service you get from people who are also neighbors and friends.
And remote no longer means removed. The best rural library workers seek out training and other opportunities for professional development. Small libraries collaborate and tap into the expertise and resources of their urban counterparts.
Alki Editor: Margaret Thomas
Alki Editorial Committee: Lynn Barnes; Theresa Kappus; Nancy Huling; Brian Soneda; Rayette Sterling; Bonnie Taylor; Konny Thompson; Erica Delavan, Intern; Mary Wise, Chair
Download the full-color PDF issue below.
by Micheal Wood
by Theresa Kappus
by Brian Soneda
by Konny Thompson
by Sabrina Jones
by Lynn Barnes
by Rayette Sterling
by Erin Krake
by Erin Krake
by Carolynne Myall
by Margaret Thomas
by Elena Bianco
by Angelina Benedetti
by David Wright