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Library Hack: Get college ready with the Digital Library

Posted in Business and Careers, For You, Parents and Teachers, Teens on November 5, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Brian Vander Veen As a first generation college student, I found the whole process of college planning absurdly confusing. My frustration was compounded by the fact that my peers from college-educated families seemed to navigate the whole process with relative assurance and ease. Many of them ended up going out of state with generous […]

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How to have a Pinterest-worthy holiday season without going crazy

Posted in Explore and Discover, For You on November 4, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Clarissa Fidler Halloween is over and November is upon us, which means the holiday season is kicking into high gear. Thanks to lifestyle magazines, blogs, Instagram, and especially Pinterest, we’re bombarded with images of the perfect holiday decor, gourmet meals made from scratch, and seemingly easy DIY gifts. I’m an admitted Pinte […]

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5 Thanksgiving picture books that shed new light on the holiday

Posted in For You, kids, Parents and Teachers on November 3, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Sheri Boggs Thanksgiving wasn’t my favorite holiday as a child. For one, no presents. But also, it meant being on my best behavior all day, staying out of the kitchen, and having to eat things I didn’t have to eat the rest of the year (green bean casserole, my grandmother’s terrifying creamed corn dish […]

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Not afraid of subtitles? 4 frightening foreign-language films to watch this Halloween

Posted in Explore and Discover, For You on October 27, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Brian Vander Veen I blame 80s hair metal band Dokken. When I first realized that my favorite song from their album Back for the Attack was originally from the Nightmare on Elm Street 3 soundtrack, I promptly ran to the nearest video store, one that apparently had few qualms about letting a twelve-year-old kid […]

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Halloween craft tutorial: How to make a sock zombie

Posted in For You, kids, Parents and Teachers, Teens on October 22, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Kelsey Hudson Zombies invaded the library this month at Tween Club. There was zombie poetry, zombie makeup, and we even created our very own sock zombies. But don’t fear! For those of you who missed Tween Club, you can make your very own no-sew sock zombie at home. For my own sock zombie, I was […]

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Mixtape: A non-traditional Halloween playlist

Posted in Explore and Discover, For You on October 21, 2015 at 6:00 am

By David Wyatt This might be heretical, but as far as Halloween-themed music goes I have never been a fan of Tim Burton’s soundtracks, Rob Zombie gets old after the n-teenth time, and Ghostbusters is a little too upbeat for my taste. I get it though—it’s easy to make a list of songs or albums […]

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A children’s book tour of Chinese culture

Posted in For You, kids, Parents and Teachers on October 20, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Rachel Edmondson If you haven’t noticed yet, downtown Spokane is all aglow. The Chinese Lantern Festival is lighting up Riverfront Park every night from 5–10pm, with an extra hour on Friday and Saturday nights. If you haven’t had a chance to see the lanterns and enjoy the many cultural performances and activities, there’s still […]

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Mixtape: Punk retrospective

Posted in Explore and Discover, For You on October 15, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Brian Vander Veen Not long ago, a young college student realized exactly how old I was and started grilling me about 1990s punk music, of which he was a particular fan. And it quickly occurred to me that he, thanks to the web, knew much more about the music of my teenage years than […]

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10 Tips to get started doing genealogy

Posted in Explore and Discover, For You on October 13, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Miriam J. Robbins Guest Writer You’re about to embark on an exciting journey! Learning about your family history and developing skills to do genealogical research can be the beginning of a lifelong hobby and passion. Here are ten tips to get started: 1. Get Organized You’re going to be gathering a lot of information, […]

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Librarian-inspired reads to celebrate ALA’s 139th birthday

Posted in Explore and Discover, For You on October 6, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Kelsey Hudson On this day 139 years ago the American Library Association (ALA) was formed with the intent of making it easier and cheaper for librarians to continue their work. In honor of ALA’s 139th birthday, I decided to pull together a list of some of the most fascinating books and movies about librarians. Now […]

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