Posted in Explore and Discover on July 21, 2021 at 6:00 am
Today’s post features trails on the north side of Spokane that are within 30 minutes of one or more county libraries. You can set aside a half hour or a whole day to explore one of these spots. And remember to bring plenty of water in order to beat the heat! […]
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Tags: adults, county hikes, hiking, kids, local hikes, nature, parents, Spokane County, teens, trails, trek, walking
Posted in Explore and Discover on May 12, 2021 at 6:00 am
BY CAITLIN WHEELER In 2018, I started working at the Otis Orchards Library just as I was also desperately trying to fit exercise into a routine laden with reading books, making art, and crafting. My drive to Otis Orchards took me over the Harvard Road Bridge, where a Centennial Trailhead happened to sit just three […]
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Tags: adults, adventure, birds, books, conservation, county hikes, dogs, explorer, Families, flowers, hiking, kids, microadventure, microadventures, nature, outdoor, outdoors, picnic, reading, STEM, trees, walking
Posted in Explore and Discover on February 11, 2021 at 6:00 am
BY CAITLIN WHEELER When choosing to journal, you may find that there is one looming question that’s liable to trip you up before you’ve even begun: Why am I journaling? Not knowing why you’re journaling may confuse your writing. Your answer to “why” will likely affect your content, your frequency, your audience, and perhaps most […]
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Tags: adults, creating, journaling, teens, writing
Posted in Parents and Teachers on December 10, 2020 at 6:00 am
BY CAITLIN WHEELER MEMOIR, A MOMENT IN A LIFE Unlike biography, which is the story of a life, memoir is a story within a life—a moment or a thread of moments that shed light on a larger truth. Everyone has stories like these: little moments in our lives that illustrate something bigger about how we […]
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Tags: grandparents, kids, memoir, memoir writing, parents, reading, teens, writing
Posted in Explore and Discover, Uncategorized on August 26, 2020 at 6:00 am
BY CAITLIN WHEELER I had wanted to be a diarist as a child, but having grown up on Dear America and Royal Diaries, I felt like my 90s school bus experiences weren’t interesting enough. I have since realized that my attitude about my journal writing continued into adulthood, and yet I’ve also considered sharing with […]
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Tags: autobiography, diary, empathy, historians, history, journaling, memoir, reading, self, understanding, writing
Posted in Explore and Discover on June 19, 2020 at 6:00 am
By Caitlin Wheeler Right now, many of us are spending most of our time at home, continuing to social distance under Phase 2 of Washington state’s Safe Start plan. It can be isolating, this feeling of being stuck and apart from those you love for an indeterminate amount of time. As a balm, I offer […]
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Tags: authors, autobiography, book list, booklist, books, fiction, LGBT Pride Month, LGBTQ, LGBTQ2IA+, memoir, nonfiction, novel, Pride Month, reading
Posted in Explore and Discover on November 6, 2019 at 6:00 am
BY CAITLIN WHEELER November is Native American Heritage Month and a great time to learn more about some of the many indigenous groups of North America. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian provides an introduction to indigenous peoples’ portrayals in media after colonialization in Americans, the interactive online exhibit that looks […]
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Tags: #NationalAmericanIndianHeritageMonth, Americans, author, books, children, fiction, indigenous, native, Native American, nonfiction, writer
Posted in Explore and Discover on August 22, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Caitlin Wheeler Some children are early readers. I have a friend who swears she already preferred burying her nose in a book (over any other activity) by the time she turned two, along with the photo to prove it. While this story smells faintly of exaggeration and posed photography to me, I’m sure my […]
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Tags: fairy tales, folktales, illustrations, kids, parents, picture books, preschool, reading, toddlers
Posted in Explore and Discover on June 3, 2019 at 6:00 am
by Caitlin Wheeler I love library special collections. They’re like microhistories you get to assemble yourself. While popular collections—like the kind you usually find in a public library—are assembled based on the interests of a broad population with a wide variety of needs, special collections are assembled based on a special interest of […]
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Tags: archival materials, archives, history, identity, Inland Northwest Collection, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQ2IA+, library, local collection, museum, preservation, pride, Pride Month, pride parade, reading, special collections
Posted in Explore and Discover on April 11, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Caitlin Wheeler In the past 20 years, the Get Lit! Festival has hosted a whole slew of authors of exciting written work: Kurt Vonnegut, Jane Smiley, and Tim O’Brien are just a few. This year is no exception. At the 2019 festival, you’ll find the opportunity to hear from Roxane Gay, Tommy Orange, Kaveh […]
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Tags: author, book list, books, festival, fiction, Get Lit!, guide, Inland Northwest Collection, literary, literary festival, literature, local, music, nonfiction, poet, poetry, prose, reading, writer
