Author – Spokane County Library District

What we buy (other than books)

Posted in Explore and Discover on January 6, 2021 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino The philosopher Erasmus once said: “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” The Library District buys a lot of books for our 11 libraries (over 34,000 print books and over 10,000 eBooks in 2020 alone). With our budget for […]

The lifecycle of your ballot: Mail-in ballot processing & security

Posted in Explore and Discover on October 16, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino It’s election season! A steady stream of cars flows through the library parking lots as voters drop their ballots in white collection boxes. This year, we’ve received quite a few questions about what happens to a voter’s ballot, including: “Is it safe in the ballot box?” and “How are the signatures on […]

Dive past Schoolhouse Rock! into this Learning Circle course

Posted in Explore and Discover on September 17, 2020 at 6:00 am

BY DANA MANNINO If I asked you what you know about the constitution, would you start humming a Schoolhouse Rock! song? Would you then blush and realize that the School House Rock song is pretty much everything you know about the constitution? If so, blush no longer! The library has a learning opportunity especially for […]

Homeschool Information Session offers insights into this at-home learning option

Posted in News on September 3, 2020 at 5:00 am

BY DANA MANNINO Parents are making difficult choices about how their children will learn this year. Among these choices, many parents are considering homeschooling for the first time. If this is one of the options you are weighing, it can helpful to get an inside look from an expert. The Library District is offering a […]

Workshop discusses mental health, depression, and anxiety, presented in Spanish and English – Taller de salud mental. Depresión y ansiedad. Presentado en español e inglés.

Posted in News on July 3, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino Lea las noticias publicadas en español. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised everyone’s stress levels. But how do you tell if you’re just a little more stressed or if you’re actually suffering from depression or an anxiety disorder? You may be wondering: “At what point does it make sense to seek professional help? […]

Learn a new language from home with our digital resources

Posted in Explore and Discover, News on April 29, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino Use of language learning apps is on the rise! Who would have guessed that being stuck at home would make so many people want to learn a new language? As a bilingual librarian, I am delighted. This means that many more people will be interested in celebrating this week’s library holiday, Día […]

Ask for a story: An idea for staying connected over the distance

Posted in Explore and Discover on April 8, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino During this time of social distancing, we’ve all been urged to check in with people—especially people from an older generation who have to shelter in place much more drastically. I hope that all of you have taken this to heart and called your loved ones. I’m a list maker as well as […]

Answering the question: “What does it take to be a librarian?”

Posted in Explore and Discover on January 29, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino As I have shared before, being a librarian is pretty awesome. So it’s no wonder that I am often asked, “What does it take to be a librarian?” Of course, I treat this as a serious reference question and immediately launch into a technical description of the degrees and experience that we […]

Library insider: Helping your child research for school papers and projects

Posted in Explore and Discover on November 13, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino I always know when it’s research paper season. The first clue is that my work calendar explodes. For my work as a librarian, I offer research workshops to area high schools that aren’t fortunate enough to have their own library. Somehow all the requests for workshops come in at once. The second […]

Civic learning at the library

Posted in Explore and Discover, News on September 4, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Dana Mannino I hear a phrase uttered at the Thanksgiving dinner table at least once each year: “Kids these day, they have no idea how the government works!” But that’s not the only place I’ve heard it. Last spring, our librarians asked people what kind of a community they wanted to live in. One […]

Author: Dana Mannino