Explore and Discover

Friends: Who needs them?

Posted on November 20, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Abra Cole Friends. We all have them, but do we need them? The topic came up when my 3-year-old and I were reading Ryan T. Higgins’ book We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! recently. We got to talking about his friends at daycare. Of course, it’s the norm to refer to his entire classroom as […]

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

Posted 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 […]

Native American Heritage Month: A look at books by indigenous authors

Posted 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 […]

Your Path to Student Financial Aid Starts with the FAFSA

Posted on November 5, 2019 at 6:00 am

You or your student may be eligible for student financial aid. To find out, you will need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form beginning in your senior year of high school and throughout your college years. When you submit your FAFSA form, you find out if you are eligible […]

When murder smells like honeysuckle: The allure of film noir

Posted on October 30, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Melissa Rhoades In adolescence, my impulse towards mysteries and thrillers was satisfied by Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mystery! on PBS. But these days when I get the urge, I’m more likely to pick up a film noir or some of the hardboiled fiction that inspired it. Less cozy and more convoluted, film […]

Favorite reads reimagined for the screen: Upcoming film and TV adaptations

Posted on October 9, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Rachel Underwood Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix (even Facebook Watch) are churning out as many originals and adaptations as they can buy, produce, and film—all to try to win the fierce video streaming competition. This is fantastic for book nerds because these streaming giants are looking to novels and nonfiction for good source material! […]

Play it again: A love letter to The Bartlett

Posted on October 2, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Susan Goertz In late 2013, something magical happened that changed Spokane’s music scene forever, for the better. The Bartlett opened its doors. A desperately needed all-ages venue, The Bartlett was everything Spokane’s music scene was missing—an intimate space (150 person capacity versus the 1,500 capacity of The Knitting Factory) that fo […]

The Sandwich

Posted on September 11, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Abra Cole Earlier this month as my family prepared for a day-long excursion into Glacier National Park from our campsite, we discussed easy travel options for lunch. We had pasta salad and salami and cream cheese rolls, along with other not-so-typical camping fare. Ultimately most of us opted for a good old fashioned sandwich—simple, […]

On the road to financial literacy: Stop at the library for valuable no-cost resources

Posted on August 28, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Stacey Goddard In my last blog, I talked about my first real job (delivering newspapers with my brother). What I didn’t mention is the very different approaches my brother and I took with our hard-earned wages. He had a budget, including a formula for how much money would go into savings each month, how […]

Finding a love of reading through fairy tales

Posted 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 […]