Explore and Discover

Trick-or-treat alternatives for an enjoyable celebration

Posted on October 21, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Alison Johnson I really love Halloween. Thinking up the perfect costume is fun, and then there is the excuse to indulge in sweets! You may be wondering, as am I, how we can still have a fun Halloween celebration with the restrictions we face right now. Many of us may err on the side […]

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

Posted 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 […]

Filling out the FAFSA with live online assistance from HelpNow

Posted on October 8, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Crystal Miller Attention current and soon-to-be college students! HelpNow has live tutors offering free assistance with your FAFSA. FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This program offered by the federal government offers more than $150 billion to help students pay for college and vocational training. When you fill out […]

Drought-tolerant yard project: Researching, planning, digging & planting

Posted on October 7, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Jane Baker I didn’t mow the front yard all summer. This is just one of the benefits of installing a drought-tolerant landscape, a project I started researching in 2018 and took on in 2019. In creating a new landscape, especially one without grass, I learned a lot about plants, climate, and drainage, but the […]

15 trivia questions for Banned Books Week

Posted on September 23, 2020 at 6:00 am

BY ABRA COLE Banned Books Week is next week, September 27–October 3. So, usually at this time of year, I would be working on a banned books display for the Teens section at the Spokane Valley Library. It is one of my most favorite displays to put together, not just because it is such an […]

Tags: adults, ALA, banned books, books, reading, teens, trivia

Dive past Schoolhouse Rock! into this Learning Circle course

Posted 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 […]

The importance of diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies for our empathy and history

Posted 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 […]

OverDrive features to enhance your digital reading experience

Posted on August 24, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Cheryl Zobel, Diane Brown & Erin Dodge If you enjoy reading eBooks or listening to audiobooks, then you are probably already a big fan of OverDrive. There are many titles available—over 90,000! So if you are looking for your next great read, it is highly likely you’ll find something in our digital collection at […]

A peek into EnviroKids’ Club: Q&A with two partner agencies

Posted on August 19, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Erin Dodge Next week, we’re hosting three EnviroKids’ Club programs (sign up before they fill up!), each showing kids and their families different ways that they can champion the environment and take action to make changes at home and in their neighborhoods. In case you missed the announcement, here are those three programs: EnviroKids’ […]

Books & cocktail mixes: Find your perfect pairing

Posted on August 14, 2020 at 6:00 am

By Melissa Rhoades Recently, The New York Times published an article declaring the return of cocktail hour. I, for one, am celebrating. Mixed drinks can be enjoyed with or without a buzz. Those who choose to not imbibe alcohol can still find plenty to get shaken and stirred about. I’ve noted books that include non-alcoholic […]