It’s been widely reported that being active socially, giving back to your community, having strong and healthy relationships are key indicators of health and deep and lasting happiness as we age.

Take the letterboxing challenge and solve the Who Done It?  Clues posted here weekly beginning January 14th - play at any WCLS library for a chance to win a prize!  Lots of fun sleuthing and cold case events this month ... hope to see you there!

Who Done It? Letterboxing Challenge

Collect all five clues and solve the mystery to enter the prize drawing for Elizabeth George's newest book!  Play at any WCLS library - pick up a clue card and follow the clue to find that week's sticker.  Clues are posted every Saturday from January 14th - February 11th on here and on the WCLS Facebook page.  Click here for more information on letterboxing and how to play.

Clue #1 (starts January 14th) - Find me in the adult mystery section under George, Elizabeth.

Clue #2 (starts January 21st) - Find me in the adult nonfiction section under 808.3 George, Elizabeth.  (NOTE:  Elizabeth George also wrote a book about writing that is shelved under this Dewey number.  The title is Write Away: one novelist’s approach to fiction and the writing life.)

Clue #3 (starts January 28th) -  Find me in the adult nonfiction section under 364.1523 George, Elizabeth.  (NOTE: This is where Elizabeth George’s books would be shelved if they were true crime stories instead of fictional.)

February Whatcom READS! Events:

In the Presence of the Enemy Book Discussions

• Village Books, 1200 11th Street, Bellingham
  Monday, Feb 6, 7-8 pm
  Wednesday, Feb 8, 1-2 pm

This Body of Death Book Discussion

• Sudden Valley Community Center, Gate 2, Middle Barn
  Tuesday, Feb 7, 3-4:30 pm

Bellingham Police K-9 Unit
Thursday, Feb 2, 4-5:30 pm
Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave, Bellingham, 360-778-7323
Bellingham Police use all the tools at their disposal to track down criminals and solve crimes.  Officer Shan Hannon will demonstrate how the K-9 unit works with officers to help solve crimes.

Murder Mystery
Saturday, February 4, 6:30-8 pm
Island Library, 2144 South Nugent Road, Lummi Island, 360-758-7145
1930s London Murder Mystery: Heiress Killed at a Birthday Party that Goes Terribly Wrong!  Sign up to be a character, read your script at the dinner party and find out which of the likely suspects killed the rich writer!

Poetics of Place Writing Workshop
Friday, February 10, 12-3 pm
Northwest Indian College Cultural Learning Center (Log Building) Kwina Road, Bellingham (for more information email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
While many appreciate the beauty of a good poem, few of us are able to grasp the difficult process of writing poetry.  In this hands-on poetry-writing workshop, award-winning published poet Judith Roche offers her extensive experience.  Participants will learn to express the “feel” of their natural surroundings and learn the building blocks for successful poetry writing using memories, experiences, and sense of place. 

Whatcom WRITES! Reading
Sunday, February 12, 4-5:30 pm
Village Books, 1200 11th St, Bellingham
Hear winners of the Whatcom WRITES! Contest read their entries!  The theme this year is ENEMIES.  Top submissions have been selected for publication in a commemorative anthology.

Elizabeth George Live at the Blaine PAC
Tuesday, February 21, 7:30-9 pm
Blaine Performing Arts Center, 975 H Street, Blaine
This is Elizabeth George's keynote address for north county residents

Elizabeth George on The Art and Craft of Writing
Wednesday, February 22, 4-5:30 pm
Western Washington University, Academic Instruction Center West, Room 204
Hear Elizabeth George discuss the writing process and craft in this lecture event open to all. High school and college English classes and students are especially encouraged to attend!

An Evening with Elizabeth George
Thursday, Feb 23, 7:30-9 pm
Whatcom Community College's Syre Center, 237 W. Kellogg Road, Bellingham
Join Whatcom READS! in welcoming mystery author Elizabeth George to Whatcom County as she speaks about this year's community read selection In the Presence of the Enemy and her Inspector Lynley series.

For more information visit whatcomreads.org.

These programs made possible in part through a grant from Humanities Washington.

WCLS was voted into existence in 1944—58 years later, in 2002, county readers broke the 1 million mark for items checked out. Only 9 years later, the number of items checked out has grown to 1.8 million!

With the turn of the calendar, the successful Jazz Builds a Library concert thrown by the Friends of the Sudden Valley Library in October has blossomed into a whole concert series for the delight of the jazz lovers of Whatcom County!