Library staff and booksellers who organize and present Whatcom READS have announced the literary program’s 2024 schedule of community and author events, celebrating Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe. Winner of the Washington State Book Award for creative nonfiction, Red Paint traces LaPointe’s personal story of trauma, healing and the search … Read more
Following successful outreach by Friends of the Birch Bay Library volunteers, the Whatcom County Council has allocated $315,000 to support construction of the Birch Bay Vogt Library Express. The funding was included in County Executive Satpal Sidhu’s recommendations for the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) expenditures and agreed to by the council. The ARPA … Read more
“Working Boats: An Inside Look at Ten Amazing Watercraft” by Tom Crestodina For many of us, the working vessels that ply local waters and the people who work aboard are a bit of a mystery. We board ferries. We watch sturdy tugs push heavy barges. And we may eat the catch the mariners bring to … Read more
It may seem strange for a public library system to publish an annual gift guide, but hear us out: All of the books mentioned in the 2023 roundup are gifts, whether you check them out from Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) as a treat for yourself, or purchase them for friends and family. Our … Read more
The Wok: Recipes and Techniques by J. Kenji López-Alt The 2023 winner of the Washington State Book Award for General Nonfiction, J. Kenji López-Alt, is not a flash-in-the-pan. His first book, “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science,” was a New York Times bestseller and won a 2016 James Beard Foundation Award. In 2020, … Read more
Where the Language Lives by Janet Yoder Vi taqʷšɘblu Hilbert was 49 years old when she got a phone call that changed the course of her life. Thom Hess, a linguist at the University of Washington, called Hilbert and asked her to review an audio recording of one of her mother’s traditional Coast Salish stories … Read more
Former Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest will host a night of diverse poetry as part of an inaugural festival. “Launched: Whatcom County Poets with New Titles in 2023” will be presented as part of Whatcom County Library System’s Open Book festival on Sunday, Nov. 5 at the Ferndale Events Center. Each of the highlighted … Read more
Three Ferndale School District educators and leaders who successfully advocate for reading and public libraries to further student success will be honored with Whatcom County Library System’s Golden Apple Educator Award at a 2:45 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5 ceremony at the Ferndale Events Center, 5715 Barrett Road, Ferndale. The celebration is part of the library … Read more
O Lady, Speak Again by Danya Patterson Let’s face it, I’m not at all qualified to review this powerful book of poems on the themes of feminism, Mormon culture and the women of Shakespeare’s plays. I’m in over my head, yet I’ve been drawn in by both wordplay and intimacy as Bellingham poet Dayna Patterson … Read more
Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) seeks a Whatcom County resident who loves libraries to fill a term on the WCLS Board of Trustees. This five-year term will expire Jan. 31, 2029. The application deadline is Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Library trustees’ responsibilities include: Candidates should live in Whatcom County, outside the city limits of Bellingham. Those with … Read more