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Blog @ Spokane Public Library

Spooky Chapter Books for Kids

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Spooky season is right around the corner, and what better way to experience a fright than through using your imagination and reading. Staff recommend parents learn more about the book prior to reading to ensure it is not too spooky for your child.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidecker

When a family of fox kits are hungry for a story, they slink off into the evening wood to find The Storyteller, who spins dark tales of monsters and shadows, loyalty, and courage. Are you brave enough to make it to the final tale?

Book 

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

Justin’s best friend Zee has just returned from being missing for a year… nobody knows what happened, but he’s different. At his welcome home party, a classic game of Hide and Seek goes awry, and their friends are pulled into a nightmarish new game. They’ll have to band together and use all their wits and skills, but will it be enough to escape… The Seeker?

Book

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Life has been hard for Ollie, and she finds comfort in books. As any good bookworm would, she takes a risk to save a book from certain destruction in a river. But this is no ordinary book… as the story within unfolds, the eerie tale of local history wraps Ollie into a dreadful danger! Ghosts, scarecrows, zombies, and more are lurking in the terrifying atmosphere of this creepy town.

Book | Audiobook | eBook

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

There’s more than meets the eye in this spooky, classic ghost story. Two abandoned Irish siblings travel to work as servants in a creepy, crumbling English manor house, where a dark figure begins to reveal why the townsfolk tried to warn them away. If you like your scary stories peppered with humor and heart, this is the book for you. But take caution…this is still a bone chilling tale full of specters and secrets.

Book | Audiobook

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Apple Science for Kids

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Last school year, Spokane Public Library’s monthly Stuck-at-Home STEAM and Homeschool events explored science, technology, engineering, art, and math with kids. This year we’ll have a new name, “After-School STEM,” as well as continuing our Homeschool event series. Spokane Public Library’s STEM librarian will share STEM topics using books, videos, and hands-on learning experiences.

We’ll start off in October with Apple Science! You may have heard of dissecting a frog, but did you know you can dissect an apple? We will identify the parts of an apple and their functions. Then we’ll experience an apple using all of our senses – sight, sound, touch, smell, and – taste!

Each participant will need:

  • Two apples (they can be different varieties or the same variety)
  • A plate
  • A cutting board
  • A knife, and an adult or older sibling to help cut the apple
  • A piece of paper and a pen or pencil
  • Scissors

While we taste our apples, we will try to answer the question, why are some apples different from others? Some are large, some small… some taste sweet, some taste sour… some are green, some yellow, some red, some mixed! We’ll learn about apple varieties and the efforts of the Lost Apple Project to save the apple varieties that were grown right here in Eastern Washington over a hundred years ago.

So pick up a few apples from your backyard tree, your grocery store, or your farmer’s market, and join us on October 8 or 12!

Learn more about apples using these resources.

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Construction Update: Libraries Closing Soon

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With the grand opening of our newest Library locations, we have to say a temporary (or permanent) farewell to some of our other locations. Mark your calendars with the dates below to know which Libraries are closing and opening for continued access to your favorite books and materials.

Library Closures

  • October 27 | Indian Trail Library closes for renovations until late summer/early fall 2022.
  • October  27 | To Be Continued @ NorthTown Mall closes permanently. Will be replaced by Shadle Park Library at 2111 W. Wellesley Ave.
  • November 5 | East Side Library closes permanently. Will be replaced by Liberty Park Library 5 blocks west at 402 S. Pittsburg Street.
  • November 12 | South Hill Library closes for renovations until late summer/early fall 2022.

Library Openings

  • November 3 | Shadle Park Library
  • November 12 | Liberty Park Library

Learn more about all the projects here.

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New Website Coming Soon!

Want to access more library services from our website?

We’re launching a new website at the end of this month to make it easier than ever for you to find what you need from the Library.

With an average of 25,000 website visitors per month, we wanted our largest “library” to offer an easy and convenient experience like our new and updated physical locations.

Stay tuned for more updates to come. Here’s a sneak peek of your new website!

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Fall Nature Crafts for Preschoolers

ki-fall-blog-1This is one of the best times of the year to get outside in Spokane, and your preschooler can enjoy the season with all their senses. Get yourselves bundled up and go for a nature walk to collect supplies for some fun autumn crafts. Remember to be careful and respectful of plants, animals, and other people!

Leaf Art

  • Try the classic crayon rubbing: Find several different types of dry, flat leaves, and spread them out under a piece of paper. Try rubbing with the tip of the crayon and the sides of the crayon, and see what happens when you press harder or more softly.
  • Do a collaborative art project: Draw different types of animal faces and let your preschooler glue leaves around them to complete the picture. Try a hedgehog, a lion, a shaggy dog, or make up a leaf monster! Older preschoolers may want to draw their own characters.
  • Make a leaf crown: You can use a strip of brown paper cut from a grocery sack as the base; wrap it around your child’s head, and tape it together where it’s comfortably snug. Then help your preschooler glue leaves all around it, however they’d like. Maybe they can make you a matching crown, too!

Pine Cones

  • Pine cones can be turned into fun little critters with some glue and any craft supplies you have laying around – paper and fabric scraps, buttons, beads, pipe cleaners.
  • Pine cones are fun to paint, especially with GLITTER! If you paint a bunch of them, you can string them down from a couple of tied, crossed sticks for a pretty autumn mobile.

Other Ideas

  • Seeds: Collected seeds, acorns, dried flower heads, maple spinners, and other garden or trail remnants can be excellent items for collages and sensory exploration.
  • Sticks: You can use sticks and twigs for string art, which is great for your preschooler’s fine motor skill development. They’ll love wrapping sticks in colorful yarn or ribbon, and older preschoolers can create stick sculptures by tying the corners together and weaving between them.
  • Play dough: Many fall nature items have amazing textures. Try pressing leaves, sticks or pinecones into a batch of homemade play dough. Toss it out when you’re done playing, or bake and paint to turn it into a keepsake!

 

Books to check out:

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins

Tell Me,Tree by Gail Gibbons

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International Orange Shirt Day | September 30

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September 30 marks Orange Shirt Day, a time to acknowledge the effects of residential schools in Canada for Indigenous Peoples and support survivors of the residential school experience. To share our support of Orange Shirt Day, we created a list of children’s and young adult titles sharing perspectives of the residential school experience. In honor of this occasion, be sure to check out the orange lights around downtown Spokane for Orange Shirt Day.

Learn more about Orange Shirt Day here

When I Was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton

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Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton

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A Stranger at Home by Christy Jordan-Fenton (sequel to Fatty Legs)

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When We Were Alone by David Robertson

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Apple: skin to the core by Eric Gansworth

Book

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith

Book

 

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Space Science for Kids: Mars Mission Update

Join us as we begin a new year of Space Science for Kids events starting on Tuesday, October 5, 2021! Our STEM Librarian will guide you through various space topics using books, video, and hands-on learning experiences.

Our October event will be a Mars mission update. This has been an exciting year for Mars! Earth has sent two major missions to the Red Planet to explore its surface.

< Photo from NASA

On February 19, 2021, NASA’s rover, Perseverance, landed without a hitch. Then the helicopter, Ingenuity, took its first flight on Mars. After its successful tests, Ingenuity will help scout the route for Perseverance as it collects rock samples.

Perseverance and Ingenuity were joined on May 14, 2021 by China’s Mars rover, Zhurong, named for the Chinese god of fire.

To learn about these missions, we’ll build paper helicopters to experiment with how to improve lift. We’ll also simulate the core sampling Perseverance is conducting, but instead of rocks, we’ll use candy bars!

Paper Helicopter

Each participant will need:

Candy Core Samples

Each participant will need:

  • 3 Different chocolate covered miniature candy bars such as Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Snickers (consider allergy issues when you choose)
  • 1 Clear straw
  • Scissors

The activity is explained in this video here.

Learn more about the Red Planet using these resources.

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Latinx Heritage Month Book List | 2021

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Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

eBook | Audiobook

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Book | eBook | Audiobook

Book of Lost Saints by Daniel José Older

Book

Dear America: notes of an undocumented citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas

Book | eBook

Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester

Book

House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea

Book

The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú

Book | eBook | Sound Recording

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Book | eBook | Audiobook

Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey through a Country’s Descent into the Darkness by Alfredo Corchado

Book

Ordinary Girls: A Memoir by Jaquira Díaz

Book

The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende

Book | eBook

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Book | eBook | Audiobook

Where We Come From by Oscar Cásares

Book

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Latinx Heritage Month Book List for Kids | 2021

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Picture Books

Gustavo, the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago

Book

Isabel and her Colores Go to School by Alexandra Alessandri

Book

Mi Papi Tiene una Moto by Isabel Quintero

Book (in Spanish) | Book (in English) 

Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez

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¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat! by Raúl the Third

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Middle Grade

Charlie Hernández & the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo

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Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

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The First Rule of Punk Celia C. Pérez

Book | eBook

Merci Suárez Can’t Dance by Meg Medina

Book

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas

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Young Adult

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Book | eBook

Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jenifer De Leon

Book

Fat Chance, Carlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

Book | eBook

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera

Book

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Book | eBook | Audiobook

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Book

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Latinx Heritage Month 2021

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Celebrate Latinx heritage and culture with us! Check out our selection of books and videos to start the celebration and keep it going all year long. Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated nationally between September 15 and October 15.

Events (Register for this event by clicking the link)

September 29 @ 6:30pm: Who’s Who in the Latinx Ethnic Community?

Videos 

How to Make a Spanish Omelette

Traditional Cooking | Making To’äm

Latinas in Mariachi | ¡Yo También soy Mariachi!

Agricultural Labor in the Columbia Basin

Book Recommendations

Book List for Adults 2021

Book List for Kids 2021

Book List for Adults 2020

Book List for Kids 2020

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New Hillyard Library Now Open!

In November 2018, voters approved a $77 million bond to renovate 4 libraries and build 3 new libraries. Hillyard Library is the second library to be completed as part of this multi-year project. On September 2, we opened the brand new Hillyard Library at 4110 N. Cook Street.

The new Hillyard Library includes:

  • Five meeting rooms, including a maker studio
  • A children’s playspace called Mt. Shaw
  • New technology and a custom collection
  • All the friendly staff, computer access, and Seed Library you loved at the old Hillyard Library

All of this is located conveniently on the Shaw Middle School campus. We can’t wait for you to see it.

Hours
The Hillyard Library is currently open temporary hours, Monday-Friday from 10-4. Later this fall, we’ll introduce expanded hours so you can have even more access to the Library.

hillyard

Meeting Space
The new Hillyard Library features five free meeting rooms.
• 1 event space that seats 61
• 1 maker studio that seats 44
• 3 group study rooms, two of the rooms seat 9, one seats 6

You may reserve the meeting room online using your library card number and PIN.

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Mt. Shaw Children’s Playspace
The new Hillyard Library features an innovative and whimsical children’s playspace! Curl up to read a good book and let your imagination soar at Mt. Shaw. The climbing structure is suitable for little ones aged 5-12, and there is a small space for our youngest visitors aged 3 months to 3 years, as well.

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How to Find Us 
Cook Street and the library parking lot are still under construction. To access the Library, we recommend parking in the Northeast Community Center parking lot and walking to the entrance to the Hillyard Library on the north side of the building.

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Spokane Public Library’s Bloomberg Terminal temporarily moved to sp3nw offices in U-District’s Ignite Building

The Spokane Public Library and sp3nw, WSU Health Sciences Spokane’s early-stage life science business incubator, are pleased to announce that sp3nw will host the Spokane Public Library’s Bloomberg Terminal in the Ignite Building at 120 N. Pine St. until the reopening of the Spokane Public Library’s Central Library (reopening date anticipated to occur in spring, 2022).

Additionally, sp3nw will host regular office hours for the Spokane Public Library’s Business Research Librarian, Mark Pond.

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Aligned with the award-winning and expansive set of business research tools available on www.spokanebusiness.org, the Bloomberg Terminal is a unique tool allowing local businesses to glean market intelligence that is difficult to source elsewhere. Bloomberg provides access to an enormous wealth of real-time financial and business information and Spokane Public Library is one of two public libraries in the nation to offer this service. Through a recently awarded EDA grant for building a Flexible Infrastructure for Resilient Entrepreneurship (FIRE), sp3nw is supporting the subscription cost of both the Bloomberg Terminal as well as the Spokane Public Library’s PitchBook subscription.

To book a time to meet with Mark for a business research consultation, click the “Business Consultation with Mark” box here.

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