Darcy @ Bellevue Archive.

Come to the Bellevue Library November 14th, 2pm to learn from Mary Jane Beaufrand, teen author.  MJ will give us the basics on what makes a character memorable. Get some tips to make your fictional characters deeper and well rounded. After all, zombies have feelings too. Beaufrand is the author of Primavera, a young adult novel.

Space is limited so please register online or call the Bellevue library at 425-450-1765. 

This event is for students in grades 6-12.

Sponsored by the Bellevue Friends of the Library

  Seriously. Is anyone else tired of the vampire craze?  Are you ready to move on to the next best thing? Zombies!

Author Kevin Emerson (Oliver Nocturne series, Carlos is Gonna Get It), will lead a writing workshop for teens in grades 8-12.  This two-hour workshop help you create savory characters, insert them into a creepy story then we'll release the fiends! Zombies swarming up from the sod, vampires from moldy crypts, ghouls and poltergeists from the mist itself! How will your characters survive? What will they do? Are these creatures a metaphor, or what? Chills, thrills and tons of writing guaranteed.

Bellevue Regional Library October 17, 2-4 pm

Registration is required. Register online at kcls.org.

Savvy teachers and parents always seem to know the perfect databases to use for particular assignments or upcoming library programs that will benefit their students.  Have you ever wondered where they learned of these events months in advance?  Chances are good these teachers are receiving eNews, a newsletter written for the primary and secondary education levels.

The KCLS eNews is a bi-monthly newsletter that covers a homework website and a featured database as well as system-wide and local events such as author appearances and writing workshops.  If you are a local educator and would like to receive eNews please contact your local teen or children's librarian. 

Sanborn maps have been around for over a century - large scale plans of cities and towns created for the use of fire insurance companies to assess the risk of insuring specific properties.  KCLS has made these available for many years.  But you had to travel to Bellevue and fire up the microfilm reader...

Put Your Microfilm Away

Maybe you've used Sanborn Maps to chart the growth of cities in the larger Seattle area.  Maybe you've been tracing your family history, looking for a rare piece of property information.

And now you can do it online.  Visit Sanborn Maps through kcls.org and find more cities (all of Washington State) and more details to browse and print.  

Visit us in any of our libraries or search from home for textual information on building materials used, plot measurements, building use and, more broadly, a fascinating collection of what once was.

Students are back in school and reference desks across the system have been busy. Often when students are working on their History Day projects they need to cite primary sources.

The definition of a primary source sometimes loses something in the translation when passed from teacher to student to parent. UCLA gives a great list of examples with a definition of primary sources. When students are told to use a primary source they seem confused or frustrated when we try to show them to the Primary Sources database page. They are expecting a crumbling stack of newspapers from the Civil War or recordings of FDR's Fireside Chats.

Many of these items are accessible through our databases, books or microfilm. As a teen services librarian, I am often educating patrons that databases are not websites. They are merely electronic forms of our print based materials.  Our databases page gives a subject list for students to choose proper databases.  Our newest subject area is Primary Sources.  From sources such as the New York Times Historical Backfile students will be able to read the New York Times as it appeared the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed or see actual scanned treaty documents from the American Indian History and Culture database.

Encourage your students to take advantage of these rich resources. 

As a teen, my summers were filled with good books, lazy days and sleeping in until noon.  Those three months flew by too quickly and by the end of August I was stressing out about the math equations I knew I wouldn't understand and those wretched French Verbs that would twist my tongue in knots.

This seems like a good place to segue into a program for teens ages 12-18 called Twisted Yoga.  This is your last chance for relaxation before hitting the books in September. These workshops will be taught by certified instructor Gina Hagger.  They will be held at the Lake Hills Library on Saturday, August 9th, 10:30-12:00 and Bellevue Regional Library on Saturday, August 23rd 10:30-12:00.  Mats and props will be provided.  Come and relax!