Zina @ Lake Forest Park Archive.

Non-fiction. It brings to mind strings of decimal numbers that seem to make no sense. For example, you know you want to find books about building a sea kayak from scratch, but you're not sure where a book like that would be. 

Ever dream of being your own boss? Do you have a product or skill that is marketable and in demand? Ever wondered how you could start your own franchise of a national chain? Starting your own business can be a daunting task. It takes lots of planning and research to get a business off the ground and in the black. Fortunately, the library has done some of the preliminary work for you by collecting many website resources to help you chase that dream.

From the main page of our website, click Websites, Websites for Jobs and Careers, and finally, Starting Your Own Business. The resources are grouped under the following categories:

• Doing Business in Washington
• Locate Funding
• Guidance Advice
• Marketing Your Business
• Tax Information

Some of the things you'll find are statistics that are useful in determining your target market, agencies that will give one on one counseling (for free!), and links to tax information.

If you are really adventuresome, and thinking of relocating to begin your business, check out our database:  SimplyMap.  You can check where there are similar businesses in the area, days of sunshine per year and a myriad of other factors that can help you zero in on the best location.  Be sure to start with the online tutorial first!

Recycling and re-purposing has stealthily become one of my obsessions. Luckily for me and other like-minded folks, the greater Seattle area boasts nearly as many thrift stores, flea markets, and swap meets as it does coffee stands. Maybe you set out to find something specific, like a lamp for your desk, or an outfit to wear to work, but one can never underestimate the happy possibility of laying hands on a treasure that cannot be resisted. Like the old blue birdcage a friend picked up for a song the other day. It merely needed a little extra help to reach its full reusable potential as a porch decoration filled with lush ferns.

One of my favorite stores, The Salvage Studio, is filled with creative uses of good junk and I always get great ideas for using things that I already have (and sometimes don't have). But you don't have to go to their store, because the owners Amy Duncan, Beth Evans-Ramos, and Lisa Hilderbrand, have written a book:
The Salvage Studio: sustainable home comforts to organize, entertain, and inspire.

These ladies are masters of staging gorgeous vignettes. This book is on order for KCLS and due out this fall. While you wait, here are some other titles to try:

Restoration Home

Flea Market Style:  ideas & projects for your world

Creating Vintage Style