Library Resumes Mailing Requests to County Residents

Need new books? We have resumed mailing books, movies, and other materials to residents living within the library district!

Request items from our catalog, by emailing info@whitco.lib.wa.us, or by phone at 509-397-4366. Just leave a message if the call isn’t answered and we will get back to you.

Staff are working in the Colfax Library Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., accepting requests and mailing them directly to patrons' homes.

All staff are wearing face masks, gloves, and following recommended health guidelines and materials are being quarantined to keep everyone safe.  For the most current library services and information, visit www.whitco.lib.wa.us, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or call toll-free 877-733-3375.

WCL Director to Retire

Bill Gates visiting with staff in Colfax, 2002

Longtime Whitman County Rural Library Director, Kristie Kirkpatrick, will retire after 33 years with the library district.

In her time at the library, Kirkpatrick has seen a lot of change...Read the retirement announcement here

Even with the uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic, Kirkpatrick is very confident a strong replacement will be found, saying, "A new Director would be privileged to work with such a talented staff and supportive community. I can't speak highly enough of my experiences in service to the residents of Whitman County."

The public announcement coincides with the newly posted job opening

Stream Free Movies with Your Library Card

For a limited time Whitman County Library is offering Kanopy an online movie streaming service

Kanopy allows patrons free access to thousands of movies with their library card, start streaming Kanopy today or try Kanopy Kids!

Whitman County Library and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories announce STEM collaboration for Students

UPDATE: As the first round of Brown Bag STEM kits are delivered to students,  SEL and WCL are thrilled to announce more deliveries are coming soon to Colton, Garfield, LaCrosse, Oakesdale, Palouse, Rosalia and Tekoa  K-6 students.  Thank you SEL for helping us bring STEM learning to all schools in our rural service area!!!  

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Whitman County Library are excited to announce free hands-on Brown Bag Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Kits coming to Colfax, Steptoe, Endicott, and St. John elementary students.  

Brown Bag STEM is a collaboration between Whitman County Library and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories that came together with the common goal of providing a hands-on learning opportunity during this unprecedented time of virtual learning.

SEL has generously granted $1,500 in funds to give over 400 K-6th grade students two Brown Bag STEM Kits filled with materials needed to complete STEM related design challenges and experiments.  

K-3rd grade students will receive “Marble Kit” and “Pencil Kit” that guides them through engineering design challenges like creating a marble run or balancing a pencil.  They will conduct experiments to explore scientific concepts of light refraction, potential, and kinetic energy. 

“Popsicle Stick Kit” and “Straw Kit” will go out to 4-6th grade students asking them to create straw rescue devices and popsicle stick bridges.  Exploration into scientific principles of flight and types of energy created when building a popsicle stick chain reaction.

Each kit will also include a supply of extra materials supplied by Palouse STEAM Coalition’s annual supply drive to encourage students to enhance their designs or create an Art project.

Students will be asked to send in pictures or videos of their creations from kits for a chance to win more STEM fun and a virtual visit from SEL electric-fault-seeking mascot, Radio Ranger.

Kits are being assembled now by WCL staff following recommended CDC guidelines and will be delivered to schools this week. Schools will then distribute to students.

WCL hopes to replicate this project for additional rural Whitman County students in our service area.  If you are interested in supporting this effort, please contact Nichole Kopp.

For more information on this project contact SEL Communications Manager Kate Wilhite, kate_wilhite@selinc.com  or WCL Innovations Librarian Nichole Kopp, nichole@whitco.lib.wa.us .

Stressed? Take Comfort with a Good Book or Escape into a Fictional World with these Recommendations from Librarians

Kathy Buchholtz , Fiction Acquisitions, thinks "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman is wonderful, comforting read

Kathy said, "This book takes you from tears to laughter and back. A sweet read."

She went on to say "I absolutely loved this book. I listened to it on Libby, completely under the spell of the narrator Jenna Lamia's Southern accent. The draw of the South, a different time, a different place and a wonderfully unique family all came together to create the perfect escape. This read is full of heart, laughter and a few tears. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is available in both eaudio and ebook formats."

Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom

"Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.

In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.

Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others." (Summary from Libby)

Rachelle Marshall, Non-Fiction & Film Acquisitions, shares a list of recent favorites to get your mind off everything!

• Daughter of Moloka'i by Alen Brennert 
• A Man Called Ove & My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
• Big Little Lies & The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
• The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
• The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
• The Killing Series by Bill O’Reilly
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 
• Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 
• Hitler’s Hangman: The Life of Heydrich by Robert Gerwarth
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
• The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
• The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
• The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
• As You Wish by Cary Elwes
• The War That Saved My Life & The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Juvenile Books)

Amy Ferguson, Albion & Colfax Librarian has unique recommendations from classics to fantasy to Young Adult!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë "I was exploring Libby and noticed Jane Eyre was available for download! I recommend it! I freaking love it and have read it multiple times over the years."

"A great early example of feminist literature, a love story and creepy Gothic novel all in one! What more do you need?!?"

Amy highly recommends anything by Garth Nix, especially The Abhorsen Series by Garth Nix (Book #1 is Sabriel).

"The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud (Book #1 is Amulet of Samarkand) is also an excellent Juvenile/Young Adult series and the character Bartimaeus' commentary will be sure to make you laugh."

"Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison is the first book in a series that is seriously one of the funniest series I've ever read."Laugh out loud funny!"

"Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness was also great. If you're a fan of the new Queer Eye reboot on Netflix, get to know one of the hosts, Jonathan, as he relates his life story with humor, heart and his own unique voice. You'll feel like you're sitting at your kitchen table over drinks talking to your new best friend, Jonathan, as he tells you all about his life and how he became the person he is today." Adult Content.

Start Downloading Books in 30 Seconds or Less

**If you have a Whitman County Library card, you are already set up for downloadable books, but if you know someone who doesn't have one please share this information with them:**

Washington Anytime Library is happy to announce Instant Digital Card service is now available for OverDrive and Libby through June 30.

At that time we encourage Instant Digital Card users to sign up for a library card to continue accessing Washington Anytime Library and the amazing other services the library has to offer.

Get started today on OverDrive or download the Libby App

To see specific step-by-step directions, click here

For more information, contact Nichole Kopp, WCL Teen Librarian/Youth Services Assistant & eBook Acquisitions at 509-397-4366 or nichole@whitco.lib.wa.us

The McGregor Company – Whitman County Library – Colfax School District: A Collaborative Community Effort to Protect Our Healthcare Workers

Thank you Colfax Schools! Recently, they added three more 3D printers to the local production of face shields for Whitman Hospital, greatly increasing the speed of production by Chris Hille of The McGregor Company in partnership with Whitman County Library.

So far, about 35 face shields have been delivered to Whitman Hospital and 12 to LaDow Court Assisted Living in Garfield.

Colfax School District's 3D printers in action

The Colfax School District's Superintendent, Jerry Pugh, brought three 3D printers to McGregor's facility last Friday. There are now five printers in production!

The face shield is made of four components and two are 3D printed. These are the upper headband and the lower bottom support, pictured below. Then there are the clear plastic shield and the elastic band.

Library Trivia Contests Come to Facebook Live this Thursday and More!

Trivia on Facebook Live Every Thursday

Due to stay at home orders, Whitman County Library Trivia Contests are moving online. Every Thursday at 5:30 p.m., enthusiasts can visit the library’s Facebook page to participate in the competition. Long time trivia host Sarah Phelan will present an abridged contest of 5 questions, with topics ranging from historical and scientific, to literary facts and fun.

Book Club on April 27, What Are You Reading?

The library’s popular book club is also moving online. The next meeting is set for Monday, April 27 at 5:30 p.m. on Facebook Messenger Video Chat.  Participants will each discuss what they are reading now and also, provide recommendations for each other. To join the conversation, email sarahp@whitco.lib.wa.us or give her a call at 509-397-4366 and she will add you to the Club.

More Free Online Resources from WCL

To learn more about these valuable programs, visit www.whitco.lib.wa.us where you can access a wide variety of services including Lynda Online Tutoring, which offers over 12,000 courses in subjects like coding, website building, photography, etc., and Libby, which offers thousands of eBooks and eAudiobooks at your fingertips.

WCL Branch Managers Share their eBook & eAudio Picks for You to Read at Home

Rita Ackerman, Farmington Library Branch Manager, shares a list of recent favorites for you to enjoy at home!

• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
• Latte Trouble, A Coffeehouse Mystery by Cleo Coyle
• The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes
• The Flights Girls by Noelle Salazar
• The Banker’s Wife by Cristina Alger
• Girls Like Us by Christina Alger
• The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel
• Mercy House by Alena Dillon
• A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
• The Guardians by John Grisham
• If You Were Here by Alafair Burke
• A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
• The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

Holly Meyer, Colton & Uniontown Library Branch Manager, Recommends The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley

Awhile back, Holly listened to the eAudiobook, "The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope" by Rhonda Riley and really enjoyed it. She shared these two Amazon reviews that she said describe it perfectly: “Enhanced by gorgeous depictions, it evokes the wonder of being alive, of loving, of finding one’s home. By the end, it feels like you have truly listened in on a life" and“Folkloric elements blend with pure romance in Rhonda Riley’s startling The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, a debut novel that raises questions about how well we ever know our loved ones--and whether it even matters." Holly said she spent a lot of time trying to figure out how it was going to end, and she wasn't disappointed!

Tia Anderson Langston, Endicott Library Branch Manager, Recommends Two Recent Reads to Ease Your Quarantine

Tia says, "I just finished two good books...Well, one good book and one great book! The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer was good, but Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom was great; I would really recommend it. I loved it!

WCL 3D Prints Face Shields

Whitman County Library 3D Prints Face Shields for Whitman Hospital

WCL is excited to lend our 3D printer to the efforts of Chris Hille and the McGregor Company who are producing face shields for Whitman Hospital & Medical Center.

Special thanks to the Innovia Foundation for funding the library printer which is working in tandem with the McGregor Company printer.


For more information on the technical details of this project, please email WCL's Systems Administrator, James Morasch at james@whitco.lib.wa.us or McGregor employee, Christian Hille at chris@mcgregor.com

Got Some Free Time, Learn a New Language!

All you need is a Whitman County Library card! FREE 24/7 Access to Mango Languages on any device: laptop, tablet, or a smartphone

More than 70 languages!

With just your library card, you now have 24/7 access to over 70 world language courses and 20 ESL (English as a second language) courses through Mango Languages.

Mango is especially useful right now as many high school and college students are unable to attend their regular language classes. More than that, it is enjoyable for almost any age, from school age children to adults. It is a perfect way to keep learning at home!

Mango makes learning a new language fun, easy, and incredibly effective. Featuring engaging lessons, Mango uses cutting-edge methods to make sure the new knowledge sticks.

Courses are conversational and self-paced. Each lesson covers pronunciation, grammar, cultural insights, vocabulary, and use native speaker audio.

Access Mango Languages for free, 24/7 on a computer, tablet, or a smartphone. If you do not have access to Wi-Fi, all 14 Whitman County Library branches offer Wi-Fi outside their building. Please stay in your vehicle or practice safe social distancing.

Access Mango Languages at www.whitco.lib.wa.us, under “Library Resources,” then “Electronic Resources” or download Mango Languages' mobile app. For additional information, please contact Sarah Phelan at sarahp@whitco.lib.wa.us.

Courses cover pronunciation, fun facts, vocabulary, and use native speaker audio



To access Mango for FREE with your library card, click here or download Mango Languages' app from your app store.

Take the Quiz to find out what language fits your personality best! Learn more about Mango

Thank You to Our Healthcare Workers

THANK YOU to our local health care professionals for their service in the current crisis and in the past

Photo: St. Ignatius Hospital nurses in Colfax, WA, 1920. Lenora Harvey & Sabrina Schweiger and three other nurses standing in the front yard of their dormitory residence.

This photo is courtesy of the private collection of Della Evans and the library's Whitman County Heritage Collection, see more historical photos

Bring Your Kids to Digital Storytime!

Just because your family is at home, doesn't mean they can't enjoy to fun and learning at Storytime! Click here to see our free online children's resources, including online storytimes, such as TumbleBooks or Storyline Online.

Check Out TumbleBooks for Storytime, Puzzles, Games, Read Alongs & More  

TumbleBooks' databases are easy to use and feature unlimited access from home! You can read as many books as you want, when you want, and on any device. There are no checkouts, holds, or downloads. Books are available instantly! Books and activities for kids, teens, and adults. Click here to try it today!

• TumbleBookLibrary - K-6 children's eBook database
• TumbleMath - K-6 math eBook database
• TeenBookCloud - 7-12 eBook database
• And much, much more!

eBook & eAudio Isolation Recommendations

Colfax & St. John librarian, Hannah Shepherd has a romance rec for you!

"If someone wants a heart-warming, contemporary romance that gets a bit steamy, try "Love Lettering" by Kate Clayborn. So cute!"

Technology Librarian, Nichole Kopp. just read "The Unhoneymooners" by Christina Lauren and thought anyone looking for a fun, romantic comedy might enjoy this ebook or eaudiobook.

"Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion...she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.

Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.

Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is...Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.

With Christina Lauren’s “uniquely hilarious and touching voice” (Entertainment Weekly), The Unhoneymooners is a romance for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love." (Summary from Amazon.com)

Colfax librarian, Sarah Phelan, highly recommends the ebook or eaudiobook "Educated" by Tara Westover for those bored at home.

She said it is a "completely captivating, unforgettable true story of a survivalist family in Idaho and a daughter's quest for knowledge and the freedom that comes with it. You will find yourself indignant and inspired at the same time."

For Accidental Homeschoolers...

Whitman County Library can link you to many FREE online learning, such as education.com, which facilitates at-home-learning for PreK through 5th grade, including Word Study, Math, Reading, & Writing!

Or Starfall, a wonderful reading site that preschoolers & elementary age children will love. Lots of interactive stories and phonics building activities.

Or Science Made Simple, for wild and wacky wonders!Science Made Simple offers loads of answers and east at-home experiments with clear scientific explanations.

Or Scholastic's Learn-At-Home offering day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing!

WCL offers tons of educational and fun sites for kids to learn at home, click here

Library is Closed, but Books are Always Available

Download Books with Washington Anytime Library!

During our closure, take advantage of FREE ebooks and audiobooks 24/7 with Libby or OverDrive! Learn how with this instructional video or read more about Whitman County Library's downloadable books. Need additional assistance?

If you can't find your library card number or need assistance, just email info@whitco.lib.wa.us and we will answer your questions!