Thursday, July 31, 2008

City of Redmond: Pedestrian Program Plan

Pedestrian Program Plan The intent of the pedestrian portion of the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) is to create design guidelines for increasing pedestrian friendliness. With greater numbers of Redmond residents walking regularly, pedestrian friendliness becomes an important part of overall city design. The pedestrian portion of the TMP, which details many characteristics of walking environments, is now available online as the Pedestrian Program Plan.

Classifying Walking Environments
The Pedestrian Program Plan classifies walking environments according to the degree of pedestrian friendliness:

Pedestrian Place
These are areas where people gather, such as outdoor seating, a water feature, or pedestrian-oriented shopping.
Pedestrian Supportive
These are safe environments for walking, where sidewalks are continuous and buffered from the street.
Pedestrian Tolerant
These are areas and corridors where walking is technically safe, but land use patterns discourage walking.
Pedestrian Intolerant
These are areas where walking is unsafe and unattractive, such as near freeway corridors, industrial, or undeveloped areas.

Degrees of pedestrian friendliness

Sidewalk Design
The design of sidewalks has a direct impact on pedestrian friendliness. Buffers, sidewalk width, and setback of adjacent land all impact the level of pedestrian friendliness:

Elements of sidewalk design

Through the use of policies that impact street, sidewalk, and setback designs, the City of Redmond will systematically work to eliminate all Pedestrian Intolerant environments within public street rights-of-way. The goal is to create Pedestrian Supportive infrastructure wherever practical and feasible.

Other Blog Postings on Community Studies
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on community studies:

Engage: Redmond Library 2009 Community Study
Communities Count 2008: Social & Health Indicators Across King County
Sound Transit’s Plans for Redmond
Redmond Community Indicators 2008

Redmond Library Board

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Redmond Library Book Clubs

The Redmond Library will host several book club meetings during the month of August. For general information on book clubs, see the KCLS Book Club Resources page.

Redmond Book Group — Evening Session, August 7
Forgetfulness by Ward JustThe featured book is Forgetfullness by Ward Just. Forgetfullness is Ward’s fifteenth novel. His previous literary accomplishments include Echo House, a National Book Award finalist, and An Unfinished Season, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Forgetfulness is a thoughtful novel intertwining questions of justice, mercy, friendship, and patriotism into a strong and meaningful story.

The book group starts at 7:30pm. Newcomers and one-time attendance is welcome

Sustainable Futures Book Club — August 13
A Walk Through TimeThe Sustainable Futures Book Club is a monthly meeting for those who are concerned with issues relating to the environment and sustainability. Each month the group centers their conversation around a single book, author, or topic. In August the group will discuss any book by Brian Swimme (including A Walk Through Time, co-authored by Swimme.)

The book group starts at 7:00pm. Newcomers welcome!

Redmond Book Group — Morning Session, August 14
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla GibbThe featured book is Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb. Sweetness in the Belly is the story of what happens to a young Irish girl abandoned in Morocco when she loses her parents. Alone in the world, her search for home and family takes her down some surprising paths.

The book group starts at 10:00am. Newcomers and one-time attendance is welcome

Schedule of Events For more information on book club meetings and other events, see the Redmond Library Schedule of Events.

Monday, July 28, 2008

King County Bike Trails: Sammamish River Trail

Sammamish River Trail sign The Sammamish River Trail runs 10.9 miles along the Sammamish River from Marymoor Park in Redmond to Bothell as part of the Locks to Lakes Corridor. The Sammamish River Trail is paved its entire length and is one of King County’s most popular regional trails. The trail offers extraordinary views of the river, the broad Sammamish River Valley, Cascade foothills, and Mt. Rainier.

The Sammamish River Trail Map (16MB .pdf) provides locations of parking lots, restrooms, and other useful information. You can find trail maps on King County's new interactive Bike Map, or the new Mobile Bike Map (updated May 2012).

At Bothell’s Blyth Park, the Sammamish River Trail changes to the Burke-Gilman Trail and continues onward to Seattle. The pedestrian bridge at Bothell Landing is one of the scenic sights along the way.

Bothell Landing bridge

Bothell Landing
Besides a parking lot, restrooms, and a children’s play area, Bothell Landing has several other features for outdoor enthusiasts. The kayak/canoe launch near the parking lot is a great place to start a paddling trip along the river.

Bothell Landing boat launch

The Bothell Landing boardwalk trail, which is also near the parking lot, is a great place to view the lush greenery of the Sammamish River corridor.

Bothell Landing boardwalk

Exploring Downtown Bothell
Bothell’s quaint Main Street is a couple of blocks from Bothell Landing, and makes for a pleasant side trip. Just off Main Street (18100 block of 101st Ave NE), you can find a series of murals illustrating the town’s past:

Bothell Mural: river boat (click for larger view)

For more info, see Historic Murals: A Walk Along Bothell’s Past.

Other Blog Postings on Trails
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on regional trails:

Marymoor Connector Trail Partly Open
The Tolt Pipeline Trail
Snohomish County Bike Trails: Centennial Trail
King County Bike Trail Maps

Redmond Library Board

Sunday, July 27, 2008

UW Library Exhibit: Russian Architecture in Photographs

Russian Orthodox ChurchNow through August 10th, the Allen Library at the University of Washington is presenting a photographic exhibit of Russian architecture. This selection of color photographic views of noteworthy Russian buildings from the 12th to the 21st centuries were taken by North America's leading expert on Russian architecture, Prof. William Brumfield of Tulane University. The photographs include text commentary provided by UW Libraries.

Click here for a map showing the location of the Allen Library. The exhibit is on the 1st floor balcony.

Online Collection
The William C. Brumfield Russian Architecture Collection is a collaboration between the University of Washington Libraries and William Brumfield to digitize and catalog his photographs of Russian architecture for preservation and study. Russian Orthodox Church interiorProfessor Brumfield's work documents the history of Russian architecture, primarily but not exclusively ecclesiastical, through color and black-and-white photographs made over the last thirty three years.

About Professor Brumfield
A professor of Slavic studies at Tulane University in New Orleans and North America’s leading expert on Russian architecture, William C. Brumfield has photographed noteworthy buildings in hundreds of cities and towns throughout Russia in a career that spans four decades, amassing a collection that numbers 110,000 images and continues to grow.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Meet the Author: J. A. Jance

Damage ControlBestselling author J.A. Jance discusses her latest work, Damage Control, at two KCLS branch libraries: Wednesday, July 23rd, 2pm at the Bellevue Library, and Tuesday, August 19th, 7pm at the Covington Library.

About J. A. Jance
Perennially on the NY Times bestseller list and with millions of books in print, J.A. Jance was born in South Dakota and grew up in Bisbee, Arizona. She was a voracious reader. Always drawn to mysteries, from Nancy Drew right through John D. McDonald's Travis Magee, it was only natural that when she tried her hand at writing her first book, it would be a mystery as well.

J A Jance Web site Ms. Jance graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in English and Secondary education and an M.Ed in Library Science. In 2000, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters.

Justice Denied After teaching in high school English in Tucson for two and working as a K-12 librarian on an Indian reservation for five, she went on to spend the next ten years in the life insurance industry before finally turning her hand to writing full time in the early 1980s.

She's the author of 38 published mysteries, including her latest book, Damage Control. She and her husband split their times between homes in Washington State and Arizona.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Catch the Reading Bug at the Redmond Library!

Catch the Reading Bug Catch the Reading Bug is the theme for the 2008 Summer Reading Programs at King County Library System. All 43 KCLS community libraries, including the Redmond Library, will host bug-themed programs, activities, books and adventures in three age-based programs:
  Pre-schoolers can participate with their parents in a special pre-reading activity game.
  Kids have a full array of programs and events to accompany their reading, and prizes for reaching their reading goal.
  For teens, KCLS has a Summer version of the popular Read Three, Get one Free reading program with books for prizes.

Redmond Library Programs 
For more information about Redmond Library summer programs, see the Redmond Library Schedule of Events. Here are some upcoming programs at the Redmond Library:

La Cucaracha  7/21/08 at 2:00 PM
Hear stories and songs about spiders, butterflies, mosquitoes and, of course, cockroaches! This Spanish/English program introduces basic Spanish language skills in a fun and engaging way.
Thumbelina  7/25/08 at 2:00 PM
Thumbelina is no bigger than a bug. Colorful shadow puppets with live music played on electric guitar and hammer dulcimer tell the story of the original flower child.
Waiter, There's a Fly in My Song!  8/5/08 at 2:00 PM
Meet Sticky the Fly for a musty, moldy and very musical game of Old Fish. Silly songs, six-legged stories, puppets and props make for a high-participation sing-along, dance-along music concert.
Meet the Beetles!  8/15/08 at 2:00 PM
A group of beetle friends dream about becoming rock stars. This story is brought to life with colorful puppets and original songs.

Reading Bug Art 
Reading Bug art workThe Reading Bugs are created by illustrator and cartoonist Harry Bliss, a cartoonist and cover artist for New Yorker Magazine. Downloadable bug graphics are available for use in media stories about the KCLS Summer Reading Program. More about Harry Bliss.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Redmond Travel: Metro Online Services

Metro online logoThe Metro transit system for King County provides a number of Web-based tools that make it easy to plan your transportation needs. In addition to timetables and route maps, you can use the Trip Planner to determine custom details for a specific itinerary. In addition, you can use the Rideshare services, such as Ridematch, to find carpool and vanpool partners.

Tracker
One of the newest of Metro’s online tools is Tracker, which provides real-time bus information for a specific time interval or geographic location. Unlike traditional bus schedules, Tracker lets you see and track the actual status of your bus, so you know when your ride is really coming.

When you launch Tracker’s Map View, select the location of interest by clicking Maps from the main menu, and then Select PreNamed Location. To center the map on downtown Redmond, select Redmond as the Category and 164th Ave NE/NE Redmond Way as the Location. The map that is displayed contains all the physical locations of the buses in the view area. In this case, the 221, 248, and 545 buses are all within the downtown Redmond area.

Metro Tracker Map View

To find more information for a specific bus, click the bus number, which displays a popup menu:

Metro Tracker Map View closeup

By clicking the progress for a specific bus, a graphical representation of the route for the specific bus is displayed.

Metro Tracker progress

You can even set an alarm anywhere along the bus route to alert you when you need to be at a particular bus stop.

Redmond Bus Service
For a list of Metro buses that provide service for Redmond, click here. You can also pick up printed copies of current Metro schedule information in the lobby of the Redmond Library.

Metro_schedules

Thursday, July 17, 2008

King County Bike Trail Maps

The King County Bicycling Resources Web site provides a wealth of content on bicycing-related information. One of its useful features is the interactive King County Bicycling Guidemap, which provides detailed maps of the major paved surface trails in the King County area. You can also download PDF files of the map.

In the map shown below, you can see portions of the Green River Trail and the Interurban Trail. While the Green River Trail follows the meandering path of the river, the Interurban Trail parallels a BNSF railroad line and takes you through the industrial heart of the Kent and Auburn valleys. The bike trail maps include parking areas and restroom facilities along the route.

King County biking map

The King County Bicycling Resources Web site also provides links to other regional trails systems in the area, such as the Snohomish County Bikes FAQ.

King County Regional Trail System
KCLS logoThe King County Regional Trail System contains over 175 miles of trails for bicycling, hiking, walking, and horseback riding. The trail system covers an area from Bothell to Auburn, and from Seattle to the Cascades. King County is actively planning and developing a planned network of regional trails totaling more than 300 miles in length. Some of the existing trails, such as the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail, are primarily non-paved and travel through rolling countryside.

One of the most spectacular regional trails is the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. This rails-to-trails path runs from Duvall to North Bend, and connects up with the Iron Horse Trail in North Bend. The trail winds through farmland and verdant countryside, and crosses several railroad trestle bridges that have been converted for biking. In addition to seeing wildlife along the trail, you can stop and look at the emus in their pen at Remlinger Farms in Carnation.

Snoqualmie Valley bike trail

Other Blog Postings on Bicycling
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on bicycling:
Marymoor Connector Trail Partly Open
Marymoor Park: Friday Night Track Racing
Snohomish County Bike Trails: Centennial Trail
King County Bike Trails: Sammamish River Trail

Redmond Library Board

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Redmond Library Video Filming Event

Video Book Review ContestThe Redmond Library will host a video filming event for teens on Friday, July 18th from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. You can use the library’s camera for filming and a laptop for editing so you can create an entry for the KCLS Read.Flip.Win video book review contest. You must sign-up in advance to use the camera and laptop. For more information contact Amanda, Teen Services Librarian, or call 425-885-1861.

Read.Flip.Win
Flip Ultra Video CameraThe Read.Flip.Win video book review contest is open to teens 13 to 18 years old. Shoot a short video (up to 3 minutes long) and post it to your YouTube account. Click here for more details. The grand prize winner of the contest will win a Flip Ultra Video Camera! Runner-up prizes are Creative MP3 Players. The contest runs through July, so please enter videos anytime between July 1 and July 31, 2008. Winners will be announced in August.

City of the Beasts Video Book Review
Here’s a video contest entry that has been uploaded to YouTube that features a book review on Isabel Allende’s City of the Beasts:

Monday, July 14, 2008

Redmond Library Event: Thumbelina

Thumbelina, a shadow puppet production by the Oregon Shadow Theatre, will be performed at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 25th at the Redmond Library. This performance is open to children ages 4 and older. Free tickets are available at the Redmond Library Information Desk 1/2 hour before the performance. This performance is sponsored by the Friends of the Redmond Library.

ThumbelinaThumbelina born from a flower
Thumbelina is one of Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen's most delightful characters, a miniature girl born from a flower who has to find her own way in the world of nature. In this Oregon Shadow Theatre production, Thumbelina journeys through a series of natural habitats to discover her home in the land of the flower fairies. Through the seasons of the year, Thumbelina has adventures with frogs in a pond, flying beetles in a tree, a swallow in the woods, a mouse in a field, and a mole in his underground home.

Oregon Shadow Theatre
Sinbad and the CyclopsOregon Shadow Theatre is a Portland, Oregon based company specializing in the ancient art of shadow puppetry. Oregon Shadow Theatre is a collaboration of shadow puppeteer Deb Chase and musician and actor Mick Doherty. OST productions are noted for exquisite, colorful puppets, live music and sound effects, and lively good humor.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

infoGreen: Green information in the KCLS collection

infoGreen posterThe infoGreen program provides links to green, or environmentally friendly, information in the KCLS collection, including books, periodicals, and video resources. There are also lists of recommended Web sites, as well as links to KCLS book clubs that address green issues. In addition to providing green information, KCLS is taking steps towards building to green standards. For example, the new Sammamish Library is being designed with green features, such as a partial green roof and radiant heating.

Architecture : Nature
Architecture : NatureOne of the recommended books in the KCLS infoGreen program is Architecture : Nature. This book by Philip Jodidio explores the relationship between contemporary architecture and nature. From Frank Lloyd Wright's residential house Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania to the Miho Museum in Japan built by I.M. Pei, Jodidio demonstrates the many forms that the interplay between built structures and their environment can take.

The following image from the Miho Museum illustrates the interplay between structures and their environment:

Miho Museum

Other Blog Postings on Environmental Topics
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on environmental topics:
King County EcoConsumer: Educating the Public About Conservation
KCLS Offers Eco-Friendly Bags
An online guide to noxious weeds in King County

Redmond Library Board

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Washington Trends: Population growth

Washington TrendsThe Washington Trends section of the Office of Financial Management Web site provides a wealth of demographic information for Washington state. The statistics on population growth are of particular interest, since Washington state continues to increase in population.

Population Change
The following map shows the percentage changes in population in Washington state counties from 1980 to 2000, and is based on U.S. Census Bureau data:

Population change - 1980 to 2000

Population growth is comprised of two major components — natural increase and net migration. In the early 1990s, the poor economic climate in California resulted in over 400,000 persons migrating out of state. Many of these people moved to Washington state, which accounts for a large spike in population growth during the 1990s, as shown in the following chart:

Population Change and Net Migration

For more information on Washington state population statistics, see Population in Washington Trends.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Turning the Pages: Masterpieces of the British Library online

British Library logo The British Library holds a copy of every book ever published in the UK, including some of the most priceless literary treasures in existence, such as the Codex Sinaiticus — one of the oldest versions of the New Testament. However, not everyone can get to the library in London to read these books.

To provide public access to these literary treasures, the British Library has digitized the pages of 15 of their most valuable works. This collection, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, is now available online to the public as the Turning the Pages online gallery. By simply downloading an Adobe Shockwave plugin, or using other technology, you gain access to a world of interactivity.

Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels, one of the most magnificent manuscripts of the early Middle Ages, was written and decorated by the monk Eadfrith at the end of the 7th century. The book was decorated with jewels and precious metals later in the 8th century by Billfrith the Anchorite. The translation of the Latin text of the Gospels is the earliest surviving example of Gospel text in any form of the English language.

Turning the pages
Once the book is downloaded onto your computer you can turn the book’s pages by clicking on a page and dragging it across the book.

Turning the pages

Magnifying content on the pages
Many of the books in the Turning the Pages collection have magnificent complex illustrations that you can only really appreciate when you see the detail. You can use the magnifying window to examine the detail on any page.

Magnifying the content

Thursday, July 3, 2008

One Book 2008: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian The 2008 One Book, One Redmond, One Summer reading celebration is coordinated by the Redmond Library. This year's selection is the 2007 National Book Award Winner in Young People's Literature, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. Based on the author’s own experiences, this heartbreaking yet funny story chronicles the adolescence of one contemporary Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he seems destined to live.

About the author
Sherman Alexie An award-winning author, poet, and filmmaker, Sherman Alexie was named one of GRANTA’s Best Young American Novelists and has been lauded by the Boston Globe as “an important voice in American literature.” One of the most well-known and beloved literary writers of his generation, his works of fiction, including Reservation Blues and short story collections Ten Little Indians and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, have received numerous awards and citations. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is his first novel for young adults. He lives in Seattle.

One Book events
One Book quote The Redmond Library will be announcing a series of events related to the 2008 One Book reading celebration. These events include a visit by Ellen Forney, who illustrated The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. For more information on 2008 One Book, visit Friends of the Redmond Library.