Blog @ Spokane Public Library

Join us for the next Lilac City Live! on March 15th. A “late night” talk show featuring local Spokane talent at the Downtown Library — Drinks! Music! Authors! Artists! Comedians! It’s guaranteed to be a fun time. And it’s a great opportunity to see some awesome Spokane talent for free.

March 15th
7 PM, no-host bar featuring Black Label Brewing Company (all proceeds benefit Spokane Public Library Foundation)
8 PM, late night talk show-style show

Hosted by Ryan Dean Tucker

Guests

Kris Crocker
KXLY News Chief Meteorologist Kris Crocker reports weather forecasts for the Inland Northwest every weeknight at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. (Source: https://www.kxly.com/meet-the-team/kris-crocker/136593626)

Summer in Siberia
Summer In Siberia originally started as Justin Hynes’ solo project in 2007, but soon grew into a full band for live shows. Their debut album in 2012 “crams together 80’s new wave and 21st century alt-pop, and the result sounds something like a swaggering guitar-rock band digitized and blasted into the bleep-bloop future. The songs? Catchy. Always” -The Inlander

The group was re-energized and took on new dimensions when it reformed in 2016. Summer In Siberia now consists of Hynes (keys/vocals), Alex Brandt (keys/guitar), Eric Shears (bass), and Travis Hurley (drums/electronic percussion). Their current sound combines new wave and experimental electro-pop sounds with heavy hitting yet danceable drums and captivating vocals. Their renowned high-energy live shows engage the crowd, getting them on their feet and dancing like an extra on Footloose. (Source: https://summerinsiberia.bandcamp.com/.)

Jessie Hynes 

Jessie Hynes is our guest artist for the evening.

Austin Langley

Austin Langley is our guest comedian for the evening.

Join us at Spokane Public Library for Black History Month to celebrate and learn about the achievements and challenges, past and present, of African Americans. We have something for everyone including a variety of educational programs, poetry, artists featured at each branch and special themed Storytimes.

Black History Month Schedule of Events

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join us for the next Lilac City Live! on February 15th. A “late night” talk show featuring local Spokane talent at the Downtown Library — Drinks! Music! Authors! Artists! Comedians! It’s guaranteed to be a fun time. And it’s a great opportunity to see some awesome Spokane talent for free.

February 15th
7 PM, no-host bar featuring No-Li Brewhouse (all proceeds benefit Spokane Public Library Foundation)
8 PM, late night talk show-style show

Hosted by Ryan Dean Tucker

Guests
Kris Dinnison
Dinnison grew up reading weird books and listening to weird music and thinking she was weird, which she kind of was. She spent nearly two decades as a teacher and librarian while dreaming of becoming a writer. Her work has appeared in One Teen Story, The London Journal of Fiction, HelloGiggles, YARN, The Inlander and The Spokesman Review, among others. Her first novel, You and Me and Him, came out in 2015 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She lives and writes in Spokane, Washington. When she’s not writing she likes to read, hike, and binge-watch TV. (Source: krisdinnison,net)

 

Folkinception
Folkinception’s musical roots rise from the great American folk tradition and extend far into the realm of Americana and Rock n Roll. The band has been praised for their ability to “build a song from a whisper to a roar”. The music is firmly rooted in a song writing process that pays homage to life’s triumphs, while confronting adversity with a defiant sense of optimism. Their sound, developed over the past six years, conveys a musical identity unique to their Northwest origins. Folkinception is putting their stamp an a new genre of music coming out of the Pacific Northwest today… Upper Left Americana. (Source: Folkinception Facebook.)

 

Alayna Becker 

Alayna Becker is a comedian and writer living in Portland, OR. Her comedy is personal, heartfelt, and focused on dismantling the patriarchy one joke about waterbeds at a time. She is the creator and co-host of Please Advise, a monthly advice comedy show. She’s performed in comedy festivals and was featured as one of the Best in PDX at Helium Comedy Club.

When she’s not doing stand-up, she’s writing a book of lyric essays about the serial killers from her hometown, Spokane.

 

Nick Lewis

Thanks to the passage of the Levy Lid Lift in April 2017 (thank you voters!), we are able to add Sunday hours at the South Hill library. Starting on Sunday, January 21st, you can visit the South Hill Library between the hours of 1-5. Hope to see you there!

 

Join us for the next Lilac City Live! on January 18th. A “late night” talk show featuring local Spokane talent at the Downtown Library — Drinks! Music! Authors! Artists! Comedians! It’s guaranteed to be a fun time. And it’s a great opportunity to see some awesome Spokane talent for free.

January 18th
7 PM, no-host bar featuring No-Li Brewhouse (all proceeds benefit Spokane Public Library Foundation)
8 PM, late night talk show-style show

Hosted by Ryan Dean Tucker

Guests
Shawn Vestal
Shawn Vestal’s debut novel, Daredevils, was published in spring 2016 by Penguin Press. His collection of short stories, Godforsaken Idaho, published by New Harvest in April 2013, was named the winner of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, which honors a debut book that “represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise.” He also published A.K.A. Charles Abbott, a short memoir, as a Kindle Single in October 2013. His stories have appeared in Tin House, McSweeney’s, Ecotone, The Southern Review, Cutbank, Sou’wester, Florida Review and other journals. He writes a column for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane,Wash., and teaches in the MFA program at Eastern Washington University.

Godforsaken Idaho was also longlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and was named an outstanding collection by The Story Prize. Shawn Vestal is also the 2017 winner of the Washington State Book Award. (Photo and bio credit: http://shawnvestal.com/)

Newman
Newman is a goth dream pop duo from Spokane, WA

 

 

Shelby Anne Allison (artist)

Casey Strain (comedian)

Haul out the holly, put up the tree before my spirits fall again! If you’re decking the halls this holiday season, find out what type of bulbs Spokane prefers in this month’s edition of Scout Spokane.

Spokane Public Library and Downtown Spokane Partnership are pleased to provide local business owners and entrepreneurs with free access to Buxton Scout. Buxton Scout is a high-level data analytics tool that provides household-level purchasing data so you can make better decisions about the products and services you offer customers.

To learn more about Buxton Scout and what it could do for your business, join an upcoming information and training session at Spokane Public Library.

Are you growing out those face follicles for No-Shave-November? If so, find out what type of shaving products Spokane prefers in this quick video.

Spokane Public Library and Downtown Spokane Partnership are pleased to provide local business owners and entrepreneurs with free access to Buxton Scout. Buxton Scout is a high-level data analytics tool that provides household-level purchasing data so you can make better decisions about the products and services you offer customers.

To learn more about Buxton Scout and what it could do for your business, join an upcoming information and training session at Spokane Public Library.

 

For Native American Heritage Month, add these 10 Native American authors to your TBR list.

Sherman Alexie

Louise Erdich

Janet Campbell-Hale

Scott Momaday

Debra Magpie Earling

Leslie Marmon Silko

James Welch

Linda Hogan

Joy Harjo

Diane Glancy

Join us for Lilac City Live! on December 14th! The first “late night” talk show featuring local Spokane talent at the Downtown Library — Drinks! Music! Authors! Artists! Comedians! It’s guaranteed to be a fun time. And it’s a great opportunity to see some awesome Spokane talent for free. It’s also the official Grand Opening of the Community Lens, our new 3rd floor event space and stage.

DECEMBER 14th
7-8, cash bar featuring Iron Goat Brewing and Maryhill Winery (all proceeds benefit Spokane Public Library Foundation)
8-9, late night talk show-style show

Hosted by Ryan Dean

Guests
Sharma Shields
Sharma Shields is the author of a short story collection, Favorite Monster, and a novel, The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac. Henry Holt will publish her next novel, The Cassandra, in early 2019. Sharma’s writing has appeared in Electric Lit, Slice, The New York Times, Kenyon Review, Iowa Review, Fugue, and elsewhere and has garnered such awards as the 2016 Washington State Book Award, the Autumn House Fiction Prize, the Tim McGinnis Award for Humor, a Grant for Artist Projects from Artist Trust, and the A.B. Guthrie Award for Outstanding Prose. She received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Washington (2000) and her MFA from the University of Montana (2004). Sharma has worked in independent bookstores and public libraries throughout Washington State and now lives in Spokane with her husband and two young children. She is a board member for the Friends of the Spokane County Library District and also serves on the programming committee for Spokane’s Spark Central.

Marshall McLean
One of Spokane’s favorite songwriters, McLean manages to write songs without pretension.  He sets reflective moods and backs them up with a distinctive picking style that travels seamlessly from powered lead lines to dynamic rhythm. It is in the final output, however, where the Marshall McLean Band carves its most solid niche.  The method in which acoustical elements are managed through filters and amps gives forth a clear but overdriven sound that blurs the line between genres. The band is unafraid, blending these styles, taking the best of both worlds and discarding the rest.

Ryan McComb 
Ryan McComb has been doing comedy in the Pacific Northwest for 4 years and was recently voted Spokane’s third funniest person (don’t ask him who the top two were, it’s irrelevant). He’s a regular at the Spokane Comedy Club and has performed at The Bing Crosby Theater, Uncle D’s and a Denny’s for a nice old gentleman’s retirement party. Locals know him for his clean observational humor and his remarkable good looks. Some people have it all, I tell you. His personal life is going just as well as his professional life, with girlfriend in law school and a cute little pup that graduated and is now studying for The BARK Exam.

Amber Hoit (Artist-bio to come)

Spokane Public Library and Downtown Spokane Partnership are pleased to provide local business owners and entrepreneurs with free access to Buxton Scout. Buxton Scout is a high-level data analytics tool that provides household-level purchasing data so you can make better decisions about the products and services you offer customers.

For instance, if you were using Buxton Scout to determine what Halloween candy to stock in your store, you would know that Spokane is 6% above the national average in spending for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Can you guess what candy we are below average on (hint: the answer is in the video)?

To learn more about Buxton Scout and what it could do for your business, join an upcoming information and training session at Spokane Public Library.

 

The Inland Northwest is home to a rich Native American heritage. Join us across the month of November as we host more than thirty different programs to learn more about the region’s native tribes, past and present.

We will be hosting film screenings, crafts, artist receptions for Native American artists featured at each branch, music performances, lectures and poetry readings. There is something for everyone and we hope you will join us!

See the Full Calendar of Events here.

If you’ve been at the Downtown Library recently, you’ll see we’ve had some exciting changes in progress. The new Community Lens Stage on the third floor is now complete and will host a variety of new events, starting with the Individual World Poetry Slam on October 12 and 13. Wiley Cash, our Spokane Is Reading author will present here on November 9th. We will host movie nights on this stage every Wednesday. And have many more exciting events planned for the space. This beautiful new event space takes advantage or one of the Downtown buildings’ best assets, the sweeping view of the river. We hope you’ll join us for an event soon.