The Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N., is hosting a free Math Salon from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, hosted by Daniel Finkel.
Finkel has a doctorate in math from the University of Washington and coordinates math circles, math salons and other activities that help make learning math fun for everyone. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times Numberplay Blog and teachers at the Robinson Center for Young Scholars at the University of Washington. He also runs workshops for teachers. He is co-founder of Mathforlove.com.
Anyone with a library card can access free chat tutoring through Seattle Public Library.
One can even use this service if a card is blocked for checking out due to fines over $15, so any and all students can get free homework help. If you do not have an updated card or PIN, go into any library to get a new one.
Seattle Public Library is partnering with CityClub to serve as official fact-checkers for the online 2014 Living Voters Guide.
The Living Voters Guide is a free, nonpartisan service that enables individuals in Washington state to discuss, research and ask questions about local and statewide ballot measures, as well as federal races. Individuals simply type in their zip code and the November election ballot measures and federal races from their districts appear.
Individuals can review or add to the pros and cons written by other users of the site. If individuals want items verified, they can click on the “Ask a librarian to fact check this point” button. After researching the content of flagged claims, librarians from The Seattle Public Library post a response with citations, and assign each claim a status of “accurate,” “questionable,” or “unverifiable”—all within 48 hours of a request.
The first version of the Living Voters Guide was created through a grant by the University of Washington in 2010. The 2014 guide was funded through a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and sponsorship from The Boeing Company.
Library patrons can now download five songs a week from its Freegal, which maintains more than 7 million songs from more than 28,000 labels. The previous limit was three songs.
The music includes hits like Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” and Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” as well as classics such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” jazz standards like Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” and more.
The music files from Freegal are DRM-free, do not expire, and are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPods, iPads and other MP3-compatible devices. New music is added daily. A Library card is necessary to access and download songs. Library card applications can be completed online by visiting www.spl.org.
The library and 826 Seattle are hosting a free Greenwood Family Forum at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29. Learn more about the Library’s free school support resources for youth of all ages; and 826 staffers will talk about their youth tutoring and writing programs.
The next after-school S.T.E.A.M. Games for ages kindergarten and up is from 3:30-5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at Greenwood Library. Kids can play games that support reading, science, technology, engineering, art and math skills. (This is not a drop-off program; please stay with your child if they are too young to attend a library program alone.)
