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Library Information

Our Library, located at our Learning Centers in Bellevue and Carnation in the Snoqualmie Valley provides a ready source of resources to support our adult learners, their tutors and teachers, and our staff. Our materials focus on literacy, basic skills, English as a second language and new readers. General content material can be obtained from anybranch of the King County Library or the Seattle Public Library . The larger of the two collections is located in Bellevue. Volunteers can check books out from either location. You may view and search our catalog online. For assistance with search methods see Search Tips .

Borrowing Books

Literacy staff will check-out books for you at the reception desk in Bellevue. The first time you check-out a book you will be asked to fill out a form with your name and contact information. The Carnation office has a self check-out system. Most books may be kept for four weeks, with the exception of GED and lesson planning materials, which are available for 90 days. Books may be renewed by phone, or in person.

Library Services

Our volunteer library staff in Bellevue and literacy staff in Carnation are available to help tutors and learners. Specifically, the staff can locate books, search for information, prepare reading lists, and order your recommended selections. Contact us via email, or fill out an Information Request Form found above the reference books in the library.

Student Computers

We have two student computers with Internet access and a large variety of learning software at each of the two centers. You will find a software guide on the desk next to the computers. Program CD’s are locked up above the computers, and the key is available at the front desk.

Online Search Tips

When you log on to our catalog, the first screen you see will be the "Quick Search" screen.

You can type in title words, subject words or an author’s name and click the search button for a keyword search. Keyword search looks for your search terms anywhere in the record and is recommended in most cases. If you know the exact title, you can click the title button. If you know the author, you can click the author button. Subject searches will look for the exact subject terms listed in the "subject index" but not necessarily words found in the title.

If you aren’t finding what you need, try different terms. For example, if you search "ESL" you will only find books with "ESL" in the title, because we use "English as a second language" as the subject heading.

Once you find the book you are looking for, you will notice the status of the book in the right hand column ("In" or "checked-out"). This information will not be accurate for books from Carnation.

To locate a book, click show copies to see how many copies we have and where they are located. Locations include:

• MAIN – our main library collection in Bellevue
• GED – materials directly relevant to preparing for the GED exam are shelved together in the Bellevue library
• REF – reference materials for in library use only
• NRC – New Reader’s Collection
• TRAIN – training collection located next to the Tutor desk
• SNO – Snoqualmie Valley library located in Carnation