Behind the Scenes at Black-Owned Business Excellence: Entrepreneur Tierra Bonds

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Fourth Annual Black-Owned Business Excellence Symposium will be held at the University of Washington Tacoma and online. The Seattle Public Library is a co-sponsor of the symposium.

Now a nonprofit, BOBE started as a collaboration of organizations and individuals to support, educate, inspire and elevate businesses that are owned by underserved business owners in Washington State.

As a Library community partner, BOBE members offer their business and finance expertise to the broader community through Library programs and elsewhere.

Tierra Bonds, owner of Take Charge Credit Consulting, at The Seattle Public Library. Watch her Instagram video about Black-Owned Business Excellence.

In honor of the symposium, we’d like to take you behind the scenes to meet one of BOBE’s leaders. Tierra Bonds, owner of Take Charge Credit Consulting and BOBE board member, has a passion for service, entrepreneurship and providing education that aligns with BOBE’s mission.

“BOBE’s purpose is very similar to the mission of my company, which is to provide necessary resources, support and education to underserved Black business owners and individuals in an effort to reduce the racial wealth gap,” says Tierra. “BOBE meets this mission with a focus on entrepreneurship and Take Charge does so with a focus on credit.”

In this Q&A, Tierra shares her connection to BOBE, the story behind her credit business and how she’s partnering with the Library to Business program to provide credit repair and education to the people who need it most.

Seismic Retrofit, Air Conditioning And More Coming To The Library’s Green Lake Branch

The Seattle Public Library’s historically landmarked Green Lake Branch (7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N.) will temporarily close from Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, through early 2024 to undergo major renovations.

This project, funded by the 2019 Library Levy, will include the seismic retrofit of the branch, installation of an electric HVAC system (including air conditioning) and a number of interior and accessibility improvements. The branch book return and parking lot will also be closed for the duration of the project.

Chat About the Project with Chief Librarian Tom Fay

All are invited to join Chief Librarian Tom Fay during his visit the Green Lake Branch on Monday, January 30, from 1 – 2 p.m. Fay will chat with patrons and answer any questions they may have about this project or the Library more generally. Light refreshments will be served.

Service Impacts to Green Lake Branch Patrons

Patrons of the Green Lake Branch may continue selecting the branch as their holds and pickup location until Friday, Jan. 13, when it will be removed from the online catalog as a selection option. Any materials held for patrons at the Green Lake Branch that have not been picked up by Monday, Jan. 23, will be transferred to the holds area of the nearby Greenwood Branch.

Patrons may change their default holds and pickup location any time through their MySPL account online or at any Library information desk. Nearby Library locations include:

• • Greenwood Branch, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-684-4086
  • Northeast Branch, 6801 35th Ave. N.E., 206-684-7539
  • Northgate Branch, 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E., 206-386-1980
  • University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-684-4063
  • Wallingford Branch, 1501 N. 45th St., 206-684-4088

What Seattle Read in 2022: Most Popular Checkouts of the Year

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Curious about which books Seattle’s insatiable readers turned to in 2022? Need a little inspiration for that 2023 book list you’re already making? The Library has you covered.

The most popular fiction book checked out from January through November 2022 was “The Sentence,” by Louise Erdrich. The most checked out e-novel was “The House of Broken Angels” by renowned Mexican-American author Luis Alberto Urrea, the selection for the Library’s 2022 Seattle Reads program. Seattle’s community of e-audiobook listeners checked out “Braiding Sweetgrass,” read by author Robin Wall Kimmerer, more than any other e-audiobook.

Several books by Northwest authors also ranked high in popularity in 2022, including “Secret Seattle,” by Library staff member Susanna Ryan; “Red Paint,” by Coast Salish author Sasha LaPointe; The Final Case, by David Guterson; and “Grains for every Season,” by Oregon chef Joshua McFadden (with Martha Holmberg).

Here are the other most popular fiction and nonfiction books, e-books and e-audiobooks among Library patrons last year. Please note that these lists were compiled from anonymous checkout data collected from January 1 through November 30, 2022.

(Also be sure to see the Library’s most popular books of the year in visual form at “Your Checked-Out 2022.”)

10 most popular adult fiction physical books

1. The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
2. The Maid, by Nita Prose
3. Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel
4. The Final Case, by David Guterson
5. The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
6. Book Lovers, by Emily Henry
7. One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle
8. This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub
9. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
10. The Candy House, by Jennifer Egan

December 2022 Events: Authors, Art, Holly, a Concert and More

Photo courtesy of Alex Padurariu, Unsplash

Brrr! Get cozy with The Seattle Public Library in December with engaging author programs, an art exhibit, a concert, fun events at the South Park Branch, a monthly movie and more.

Many of these events require registration. Find information and registration at event links or spl.org/Calendar. All Library events are free and open to the public.

Year of Wonder art by Kellie Kawahara-Niimi

Artist Exhibition 2022: First Thursday Artist Reception, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1, Central Library (Level 8 Gallery). Join us today for a reception celebrating the opening of an exhibition of local artists who collaborated with the Library in 2022 to highlight programs such as the Year of Wonder and Summer of Learning. The exhibition is on view until Jan. 15, 2023.

Megan Asaka Discusses “Seattle from the Margins.” from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, Central Library (Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium). Seattle Times columnist Naomi Ishisaka will lead a discussion of Megan Asaka’s new book “Seattle from the Margins: Exclusion, Erasure, and the Making of a Pacific Coast City,” which recognizes the marginalized communities who made Seattle what it is today.

 

Holly Days: Creating holiday décor out of invasive plants. From 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 6, South Park Branch. Join community naturalist Nicolasa Hernandez in creating beautiful wreaths, garlands, and sprays using invasive plants. Basic materials provided. Please bring any special items to add a personal touch. For teens and adults, this workshop will be offered in English and Spanish.

Every Day Is Small Business Saturday at The Seattle Public Library

Coming up just after Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, Small Business Saturday is a day to support local businesses and entrepreneurs and celebrate what they do for communities while (possibly) getting some holiday shopping done.

If you’re interested in not just supporting small businesses but starting one of your own, it’s also a good time to learn about and start using the Library’s many free business programs and services, which are available all year long.

We offer our business programs in partnership with dozens of community-based organizations and all are free and open to the public. Check them out, and if you have any questions, you can email the Library’s business team using this Ask a Librarian form. Here are some highlights. 

One-on-one help with business, law, credit

• Business and nonprofit help: As a core service, we offer virtual one-on-one help sessions with business librarians. Sign up for a 60-minute appointment and we can help you access the information, resources, and skills you need to succeed, from market research to developing a business plan.  

• Legal consults: The Library also partners with the UW Entrepreneurial Law Clinic to offer free legal consults with professionals specializing in intellectual property and corporate law. Sign up for a 30-minute virtual appointment and you can ask a lawyer about issues related to incorporation, contract issues, patents, copyright and more. (Let’s repeat that: A 30-minute business consult with a lawyer, for free.)

• Credit consults: Want to understand your credit score and how to improve it? The Library is working with Tierra Bonds of Take Charge Credit Consulting to offer virtual credit workshops this fall (the final two are on Nov. 22 and Nov. 29), as well as one-on-one credit consults (just a couple of spots left!). The credit workshops are live interpreted in Spanish.