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Reference & Information line: 704-INFO (360-704-4636) in Olympia area or toll-free 1-800-562-6022.
TRL Web site: http://www.trlib.org

Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, Communications Specialist: (877) 284-6237, ext. 2508; e-mail: lingle@trlib.org

Writer and researcher, Linda Carlson, will visit the McCleary Timberland Library at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 1 to talk about everyday life in the hundreds of Northwest towns that were built by timber, coal and other companies between 1900 and 1950. The talk is free of charge and open to the public.

Company-owned towns were built around an industry. Usually remote and often subject to severe weather, many developed into tight-knit communities with a variety of social and cultural activities. In this informal lecture, Ms Carlson shares anecdotes about daily life in these communities. She describes how the people lived, ate, worked, played, shopped, educated their children and worshipped—and what eventually became of the towns.

Carlson grew up in Pierce County, not far from several timber and former coal towns. She has a degree in journalism and has written several books, most recently, Company Towns of the Pacific Northwest.

This presentation is a Humanities Washington, Inquiring Mind program, sponsored by the McCleary Historical Society. The McCleary Timberland Library is located at 121 S 4^th St. For more information, please call the library at (360) 495-3368.

Timberland Regional Library serves the information, reading and lifelong learning needs of the Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston county public at 27 community libraries and 7 library service partnership locations. The library system is funded by local property taxes. For information on any subject, people in Grays Harbor County can telephone Timberland’s Central Reference Service librarians toll-free at 1-800-562-6022. Or they can "Ask a Librarian" online at www.trlib.org. Anyone needing special accommodations to join in a library’s program can contact the library a week in advance.

Revised 09/21/06