On October 23, 1853, a shipment of about 2,000 books, plus maps and globes, came ashore at the Olympia waterfront. It had sailed from New York around the tip of South America. Congress had provided $5,000 for a Territorial Library in the Organic Act that created Washington Territory that March.

That collection became the Washington State Library, the state’s oldest cultural institution. It is based at 6880 Capitol Blvd SE in Tumwater, Thurston County. Its Special Collections hold rare publications, manuscripts, rare maps and the Governor Isaac Stevens’ Territorial Library Collection.

Washington Wide is joining Special Collections. Crystal Hicks, Head of Collections, acquired a copy for the library. The book is a 172-page hardcover of panoramic film photographs from 30+ years across Washington State, shot on Fuji Velvia 50. Randy Lewis, a Colville elder and storyteller, wrote the foreword. It is $59.99 at washingtonwide.com, with free shipping in the contiguous US.

The library offers limited in-person access by appointment, Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m.

The Museum of Northwest Art has been at 121 South First Street in La Conner since October 1995. Before that, it spent 14 years on the second floor of the Gaches Mansion. It opened on October 3, 1981, from a vision credited to photographer Art Hupy, and it started with no permanent collection. The 12,000-square-foot downtown building was renovated by the Henry Klein Partnership.

The MoNA Store now carries Washington Wide. La Conner sits on the Swinomish Channel in Skagit County, and the museum’s mission is to “collect, preserve, interpret and exhibit art created in the Pacific Northwest.” Admission is free and the museum is open seven days a week. Surge: A Geography of Flow and At the Seam, drawn from the permanent collection, run through January 10, 2027.

The book is 172 pages at 11 x 8.5 inches: panoramic film photographs from 30+ years across Washington State, shot on Fuji Velvia 50. Randy Lewis, a Colville elder and storyteller, wrote the foreword. It is $59.99 at washingtonwide.com, with free shipping in the contiguous US.

A book signing at MoNA on Saturday, December 12 is in the works. The museum stays open until 8 p.m. on second Saturdays, and December 12 is one. Details will follow.