- 1000 4th Ave NE
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47.606721, -122.333292 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)
- The Seattle Public Library
- Signature of an official
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Historical background
Seattle's first attempt to start a library association occurred at a meeting of 50 residents on July 30, 1868, but produced only minimal success over the next two decades.The Ladies' Library Association began a more focused attempt to put together a public library in 1888. They had raised some funds and had even obtained a pledge of land from Henry Yesler, but their efforts were cut short by the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. Nonetheless, encouraged by their ideas, the revised October 1890 city charter formally established the Public Library as a branch of the city government. The ladies' influence can be seen in that the charter required that at least two of the five library commissioners be women. The library was funded by a 10% share of city fines, penalties, and licenses.
The first library opened April 8, 1891 as a reading room on the third floor of the Occidental Block — later the Seattle Hotel — supervised by librarian A. J. Snoke. But in 1896, the library established a bindery, and a new city charter drastically decreased the power of the library commission and removed the requirement of its having female members.
Seattle suffered heavily in the Great Depression. The Library's official website describes the Library as having been "pummeled" in this period of "soaring demands and evaporating resources".
In 1998, Seattle voters, with an unprecedented 69 percent approval rate, approved the largest library bond issue then ever submitted in the United States. The $196 million "Libraries for All" bond measure, along with private funds raised by The Seattle Public Library Foundation, nearly doubled the square footage in Seattle's libraries, including the building of new branches and a new Central Library. The Seattle Central Library opened in 2004 and in 2007, the building was voted #108 on the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) list of Americans' 150 favorite structures in the U.S.
Present in routes of categories Lion-Mini
Passed by: 20/20 (100%).
By categories:
- Lion-Mini: 20/20 (100%)