Seattle Public Library Annual Reports
Scope and Contents note
Reports from the library board and those from the librarian are both included in this record series. Early reports discuss the financial status of the library, physical location, circulation, acquisitions, policies, and contributions. The 1896 report states that "the reading of wholesome fiction...is rest to the weary, illumination to the perplexed, a cure for selfishness and narrow mindedness, and an inspiration to a fuller and better life." Later... reports include information on the development of a technology division, the library's efforts towards meeting wartime needs, and selected statistics, among other topics. Beginning in 1939, photographs of library activities are included in some reports. The 1959 to 1960 report includes floor plans for the new building. The 1958 annual report of the Municipal Reference Library is also included in this series.
See moreDates
- Creation: 1894-2018
Creator
- Seattle Public Library (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access note
Records are open to the public.
Historical Note
Although Seattle's first library association was organized in August 1868, the library was not a regular branch of city government until 1891. In 1896, with the establishment of a new charter, the management of the library, previously under the control of a library commission, was transferred to the position of librarian, who reported to the mayor and city council. In 1899, after several moves, the library moved from the Rialto Building to the Yesler... Mansion. After a 1901 fire destroyed the library and its entire collection, Andrew Carnegie donated $200,000 for a new central library building. He later contributed another $20,000 for furnishings. The new central library was dedicated in 1906 and stood between Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Madison and Spring Streets. In 1909, the state legislature removed all libraries in the state from the jurisdiction of the municipal civil service commissions so that the library could select its own employees. Several other Carnegie-financed branches opened in Seattle neighborhoods following the dedication of the central library. These included the Greenlake, University, West Seattle, Queen Anne, Columbia, and Fremont branches, all built between 1910 and 1921. The Yesler branch (now Douglass-Truth), which opened its doors in 1914, was the first city-financed branch library. By 1949, the library had 11 branches. The 1949 earthquake damaged the main library, however, and it found temporary housing until 1960, when the new library (built on the same site as the old Carnegie library) was dedicated. The library was outgrowing its space by the 1990s, and, in 1998, taxpayers approved $196.4 million in bonds for a new Central library, as well as additions and modifications to Seattle's branch libraries. The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, were selected in 1999 to design the new 355,000-square-foot central library. The new Central branch of the Seattle Public Library opened in May 2004.
See moreExtent
0.4 Cubic Feet
10 digital files (99.9 MB)
Language of Materials
English
General Note
A Comptroller or Clerk File (CF) can consist of correspondence, reports, petitions, contracts, agreements, etc. from elected officials, City departments, other government agencies, or the general public, which have been placed on file with the Office of the City Clerk (OCC). They are primarily permanent records, but also include routine material which was periodically purged. Certain archival records identified in the CF have been removed, arranged into records series, and incorporated into the collection of the Seattle Municipal Archives, a program of the OCC.
Associated Digital Files
Subject
- Seattle Public Library (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Seattle Public Library Annual Reports 1894-2004
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- EAD Location
- http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv71829
Repository Details
Part of the Seattle Municipal Archives Repository