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Seattle Municipal Archives Finding Aids

Library Board of Trustees Minutes

 Series
Identifier: 1802-L8

Scope and Contents note

The 1893 city charter established a Library Commission made up of five commissioners, at least two of whom were to be women. Around 1908 the name was changed to the Library Board of Trustees. The board's five members are appointed by the Mayor and serve five-year terms. The Board of Trustees is the Seattle Public Library's governing body, overseeing the library's administration and making decisions regarding its operations. It controls library finances and property, sets policy, and employs the city librarian. Minutes include periodic reports on circulation and acquisitions, as well as the number of new library cards issued. Also listed are appointments of professional and non-professional staff. Much discussion centered on the library's finances, reviewing expenditures and setting priorities for the Library Fund. Another major topic was facilities planning, including proposed new branches, renovation and addition needs, and design proposals by architects. Other topics covered included bookmobile service, the Friends of the Library, security, community relations, and programming. Minutes from 1980 to 1985, and from 2004 to 2009, are missing.

Dates

  • Creation: 1953-2010

Creator

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.

Full Extent

2.6 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement note

Chronological

Location of Records

SMA

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.

Title
Guide to the Library Board of Trustees Minutes 1953-2003
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Seattle Municipal Archives Repository

Contact:
PO Box 94728
600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 3
Seattle 98124-4728 USA US