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64-570: The Douglass-Truth Branch is a library building and Seattle Public Library branch in Seattle , Washington , United States. Named after Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth , the library houses the West Coast 's largest collection of African-American literature and history . In 2001, the library was designated a Seattle Histroic Landmark by the city. Former Seattle mayor Henry Yesler and his wife Sarah donated land at 1st Avenue and Yesler Way for

128-639: A "rented shop space, clubhouse, or hospital," each with a small, frequently changing collection of books. These book stations were open half-time, and serves one-sixth as many readers as the branch libraries. A bookmobile with 2,500 books serviced two dozen other locations. Also, at this time The Seattle Public Library was a mainstay of the King County Library System (then known as the King County Rural Library District), with 70,000 book loans in 1948 to King County patrons outside

192-510: A 10-year-plan announced an "urgent" need for a $ 1.2 million bond issue to expand the Central Library. In the event, nothing of the sort happened. During the Depression, the Central Library became a refuge for the jobless. Library circulation hit record heights, passing 4 million in 1932. Meanwhile, budgets were cut, employees were laid off, and programs were terminated. The Library's 1939 budget

256-521: A 7-ton curving steel staircase and a modern glass corridor. The firm also hired a paint archaeologist to locate the exact beige color of the original library. Seattle Public Library All but one of Seattle's early purpose-built libraries were Carnegie libraries . Although the central Carnegie library has since been replaced twice, all the purpose-built branches from the early 20th century survive; however, some have undergone significant alterations. Ballard's former Carnegie library has since housed

320-479: A 7-year levy to restore services. The levy enabled all branches to provide Sunday service (15 previously did not), increased the number of branches with 7-day-a-week service from 12 to 14, added to the maintenance and repair fund, and provided new funds to purchase physical materials, electronic content, and additional computer equipment. The library unveiled its proposed rebranding strategy in September 2015, including

384-473: A library about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of downtown and named after Yesler. It was later renamed as the Douglass–Truth Branch Library . The 1921 opening of the permanent Fremont branch—also funded with Carnegie money—brought this era of great expansion to an end. It would be over three decades before The Seattle Public Library opened another proper branch. Even as early as 1915, the library

448-427: A library card can get up to one and a half hour a day of free computer use; the system accepts reservations for a computer at a particular time at a particular branch. The library has moved to an RFID system for materials, which allows people to check out their materials without assistance, freeing librarians to focus on matters other than circulation. From 1993 to 2004, the library was home to Nancy Pearl , one of

512-554: A library card. The library also has extensive online resources, which as of 2023 include, among other things, access to historic archives of The Seattle Times , the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce , and The New York Times , as well as the Britannica Library , Kanopy (video streaming), and ProQuest (academic research), plus access to several e-book collections. In 2023,

576-536: 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

640-447: A new Seattle library; he later added another $ 20,000 when this budget proved inadequate. The new Carnegie library was built not far from the former university campus, occupying the entire block between 4th and 5th Avenues and between Madison and Spring Streets. The land was purchased for $ 100,000. In August 1903, the city selected a design submitted by P. J. Weber of Chicago for a building to be constructed largely of sandstone . Ground

704-422: A new central library. The architect firm Schacht-Aslani Architects produced different designs but focused on not overwhelming the existing library or its architecture. The architects suffered through a "personal battle" in the remodel but made a "heroic effort" to consider all possibilities. The remodeled library opened on October 14, 2006, costing roughly $ 6.8 million. The expansion was primarily sub-terrain, with

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768-708: A new name and new logo, that attracted widespread controversy over its cost; the first phase of the project cost $ 365,000 and the total cost would have been $ 1.3 million out of private donations. The board of trustees ultimately rejected the proposal on October 28, 2015, citing negative public feedback and other pressing uses for the funds. A $ 219 million property tax levy was approved by Seattle voters in August 2019 to fund library services, including extended hours at branches, seismic renovations, social services. The levy also included funding to eliminate overdue fines for patrons, which came into effect on January 2, 2020. During

832-622: A number of restaurants and antique stores among other enterprises, while others such as the Fremont and Green Lake branches have been modernized and remain in use as libraries. As of 2023, the library served 293,000 active patrons, 75,000 new cardholders, 124,000 borrowers of physical materials, and 175,000 borrowers of digital materials. The library answered 234,000 assisted information questions, and it hosted 3,500 classes, events and activities, as well as 341,000 public computer sessions. The Seattle Public Library system consists of 27 branches including

896-489: A proper library, the Ballard City Council established a library board in 1903 and applied to the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for a grant to help underwrite the construction costs. The library was built on a lot of 100 feet (30.5 m) square, which was purchased for $ 2,100. The costs for the building were raised by local businesses and citizens, with support from the earlier fundraising and book collections of

960-557: Is noted for its significant historical presence of Scandinavian people). Early in the library's existence, it had a turnstile at the entrance to its book stacks, to count the number of book borrowers that passed through. Following the start of World War I , the Carnegie Library became the location of various community activities, such as the distribution of information on the ongoing war. It also hosted Red Cross and English language classes. In 1942, during World War II , one of

1024-656: The Central Library ; it also provides a mobile library system. As of 2023, the Seattle Public Library contained 1.8 million physical items, with 1 million at the Central Library and 814,000 catalogued at the other 26 branches. The total physical collection includes 4.7 million printed books and other printed items; 1.2 million CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks; and 42,000 other items, including laptops, tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, and Kill A Watt power meters. As of 2011, its special collections include an oral history collection,

1088-507: The International style had swept away the earlier revivalism . Today's Greenwood and North East branches are both expanded versions of 1954 libraries, the latter originally designed by Paul Thiry ; a third library from 1954, the Susan J. Henry branch on Capitol Hill, has been entirely replaced, as has Bindon & Wright's 1960 Central Library. The Seattle Central Library opened in 2004 and

1152-608: The National Register of Historic Places : Columbia (architects: Harlan P. Thomas and W. Marbury Somervell), Fremont (architect: Daniel Riggs Huntington ), Green Lake (architects: W. Marbury Somervell & Joseph S. Cote  [ d ] ), Queen Anne (architects: Harlan P. Thomas and W. Marbury Somervell), University (architects: Somervell & Joseph S. Cote), and West Seattle (architects: W. Marbury Somervell & Joseph S. Cote). The original Ballard branch (architect: Henderson Ryan ) also shares this status, as does

1216-665: The 1970s and into the 1980s, The Seattle Public Library experienced another period of tight budgets and constricted services, but the picture was never as bleak as in the Great Depression. In 1975 the Yesler Branch—earlier in danger of closing—was renamed as the Douglass-Truth Branch , honoring Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth . That branch features an extensive African American collection. A $ 2.3 million federal grant refurbished and expanded public areas of

1280-491: The 2,000 volumes of the children's collection. Other than those, though, practically the only books salvaged were the 5,000 that were out on circulation at the time. The library operated for a time out of Yesler's barn, which had survived, then moved to a building that had been left behind when the University of Washington had moved from downtown to its present campus. By January 6, Andrew Carnegie had promised $ 200,000 to build

1344-509: The 21st century include Ström and Ström Consulting, offering legal and marketing services to mental health professionals ; and Root Integrative Health, a holistic wellness center. The building is currently owned by Karoline Morrison and her husband, Dennis Beals, and has been occupied by the Kangaroo and Kiwi Pub since 2012. The area around Market Street where the building is located is a part of Seattle that has been quickly rising in land value;

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1408-574: The Central Library in 1979. Another federal grant gave $ 1.2 million for the Rainier Beach Branch (1981). In the late 1980s, a $ 4.6 million project restored the Library's six Carnegie branches; this project was recognized with an honor from the National Trust for Historic Preservation . Meanwhile, capping the career of Library Board president Virginia Burnside, The Seattle Public Library Foundation

1472-596: The Collins Block. By 1895, the budget situation was so dire that Smith initially experimented with charging borrowers ten cents to borrow a book; the experiment was a failure and in 1896 the library moved to the Rialto, a building farther north on Second Avenue, far enough north that at that time it stood outside of Seattle's core. As the city grew out, that building was later occupied by the Frederick and Nelson department store. At

1536-448: The Henry L. Yesler Memorial Library opened, with mayor Hiram Gill as the guest of honor. The library cost around $ 40,000 to construct, and it was the only branch at the time paid by city funds and not a gift from Andrew Carnegie . The library was popular in the area, especially for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia and Japanese immigrants. By the 1930s, the library was home to

1600-502: The Rialto, the library for the first time moved to an open-stacks policy, where users could browse through the shelves for themselves instead of presenting a request to a librarian. In 1898 the library moved again to the former Yesler Mansion, a forty-room building on the site that would later become the King County Courthouse . Meanwhile, in 1896, the library established a bindery , and a new city charter drastically decreased

1664-549: The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the library closed all of its branches and in-person services, operating exclusively with curbside pickup at some locations beginning in August. Five branches were reopened in April to provide public bathrooms to unsheltered and homeless people in the city, but other services remained closed. The first branches reopened on April 27, 2021, and

1728-552: The blind in the country west of the Mississippi River , the other two being in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon . In 1915 this collection had 698 volumes. In 1916, 67,097 people borrowed books from the library. That was 19 per cent of the population of the city. At that time the system appears to have had more total points of contact with the public than today, though few of these were proper branches. A civics textbook from

1792-537: 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. By December 1891 when books were first allowed to be borrowed, it had 6,541 volumes. Snoke

1856-711: The city of Ballard brought with it another already established Carnegie library, and a further Carnegie donation of $ 70,000 in 1911 built the Queen Anne branch (opened 1914) and the Columbia Branch (opened December 31, 1915 in Columbia City ). The land in the Central District donated by Henry Yesler to the Ladies' Library Association was traded to the parks department and the money was city funds were used to buy land and erect

1920-415: The city to build a library. The land was too small to build a library, so the library board sold the land and used the proceeds to purchase a parcel on 23rd Avenue and Yesler Way. Architects Harlan Thomas and Woodruff Marbury Somervell designed the building in an Italian Renaissance style and was covered with buff tapestry brick, terra cotta trimmings, and a roof of red mission brick. On September 15, 1914,

1984-453: The city. By mid-century, The Seattle Public Library circulated a lot more than books. Even in its early years, the library collection had included items such as sheet music. By 1948, the circulating collection included 3,500 phonograph records, which were borrowed a total of 53,000 times that year, as well as 6,000 pieces of sheet music, 6,000 song books and piano albums, 200 reproductions of famous paintings, and 27,000 other pictures. In 1950,

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2048-470: The closure and sale of the library building was a number of expert claims that the building would not be able to withstand earthquakes (which have taken place in the Seattle area at numerous points in its history; the building has in fact survived several quakes in the meantime). From 2003 to 2010 the old library building was home to Carnegie's, a French restaurant. Other businesses it has been home to during

2112-584: The completion and grand opening, as Carnegie's grant did not cover the initial costs of new books. An appeal was made to citizens to donate books and expand the collection. In 1907, the Seattle Public Library took control of the Carnegie library, when Ballard was annexed by the neighboring city. Early Scandinavian immigrants to the region made up a large proportion of the new facility's users (the Ballard area

2176-650: The construction of the Southwest Branch (1961), a new Ballard Branch (1963; later Abraxus Books ), and the Magnolia Branch (1964). The Magnolia Branch was designed by Paul Hayden Kirk and incorporates the Japanese influences found in much Northwest architecture of the era. The bond issue also bought the land for the Broadview Branch, but did not provide the funds to build it; that branch finally opened in 1976. In

2240-509: The era indicates the library's points of contact with the public as "the central library, 9 branch libraries, 8 drug store deposit stations, 32 fire-engine houses, 420 school rooms in 77 schools, 3 play grounds and 8 special deposit stations." 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 1930,

2304-647: The few celebrity librarians in the English-speaking world. Pearl's Book Lust book series and her much-imitated "If All Seattle Read the Same Book" project (now called "Seattle Reads") resulted in her being perhaps the only librarian who has ever been honored with an action figure . After the Great Recession resulted in eight separate operating budget cuts between 2009 and 2012, in November 2012 Seattle voters passed

2368-498: The final branch reopened in October. The library system incurred an estimated $ 434,188 in property damage during the pandemic, particularly at the Central Library. The library's checkout and online services were shut down by a ransomware attack in late May 2024 after a period of scheduled maintenance. Branch services remained open and some online services were restored by May 29. By August, most online services had been restored, with

2432-415: The first African American librarians in Seattle, Lucille Smith, was assigned to the library. In 1956, Seattle voters approved a municipal bond to replace what was by then considered the "inadequate and impractical" library. The Ballard Carnegie Library was closed in 1963, when a new and larger public library was built in the area. The former library became an antique store. One of the cited reasons for

2496-467: The first African American librarians in Seattle. The Ballard Carnegie Library remained in use until 1963, when a newer and more modern facility replaced it. After its sale, the old library building housed a variety of private commercial enterprises, including an antique shop, a restaurant and a kilt manufacturer. In 1976 it was nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places by Seattle architect Larry E. Johnson, and formally added to

2560-496: The first buildings in Seattle to incorporate green architecture. The library is equipped with solar panels to reduce its electricity demands, as well as a green roof, which provides insulation to the building, and also serves to reduce stormwater runoff. Ballard Carnegie Library The Ballard Carnegie Library is a historic Carnegie library in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle , Washington, United States. The institution

2624-436: The first-ever escalator in an American library, a drive-up window for book pick-ups and was Seattle's first public building to incorporate significant new works of art. Among the artists represented were James FitzGerald , Glen Alps , and Ray Jensen. It also incorporated a fountain by sculptor George Tsutakawa , the first of many fountains Tsutakawa would construct over the remainder of his career. The new library energized

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2688-516: The goal of all online services being available by the end of August. Many of The Seattle Public Library's facilities are notable works of architecture. They reflect the aesthetics of several very different periods. The various former Carnegie libraries and the Douglass-Truth library all date from a single period of two decades in the early 20th century. No further branch libraries were built between 1921 and 1954, and when branch construction resumed,

2752-484: The library circulated 7.4 million digital items, including 5.5 million e-book and e-audiobooks. Through Books Unbanned , these online resources are available to youth ages 13 to 21 throughout the United States. 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

2816-447: The library subscribed to 200 newspapers (mostly from Washington State) and 1,700 periodicals. The city finally passed its first-ever library bond issue in 1956. This funded, among other things, a new $ 4.5 million, 206,000-square-foot (19,100 m ) central library, designed in the International style by the Seattle firm of Bindon & Wright, and built on the same site as its Carnegie predecessor. Dedicated March 26, 1960, it featured

2880-522: The library system's Yiddish, Hebrew, and Japanese collections and featured books in 13 languages. The Japanese collection was removed after the Pearl Harbor bombing, and the Yiddish and Hebrew collections were removed in the 1960s. Through the 1940s and 50s, the library updated its collection to try and accommodate the influx of African Americans who moved into the Central District after World War II . In

2944-570: The library was renamed to the Douglass-Truth Branch in honor of Abolitionist leaders Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth . The name was chosen because Douglass and Truth received the same number of votes from the community in a contest. In 1987, the Douglass-Truth Branch underwent a $ 790,000 renovation using funds from a 1984 bond levy. In 1998, Seattle voters approved the $ 196.4 million Libraries for All levy to remodel all existing libraries, build an additional five branches and build

3008-452: The library was simply not used nearly as much in this era as in the Depression years. While the city's population had grown from 368,000 to 463,000 since 1932, only 2.4 million books were being borrowed annually, as against over 4 million. Bond issue votes to build a more modern central library failed in 1950 and 1952. At mid-century, The Seattle Public Library had numerous "book stations" for areas with no branch as such, in locations such as

3072-447: The list in 1979. In the late 1860s, when Ballard was a new settlement along the edge of Salmon Bay , a homesteader named Ira Wilcox Utter helped create a freeholders' library. In 1901, the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Ballard began raising money with fairs and socials for a new reading room on Ballard Avenue, which was moved and expanded several times. Having decided to build

3136-785: The mid-1960s, the central library administration threatened to close the Yesler Library due to declining circulation and turn the library into support for the bookmobile. In 1965, the local chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Black Friends of the Yesler Library, and community members established the Negro Life and History Collection, now called the African American collection. The community groups collected donations and asked people to donate African American works held in private collections. Council member Sam Smith ensured that $ 46,000

3200-489: The old Wallingford Fire and Police Station (architect: Daniel Riggs Huntington), which housed a branch library from 1986 to 2000. In addition, several buildings have been designated as landmarks by the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board : Columbia, Douglass-Truth, Fremont, Green Lake, Lake City, Magnolia, North East, Queen Anne, University, and West Seattle. The new Ballard Branch is also one of

3264-490: The power of the library commission and removed the requirement of its having female members. This greatly increased Smith's power, a change which he himself opposed; in 1902 a new Library Board would be established, again gaining supervisory rather than merely advisory power. On the night of January 1, 1901, the Yesler Mansion burned taking most of the library collection with it. The library records were salvaged, along with

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3328-573: The public library system. The library's official web site writes that "the atmosphere in the opening weeks was likened to a department store during the holiday shopping season. The new Central Library loaned out almost 1 million volumes in its first nine months, a 31 percent increase over the previous year's circulation." A library that had been "struggling with disinterest in a shabby headquarters" now found itself "loved to tatters," with greater demand than it could readily satisfy. The 1956 bond issue also provided $ 500,000 for branch libraries. This paid for

3392-480: The square footage in Seattle's libraries, including the building of new branches and a new Central Library. As of 2006, The Seattle Public Library system had 699 staff members (538 full-time equivalents). It circulated 3,151,840 adult books, 1,613,979 children's books, 570,316 WTBBL materials, and 3,895,444 other media (CDs, DVDs, videotapes, etc.) Staff members answered more than 1 million reference questions. The system also provides 1,134 public computers. Anyone with

3456-586: The state document depository, the federal document depository, an aviation history collection, genealogy records, and historical documents about Seattle. A room on the seventh floor of the Central Library houses the ZAPP Zine Collection, over 30,000 zines donated by Richard Hugo House , where it used to constitute the Zine Archive and Publishing Project collection. In addition all locations have uncatalogued collections of books that can be borrowed without

3520-400: The women's union and a $ 15,000 grant from Carnegie. When construction was completed, the building included facilities such as a 500-seat auditorium and a men's smoking room (the latter of which was later converted into a reading room). Part of the construction work was done by a chain gang . Initially, the library had a cache of books provided by local residents and schools on standby for

3584-447: Was $ 40,000 less than its 1931 budget. The Library's 50th anniversary in 1941 occasioned the foundation of Friends of The Seattle Public Library. The economic revival brought about by World War II , and the post-war prosperity, began to bring the library out of its institutional stagnation. Seattle spent $ 400,000 on a book stack addition to the Central Library in 1949, and three modern new branch libraries were built in 1954. Nonetheless,

3648-605: Was appropriated to the collection, and by 1969, a third of the library circulation was African American literature and history. Today, the collection holds more than 10,000 items, including literature, art, and other historical items. Soul Pole was donated to the library by the Rotary Boys Club in 1972.. The Soul Pole was carved from a telephone pole by members of the Rotary Boys Club in 1969. Its meant to represent 400 years of African American history and injustice. On December 5, 1975, mayor Wesley C. Uhlman proclaimed that

3712-450: Was broken in spring 1905 and the library was dedicated December 19, 1906. Shortly after moving to these new permanent quarters, Smith was succeeded in 1907 by Judson T. Jennings . Meanwhile, the library began to grow in other respects. A reference department had been established in 1899. In 1903 a position was established for a children's librarian. In 1904 a plan was established to grow eventually to 12 departments. The periodical division

3776-631: Was collecting books not only in English but in many other languages spoken in Seattle (though all of the languages collected at that time were European: there were as yet no Asian language collections). In 1915, the library had collections in Croatian , "Dano-Norwegian" ( Bokmål ), Finnish , French , German , Italian , Lithuanian , Modern Greek , Russian , Spanish , Swedish , and Yiddish . Ten other languages were also lightly represented. </ref> Seattle also had established one of only three collections for

3840-578: Was designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus of the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in a joint venture with LMN Architects and Front Inc.  [ d ] Facade Consultants. In 2007, the building was voted #108 on the American Institute of Architects ' (AIA) list of Americans' 150 favorite structures in the U.S. The building received a 2005 national AIA Honor Award for Architecture. Six current Seattle branch libraries are on

3904-575: Was established in 1906, the art division in 1907, and the technology division in 1912. Branch libraries had opened in rented quarters in Fremont (1903), Green Lake (1905), and the University District (1908). In 1908, Carnegie donated $ 105,000 to build permanent branches in the University District, Green Lake, and West Seattle (all of which opened in summer 1910). The annexation by Seattle of

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3968-525: Was established in 1980 to increase outside financial support of the Library. By the mid-1990s, during the dot-com boom years, annual donations exceeded $ 1 million, while library circulation passed 5 million items annually. 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

4032-455: Was preceded by a freeholders' library in the 1860s, which was eventually replaced in 1901 by a reading room organized and funded by a women's group. Various funds including a $ 15,000 grant were used to create a new library for Ballard, then an independent city. The library opened to the public on June 24, 1904. It was the first major branch of the Seattle public library system after Ballard was annexed by Seattle in 1907, and also employed one of

4096-494: Was succeeded in 1893 by John D. Atkinson, who was succeeded in 1895 by Charles Wesley Smith, who remained in the position until 1907. Smith took over a library that, like all of Seattle, had been seriously impacted by the Panic of 1893 : by 1895 its annual budget was only half of what it had been that first year. In its first decade or so, the growing library "developed the traveling habit". In June 1894, it moved across Second Avenue to

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