Seattle Public Library - Libraries for All, Capital Plan, Vision for the Seattle Public Library System

Vision
for the
Seattle Public Library
System

Libraries for All
Proposed
1998 Capital Plan
for the
Seattle Public Library

Submitted March 13, 1998

As a network that embraces the entire city, the Seattle Public Library system connects the past with the future, offers opportunities for lifelong learning, and provides convenient gathering places where the community's books are shared.

The Seattle Public Library system, with its Central Library, Outreach Services, Neighborhood Libraries, and well-trained staff and volunteers, supports all City residents from newborns to seniors. By providing books, technology and other materials, it works to assist personal enjoyment, vocational success, and social and cultural growth. The Library actively seeks collaborative partnerships with educational institutions, organizations, businesses, and government agencies.

The Central Library

The Central Library is the foundation of the entire Library system and supports activities and services affecting every neighborhood. It is the City's center of information and knowledge where people from all backgrounds can meet, learn and discover by participating in reading, events, and programs, and be supported by professionals in meeting their research needs. At the Central Library, expert staff guide residents of the downtown community and our diverse neighborhoods as they explore the depth and breadth of resources in the arts, sciences, literature, history, business and government information.

Neighborhood Libraries

The Neighborhood Libraries offer convenient access to all books and networked resources of the Seattle Public Library close to where people live and work. They are gathering places for exploring and collecting a neighborhood's common heritage and for discussing divergent views. The Neighborhood Libraries sponsor programs and offer materials related specifically to each neighborhood, satisfying educational and recreational needs. Each Neighborhood Library acts as an information navigator on new electronic resources, helping anyone sort, interpret and select information.

Outreach Services and Mobile Services

Using the latest available technology, Mobile Services provides highly individualized library services by bringing the library to those who cannot physically access library facilities, such as Seattle's frail elderly, the homebound, and children in childcare centers.

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library provides easy access to the information and reading materials needed by state residents who are unable to read standard print material.

The Seattle Public Library System at a Glance: Facilities:

22 Neighborhood Libraries, Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), Mobile Services, and Central Library

1997 circulation:

2,703,249 adult books
1,368,749 children's books
793,204 other media
469,983 WTBBL materials

1997 Service Levels and Programs:

1,455,107 reference questions answered
354,708 dial-in computer uses
1,729,920 in-library uses of materials
61,166 people attended 2,467 children's events at Neighborhood Libraries
12,381 people attended 725 adult and young adult events at Neighborhood Libraries
2,674 people attended 70 children's events at the Central Library
22,327 people attended 1,634 adult and young adult events at the Central Library
2,003 people attended 50 adult and young adult events of the Washington Center for the Book

1997 Staffing and Budget

558 staff members (409 full-time equivalents)

$25,075,543 annual operating budget