The Search Is On: Friends of the Seattle Public Library Seeks a New Home
release date: July 28, 2017
The Friends of The Seattle Public Library is searching for a 9,000 square foot facility within Seattle city limits to process material for its annual book sales. Ideas or suggestions for a new space can be submitted to booksale@friendsofspl.org.
The Friends organization moved out of Building 30 at Warren G. Magnuson Park, the former location of Friends book sales, in 2012 due to needed renovations to get the building up to code. Since then, the Friends have operated out of the second floor of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), subleasing from The Seattle Public Library. The Library's lease at the WTBBL will end in late 2018.
Since 2016, the annual Big Book Sale has been hosted at the Exhibition Hall at the Seattle Center as a more central location that provides easy accessibility.
For the past 46 years, the Friends' book sales have provided inexpensive used books to raise money for the Library. The first sale in 1971 offered 20,000 books and netted $2,634. The 2017 sale offered over 150,000 items and netted just over $100,000 with over 8,000 in attendance. For the past three years, the Friends has also been selling online through Amazon, eBay, Discogs and ABE Books. Since 2003, the Friends has given more than $1.6 million in grants to the Library.
The Friends is a non-profit, 501©3 organization, established in 1941 to support the Library through advocacy, education and fundraising.
To submit suggestions or ideas on available spaces, contact booksale@friendsofspl.org or call 206-682-7567.