Seattle's Public Library Gets New Quarters
After operating out of the Occidental block, the city’s growing collection finds a new home in the Collins building.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The new quarters of the Seattle public library will be opened to the public at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, and the actual opening will be preceded this evening by a public reception given by the library commission and Librarian J. D. Atkinson. The reception will begin at 8:30 this evening at the new quarters in the Collins block, corner of James and Second streets. The public library was created by the present city charter in October 1891, and is sustained entirely by an appropriation of 10 percent of all licenses and fees received by the city and 10 percent of all fines recovered in the municipal court. The book shelves will be arranged in aisles to save time in handling. The ladies' reading room is detached from the others and will be particularly comfortable, as it is furnished by the original Ladies' Library Association, who have donated about $700 to this special purpose.
“The ladies' reading room is detached from the others and will be particularly comfortable.”
This 1894 expansion highlights the early civic struggle to fund public services through volatile license and fine revenues, a precursor to the modern debates over Seattle’s library levies and budget priorities. The 'Ladies' Reading Room' remains a fascinating historical artifact of the era's segregated public spaces.
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