Editing Seattle Public Library (section)

==History==
[[File:Seattle Public Library - 1900.jpg|thumb|left|The public library in [[Henry Yesler]]'s former home downtown at Third and James, burned on the night of January 1–January 2, 1901]]
[[File:Seattle - Carnegie Library 01.jpg|thumb|left|The downtown Carnegie Library as it appeared in 1919]]

===Late 19th century: founding===
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.<ref name="SPL-hist">{{cite web |title=The Seattle Public Library: History |website=spl.org |date=2006-02-23 |url=https://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_history_history |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060518143623/http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_history_history |archive-date=2006-05-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Ladies' Library Association began 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 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.<ref>{{harvnb |Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |pp=6–7}}</ref>

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 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.<ref name=SPL-1915-7>{{harvnb |Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=7}}</ref>

In its first decade or so, the growing library "developed the traveling habit".<ref name=SPL-1915-7 /> In June 1894, it moved across Second Avenue to 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 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.<ref name=SPL-1915-7 /> 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]].<ref name=SPL-1915-8>{{harvnb |Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=8}}</ref>

Meanwhile, in 1896, the library established a [[bookbinding|bindery]], and a new city charter drastically decreased 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.<ref name=SPL-1915-7 />

===Early 20th century: the first great era of growth===
On the night of January 1, 1901, the Yesler Mansion burned taking most of the library collection with it.<ref>According to {{Harvnb|Peterson|Davenport|1950|p=178}}, the library had about 25,000 volumes at the time of the fire.</ref> The library records were salvaged, along with 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,<ref name=SPL-1915-8 /> then moved to a building that had been left behind when the [[University of Washington]] had moved from downtown to its present campus.<ref name=SPL-1915-9>{{harvnb |Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=9}}</ref> By January 6, [[Andrew Carnegie]] had promised $200,000 to build a new Seattle library; he later added another $20,000 when this budget proved inadequate.<ref name=SPL-1915-8 />

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 was broken in spring 1905 and the library was dedicated December 19, 1906.<ref name=SPL-1915-8 /> Shortly after moving to these new permanent quarters, Smith was succeeded in 1907 by [[Judson Toll Jennings|Judson T. Jennings]].<ref name=SPL-1915-9 />

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 was established in 1906, the art division in 1907, and the technology division in 1912. Branch libraries had opened in rented quarters in [[Fremont, Seattle, Washington|Fremont]] (1903), [[Green Lake, Seattle, Washington|Green Lake]] (1905), and the [[University District, Seattle, Washington|University District]] (1908). In 1908, Carnegie donated $105,000 to build permanent branches in the University District, Green Lake, and [[West Seattle, Seattle, Washington|West Seattle]] (all of which opened in summer 1910). The annexation by Seattle of the city of [[Ballard, Seattle, Washington|Ballard]] brought with it another already established Carnegie library, and a further Carnegie donation of $70,000 in 1911 built the [[Queen Anne, Seattle, Washington|Queen Anne]] branch (opened 1914) and the Columbia Branch (opened December 31, 1915 in [[Columbia City, Seattle, Washington|Columbia City]]). The land in the [[Central District, Seattle, Washington|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 a library about {{convert|1|mi|km}} east of downtown and named after Yesler.<ref name=SPL-1915-9 /> 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.<ref name=SPL-hist />

<!--====The view from 1915 to 1916====
[[File:Seattle Public Library storytime 1915.jpg|thumb|Outdoor storytime, 1915]]
[[File:Green Lake Library-1.jpg|thumb|The [[Mission Revival Style architecture|Mission-style]] Green Lake Branch, built 1905, is one of the surviving libraries from this era.]]
The library's 1915 annual report, on the 25th anniversary of the library, attempted something of a summing up. With reference to the nature of a public library, it stated:
<blockquote>'''The public library''' holds no brief for any ''ism'', but after all, what is the institution itself but a particularly good example of applied socialism. It represents government ownership of the bookshelf, for the library is supported entirely by the people of Seattle for their own welfare and use. It is our common property in books.{{sfn|Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=13}}</blockquote>

As for how the library selected books, the 1915 annual report explained:
<blockquote>The ideal of every library is to get a good working collection in which every field of thought and action is represented and every race, nationality, profession, trade or local custom recognized: always with a due regard to proportion and balance in the collection. …[I]n a new, rapidly changing [community] such as ours… attainment [of this ideal] is a long way in the future. Even to approximate it requires much study of the community and of books. … Out in the Far West we must depend, in large part, for reviews and notices of books for our first knowledged of them. … We read carefully our two library “tools,″ the [[American Library Association]] Booklist and the [[Book Review Digest]]… We also make use of lists published by other libraries, and of publishers' notices though the latter… cannot be depended upon… Our chief dependence, however, is placed upon book reviews appearing in the better magazines. … The selection of the fiction is perhaps the most difficult of all…<br /><br />While we cannot boast that our books are “made in Seattle,” we may say that they are bought in Seattle … in so far as is consistent with the best interests of the library…{{sfn|Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=16}}</blockquote>

The report describes such economies as waiting for the prices of certain expensive books to drop a year or more after initial issue and that the librarians have become "practiced and merciless beggars" of government documents from around the country and the world.{{sfn|Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=17}}-->
Even as early as 1915, the library 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 language|Croatian]], "Dano-Norwegian" ([[Bokmål]]), [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Modern Greek]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], and [[Yiddish]]. Ten other languages were also lightly represented.{{sfn|Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=37}} Seattle also had established one of only three collections for 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.{{sfn|Seattle Public Library annual report |1915 |p=38}}

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 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."<ref>{{Harvnb|Fleming|1919|p=43}}</ref>

===Mid 20th century stagnation===
[[File:Seattle - Northeast Library 01.jpg|thumb|The [[Paul Thiry (architect)|Paul Thiry]]-designed North East branch (opened 1954) stood in sharp architectural contrast to the older branch libraries.]]
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".<ref name=SPL-hist /> In 1930, 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 was $40,000 less than its 1931 budget.<ref name=SPL-hist />

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.<ref name=SPL-hist /> Nonetheless, 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Peterson|Davenport|1950|p=182}}</ref> Bond issue votes to build a more modern central library failed in 1950 and 1952.<ref name=SPL-hist />

At mid-century, The Seattle Public Library had numerous "book stations" for areas with no branch as such, in locations such as 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, Washington|King County]] patrons outside the city.<ref name="Peterson 1950 p=181">{{Harvnb|Peterson|Davenport|1950|p=181}}</ref>

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, the library subscribed to 200 newspapers (mostly from Washington State) and 1,700 periodicals.<ref name="Peterson 1950 p=181"/>

===The 1960s===
[[File:Downtown Seattle Public Library, 1969.jpg|thumb|The Bindon and Wright downtown library (just below center), photographed here in 1969]]
[[File:Seattle - Magnolia Library 01.jpg|thumb|Stairs lead up through a garden to the Magnolia library]]
The city finally passed its first-ever library bond issue in 1956. This funded, among other things, a new $4.5 million, {{convert|206000|ft2|m2|adj=on}} central library, designed in the [[International style (architecture)|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 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 (artist)|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.<ref name=SPL-hist />

The new library energized 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.<ref name=SPL-hist />

The 1956 bond issue also provided $500,000 for branch libraries. This paid for the construction of the Southwest Branch (1961), a new Ballard Branch (1963; later Abraxus Books<ref>Rebekah Schilperoort, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704061809/https://ballardnewstribune.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/local_news/news01.txt Condo delayed; bookstore stays], ''Ballard News-Tribune'', May 15, 2007. Accessed online 29 August 2008. Archived from [https://ballardnewstribune.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/local_news/news01.txt the original] on July 4, 2008.</ref>), 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.<ref name=SPL-hist />

===Late 20th century: Recession and recovery===
In 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.<ref name=SPL-hist />

A $2.3 million federal grant refurbished and expanded public areas of 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]].<ref name=SPL-hist />

Meanwhile, capping the career of Library Board president Virginia Burnside, The Seattle Public Library Foundation was established in 1980 to increase outside financial support of the Library. By the mid-1990s, during the [[Dot-com bubble|dot-com boom]] years, annual donations exceeded $1 million, while library circulation passed 5 million items annually.<ref name=SPL-hist />

===1998&ndash;present: "Libraries for All"===
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 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.<ref name="SPL Fact Sheets">{{cite web |title=The Seattle Public Library: Fact Sheets |website=spl.org |date=2007-06-09 |url=https://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_history_factsheets |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813022731/https://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_history_factsheets |archive-date=2007-08-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The system also provides 1,134 public computers.<ref name="2006 Annual Report">{{cite web |title=More Than Books: The Seattle Public Library 2006 Annual Report |website=spl.org |date=2011-06-12 |url=https://www.spl.org/pdfs/2006AnnualReport.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080410165010/https://www.spl.org/pdfs/2006AnnualReport.pdf |archive-date=2008-04-10 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Anyone with 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.<ref name="2006 Annual Report"/>

From 1993 to 2004, the library was home to [[Nancy Pearl]], one of 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,<ref name="Ward 2012">{{cite journal |last=Ward |first=Jonna |title=From the Executive Director |journal=The Next Chapter |publisher=Seattle Public Library Foundation |publication-place=Seattle |date=Winter 2012 |oclc=47843008 |page=2}}</ref> in November 2012 Seattle voters passed 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.<ref name="Levy Winter 2012">{{cite journal |title=Library Levy Brings Big Changes in 2013 |journal=The Next Chapter |publisher=Seattle Public Library Foundation |publication-place=Seattle |date=Winter 2012 |oclc=47843008 |page=1}}</ref>

The library unveiled its proposed rebranding strategy in September 2015, including a new name and new logo,<ref>{{cite web |date=September 25, 2015 |title=Background information about the Proposed Rebrand |url=http://www.spl.org/about-the-library/2015-proposed-rebrand |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713071857/https://www.spl.org/about-the-library/2015-proposed-rebrand |archive-date=July 13, 2016 |access-date=October 31, 2015 |publisher=Seattle Public Library}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Library Board President Theresa Fujiwara's statement on board decision not to change Library name, logo |date=October 28, 2015 |publisher=Seattle Public Library |url=http://www.spl.org/about-the-library/leaders-and-organizations/library-board-of-trustees/decision-on-library-name-change |last=Fujiwara |first=Theresa |access-date=October 31, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031204907/https://www.spl.org/about-the-library/leaders-and-organizations/library-board-of-trustees/decision-on-library-name-change |archive-date=October 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gwinn |first=Mary Ann |date=October 28, 2015 |title=Seattle Public Library board rejects $935K name change to 'Seattle Public Libraries' |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/seattle-public-library-board-rejects-proposed-name-change/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=October 31, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Cassuto 2015">{{cite web |last=Cassuto |first=Dan |title=Seattle Public Library wants to drop the 'y' |website=king5.com |date=2015-10-28 |url=https://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/10/28/seattle-public-library-new-brand/74764700/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101013135/https://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/10/28/seattle-public-library-new-brand/74764700/ |archive-date=2015-11-01 |url-status=dead |access-date=2024-09-10}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 6, 2019 |title=$219M Seattle library levy that would kill overdue fines is heading toward approval |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-library-levy-on-its-way-to-approval-in-early-ballot-returns/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=January 2, 2020}}</ref> The levy also included funding to eliminate [[late fee|overdue fines]] for patrons, which came into effect on January 2, 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last=Macdonald |first=Moira |date=December 13, 2019 |title=Seattle Public Library sets start date for eliminating overdue fines |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-public-library-announces-start-date-for-eliminating-overdue-fines/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=January 2, 2020}}</ref>

During the beginning of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Washington (state)|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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Macdonald |first=Moira |date=July 15, 2021 |title=Seattle Public Library takes small steps toward reopening |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/seattle-public-library-takes-small-steps-toward-reopening/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Seattle's Central Library to Offer Curbside Pickup of Books and Materials Beginning Aug. 6 |date=August 3, 2020 |publisher=Seattle Public Library |url=https://www.spl.org/about-us/news-releases/curbside-pickup-begins-aug-6 |access-date=October 14, 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930000754/https://www.spl.org/about-us/news-releases/curbside-pickup-begins-aug-6 |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |accessdate=}}</ref> Five branches were reopened in April to provide public bathrooms to unsheltered and homeless people in the city, but other services remained closed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brownstone |first1=Sydney |last2=Beekman |first2=Daniel |date=April 21, 2020 |title=Seattle will reopen 5 library bathrooms during coronavirus pandemic |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/seattle-will-reopen-5-library-bathrooms-during-coronavirus-pandemic/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref> The first branches reopened on April 27, 2021, and the final branch reopened in October.<ref>{{cite news |last=Macdonald |first=Moira |date=April 7, 2021 |title=Seattle Public Library will reopen 3 branches soon, but browsing shelves won't be allowed just yet |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/seattle-public-library-to-reopen-3-branches-kcls-open-branches-expands-to-11/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=The Seattle Public Library Reaches Milestone With Newholly Branch Reopening |date=October 14, 2021 |publisher=Seattle Public Library |url=https://www.spl.org/about-us/news-releases/library-reaches-a-new-milestone-with-the-newholly-branch-reopening |access-date=October 14, 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029174541/https://www.spl.org/about-us/news-releases/library-reaches-a-new-milestone-with-the-newholly-branch-reopening |archive-date=October 29, 2021}}</ref> The library system incurred an estimated $434,188 in property damage during the pandemic, particularly at the Central Library.<ref>{{cite news |last=Robertson |first=Sebastian |date=October 13, 2021 |title=Seattle Public Library branches rack up more than $434,000 in damage during pandemic |url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle-public-library-branches-rack-up-more-than-434000-in-damage-during-pandemic/281-dff61658-91b3-4f4d-97de-44698843060b |publisher=KING 5 News |accessdate=October 14, 2021}}</ref>

The library's checkout and online services were shut down by a [[ransomware]] attack in late May 2024 after a period of scheduled maintenance.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gaitán |first=Catalina |date=May 28, 2024 |title=Seattle Public Library goes offline after ransomware event |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-public-library-goes-offline-after-ransomware-event/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=May 29, 2024}}</ref> Branch services remained open and some online services were restored by May 29.<ref>{{cite news |last=Soper |first=Taylor |date=May 29, 2024 |title=Why did ransomware hackers target Seattle Public Library? |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2024/why-did-ransomware-hackers-target-seattle-public-library/ |work=[[GeekWire]] |accessdate=May 29, 2024}}</ref> By August, most online services had been restored, with the goal of all online services being available by the end of August.<ref>{{cite news |last=Perez |first=Kate |date=August 6, 2024 |title=Seattle Public Library still reeling from May cyberattack |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-public-library-still-reeling-from-may-cyberattack/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=October 14, 2024}}</ref> The attack's data breach included information from 26,965 patrons and employees; the library's response and investigation was contracted to private consultants at a total cost of $1 million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Girgis |first=Lauren |date=March 11, 2025 |title=Seattle library ransomware attack affected nearly 27K people |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-library-ransomware-attack-affected-nearly-27k-people/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 15, 2025}}</ref>