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King County Library System history
King County Library System company history timeline
On June 14, 1943, the King County Rural Library District and the Seattle Public Library entered into a contract that allowed all county library patrons to utilize all services of all branches of the Seattle Public Library, including interlibrary loans.
The contract went into effect on September 1, 1943, giving residents of rural King County the immediate opportunity to access the collection of what was at the time the largest public library in the Pacific Northwest.
On January 3, 1944, Richmond Beach Library became the second library to join, bringing 1,296 volumes to the county collection.
The mobile unit, which had been used as part of the W.P.A. (Works Progress/Projects Administration) library demonstration project, was overhauled and made its first run on July 13, 1944.
Mercer Island, Foster, Skykomish, Woodinville, White Center Heights, and Duwamish (which developed from a bookmobile stop site) joined during the first half of 1945.
Issaquah, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Tolt-Carnation, and Bothell (all incorporated cities) signed the services contract in 1946.
The year 1947 saw the addition of libraries in Redmond and Pacific (both contracting incorporated cities) and Maple Valley.
Richmond Beach Library, King County Library System, Richmond Beach, 1948
The library district first rented central-services office space at 906 and 908 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle, then purchased a building at 1100 E Union Street in 1952.
The Library Location Plan, published in July 1965, served to guide placement of the new libraries, and reorientation of some existing libraries.
In 1972, King County Library began using Xerox computer-produced catalogs.
By 1977, 24 projects had actually been completed.
King County Rural Library District funding (as of 1977) came from a tax levy of not more than $.50 per thousand dollars of assessed property value, with a cap prohibiting collection of more than 106 percent of the highest amount collected in the previous three years.
In 1977 when the report was issued, five library systems were in place within King County: the municipal systems of Seattle, Enumclaw, Auburn, and Renton, and KCLS.
In 1991, the system gained an important resource: the King County Library System Foundation.
Under a $172 million capital bond passed in 2004, the King County Library system is rebuilding, renovating, and expanding most of its existing libraries, as well as building new libraries.
In 2011, KCLS won the Gale/Library Journal "Library of the Year" award.
The KCLS budget for 2017 was $120 million.
In 2020, King County residents checked out almost 15 million items, including 9.2 million digital ebooks and audio books, making KCLS the number one circulating library for online downloads in the United States.
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King County Library System competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sno-Isle Libraries | - | $37.1M | 319 | - |
| Clermont County Public Library | - | $27.0M | 93 | 9 |
| Finkelstein Memorial Library | - | $5.7M | 100 | - |
| Wake County | 1997 | $2.2M | 100 | 29 |
| Burnaby Public Library | - | $14.3M | 250 | - |
| James V. Brown Library | 1907 | $2.6M | 51 | - |
| Greenville County Library System | 1921 | $12.0M | 200 | - |
| SF Public Library | 1878 | $38.0M | 503 | - |
| Pierce County Library System | 1946 | $30.9M | 193 | 1 |
| Boston Public Library | 1848 | $46.2M | 310 | - |
King County Library System history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of King County Library System, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about King County Library System. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at King County Library System. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by King County Library System. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of King County Library System and its employees or that of Zippia.
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