The fine writer Paul Constant discusses the future of the Seattle Public Library (a picture of the main branch's interior is pictured above) in The Stranger.
From the story...
Seattle Public Library is at a crossroads. About a year and a half after the completion of the Libraries for All initiative that saw the SPL system expand to 26 branches across the city, and a few months after budget cuts brought more than half of those branches down to an anemic, five-day-a-week schedule, the system suffers from a complex layering of crises. The Library Board of Trustees is attempting to reimagine the library for a future it considers to be more about information than physical books while balancing the system's $50 million annual budget. City Librarian Susan Hildreth is spearheading a rebranding program that includes surveys, focus groups, and an added advisory board. Meanwhile, many librarians feel unrepresented by management, and some fear retribution for speaking their minds against new policies and restructuring.
The first public sign of SPL's desire to rebrand came on March 1, when the Central Library hosted the first of five events titled "Citywide Conversations: Help Plan the Future of the Library." The events were the first phase of a reenvisioning campaign the library board began immediately after the completion of the Libraries for All initiative to prepare the library for the changing face of information technology in the early 21st century.
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