Seattle City Librarian Deborah Jacobs and Mayor Paul Schell pitched a $234.6-million facilities expansion proposal to the Seattle Public Library board of trustees and city council March 13. Titled "Libraries for All," the plan calls for upgrading every branch library in the city, adding three new ones, replacing six existing ones, and building a new 355,000-square-foot central facility at the library's current location downtown, where it has been since 1906.
"This proposal is built on literally thousands of hours of community conversations over the course of more than six years," Jacobs said. It requires the approval of a $195.5-million bond measure by voters in November. Other funding would come from private donations and other city sources, according to the March 14 Seattle Times. It also asks the city to increase the library's operating budget by $8.6 million over the next decade. Seattle's city council now must decide whether to add the proposal to next fall's ballot.
Posted March 23, 1998.