Seattle’s City Librarian Honored
As Public Official of the Year
Deborah L. Jacobs, city librarian for Seattle Public Library since 1997, has been named by Governing magazine as a Public Official of the Year for 2001. Joining her are eight other public officials including the governor of Michigan, the mayor of Boston, and a state legislator from Texas. Jacobs, the first librarian to receive the award, told the magazine that she is proud “the incredible work our library staff, library board, and policymakers are doing is being recognized at a national level.”
In 1998, a $196.4 million bond proposal was passed for a new central library, capital improvements at all 22 branch libraries, and construction of five new branches. A smaller bond proposal had failed in 1994; much of the credit for the passing of the later bond issue went to Jacobs. “Libraries are the most empowering and democratic institutions,” Jacobs told Governing. “To be able to practice my politics and serve the public in this setting is thrilling.”
The editors of the magazine make the final award selections from nominations submitted by the public and after consulting experts and scholars in the field. This is not Jacobs’s first national recognition: The American Library Association honored her as a champion of intellectual freedom in 1999 and Library Journal named her Librarian of the Year in 1994.
Posted November 5, 2001.
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