Library Services – Shelf Talk

The Library’s First-Ever Electric Bookmobile

The Seattle Public Library’s Mobile Services has a sweet new ride — our first-ever electric Bookmobile.

The Seattle Public Library’s Mobile Services’ staff in front of their sweet new ride.

The Library worked with the Seattle’s City Fleets to replace one of our aging Mobile Services delivery vans with a new electric Ford E-Transit. The electric van is one of four Mobile Services vehicles that brings carts of library materials into low-income senior housing, assisted living facilities and preschools.

In total, we make monthly visits to 97 partner locations throughout the city to reach preschoolers, older adults, and patrons with disabilities.

Electric Bookmobile

The Library’s Mobile Services staff are excited not only because it’s our first electric vehicle, but also because it’s easier to park than our other vans and has enhanced safety features.

The Library's electric bookmobile

Wondering about those eye-catching graphics? They are courtesy of the Library’s Marketing & Online Services team.

Want to learn more about The Seattle Public Library’s Mobile Services? Go to https://www.spl.org/MobileServices.

Library calendar improvements launched today

Today, we launched several improvements to our event calendar on spl.org!

Visit www.spl.org/Calendar to see all of the Library’s upcoming author events, learning opportunities, Tax Help sessions, business workshops, musical concerts and more.

We hope you will enjoy the following upgrades:

An upgraded look and feel for a better patron experience, including an optimized mobile experience
More robust support for non-English languages, including fully translated information for all non-English language events and bilingual events
More clearly labeled information about event accessibility
Simpler filters to browse events by program type, intended audience, location and language.

You can learn more about using our online calendar on our website. If you have any questions or run into issues with the upgraded calendar, let us know through our Ask Us service.

Behind the Scenes at Black-Owned Business Excellence: Entrepreneur Tierra Bonds

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Fourth Annual Black-Owned Business Excellence Symposium will be held at the University of Washington Tacoma and online. The Seattle Public Library is a co-sponsor of the symposium.

Now a nonprofit, BOBE started as a collaboration of organizations and individuals to support, educate, inspire and elevate businesses that are owned by underserved business owners in Washington State.

As a Library community partner, BOBE members offer their business and finance expertise to the broader community through Library programs and elsewhere.

Tierra Bonds, owner of Take Charge Credit Consulting, at The Seattle Public Library. Watch her Instagram video about Black-Owned Business Excellence.

In honor of the symposium, we’d like to take you behind the scenes to meet one of BOBE’s leaders. Tierra Bonds, owner of Take Charge Credit Consulting and BOBE board member, has a passion for service, entrepreneurship and providing education that aligns with BOBE’s mission.

“BOBE’s purpose is very similar to the mission of my company, which is to provide necessary resources, support and education to underserved Black business owners and individuals in an effort to reduce the racial wealth gap,” says Tierra. “BOBE meets this mission with a focus on entrepreneurship and Take Charge does so with a focus on credit.”

In this Q&A, Tierra shares her connection to BOBE, the story behind her credit business and how she’s partnering with the Library to Business program to provide credit repair and education to the people who need it most. Continue reading “Behind the Scenes at Black-Owned Business Excellence: Entrepreneur Tierra Bonds”

Seismic Retrofit, Air Conditioning And More Coming To The Library’s Green Lake Branch

The Seattle Public Library’s historically landmarked Green Lake Branch (7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N.) will temporarily close from Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, through early 2024 to undergo major renovations.

This project, funded by the 2019 Library Levy, will include the seismic retrofit of the branch, installation of an electric HVAC system (including air conditioning) and a number of interior and accessibility improvements. The branch book return and parking lot will also be closed for the duration of the project.

Chat About the Project with Chief Librarian Tom Fay

All are invited to join Chief Librarian Tom Fay during his visit the Green Lake Branch on Monday, January 30, from 1 – 2 p.m. Fay will chat with patrons and answer any questions they may have about this project or the Library more generally. Light refreshments will be served.

Service Impacts to Green Lake Branch Patrons

Patrons of the Green Lake Branch may continue selecting the branch as their holds and pickup location until Friday, Jan. 13, when it will be removed from the online catalog as a selection option. Any materials held for patrons at the Green Lake Branch that have not been picked up by Monday, Jan. 23, will be transferred to the holds area of the nearby Greenwood Branch.

Patrons may change their default holds and pickup location any time through their MySPL account online or at any Library information desk. Nearby Library locations include:

- Greenwood Branch, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-684-4086
- Northeast Branch, 6801 35th Ave. N.E., 206-684-7539
- Northgate Branch, 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E., 206-386-1980
- University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-684-4063
- Wallingford Branch, 1501 N. 45th St., 206-684-4088

Continue reading “Seismic Retrofit, Air Conditioning And More Coming To The Library’s Green Lake Branch”

What Seattle Read in 2022: Most Popular Checkouts of the Year

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Curious about which books Seattle’s insatiable readers turned to in 2022? Need a little inspiration for that 2023 book list you’re already making? The Library has you covered.

The most popular fiction book checked out from January through November 2022 was “The Sentence,” by Louise Erdrich. The most checked out e-novel was “The House of Broken Angels” by renowned Mexican-American author Luis Alberto Urrea, the selection for the Library’s 2022 Seattle Reads program. Seattle’s community of e-audiobook listeners checked out “Braiding Sweetgrass,” read by author Robin Wall Kimmerer, more than any other e-audiobook.

Several books by Northwest authors also ranked high in popularity in 2022, including “Secret Seattle,” by Library staff member Susanna Ryan; “Red Paint,” by Coast Salish author Sasha LaPointe; The Final Case, by David Guterson; and “Grains for every Season,” by Oregon chef Joshua McFadden (with Martha Holmberg).

Here are the other most popular fiction and nonfiction books, e-books and e-audiobooks among Library patrons last year. Please note that these lists were compiled from anonymous checkout data collected from January 1 through November 30, 2022.