Sno-Isle Libraries

Last updated
Sno-Isle Libraries
Sno-Isle Libraries logo.svg
Marysville, WA public library - 01.jpg
The Marysville branch of Sno-Isle Libraries, opened in 1995
Sno-Isle Libraries
48°03′46″N122°11′09″W / 48.06278°N 122.18583°W / 48.06278; -122.18583
Type Public library
EstablishedDecember 17, 1962
Service area Island and Snohomish counties, Washington
Branches23
Collection
Size1.56 million items
Access and use
Circulation7.4 million
Population served800,969
Members431,010
Other information
Budget$77 million (2023) [1]
DirectorLois Langer Thompson
Employees363
Website sno-isle.org
References: Washington Public Library Statistical Report, 2022 [2]

Sno-Isle Libraries is a public library system serving Island and Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington. The system is among the largest in Washington state and has an annual circulation of 11 million materials. The library's 23 branches and bookmobile services reach every incorporated city in the two counties, with the exception of Everett (which retains its own municipal system) and Woodway. Sno-Isle was formed in 1962, from the merger of two systems serving each county that were established in 1944 and 1962.

Contents

History

While cities in Island and Snohomish counties established their own libraries in the early 20th century, the first inter-city system was created by voters in unincorporated Snohomish County in 1944. [3] The system's creation was spurred by the state legislature's approval of rural library districts in 1941. [4] The new Snohomish County Library was temporarily headquartered in the basement of the separate Everett Public Library before moving to another building in Everett. The system's first library was in Alderwood Manor; [5] the first bookmobile was purchased in 1947. [6]

The state government sponsored demonstration library and bookmobile projects on Camano and Whidbey islands in 1961, which created interest in establishing an Island County system. [7] The Island County Rural Library District was established by voters in November 1962 and merged with the Snohomish County system on December 17, [8] forming the Snohomish-Island Inter-County Rural Library District. [9] [10]

The new library system was named "Sno-Isle" to reflect the two counties. [11] A new headquarters building near Marysville was constructed in 1965. [5] Initially, the Sno-Isle Regional Library signed contracts with incorporated cities to operate their libraries and join the system for a fixed amount. [12] Rural branches would rely on property taxes generated within the district, as well as donations from organizations and members of the community. [13] Incorporated cities began voting to annex themselves into the Sno-Isle district in the late 1980s, [14] with promises of new libraries and potential cost savings over the contracted service. [15]

All Sno-Isle branches were closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but reopened with curbside pick-up service three months later. [16] In-person services resumed at some branches in early 2021. [17]

In 2024, the city government of Everett proposed a consolidation of their city libraries with Sno-Isle to address a budget deficit. [18] The Everett Public Library's board of trustees opposed the proposal, which would require voter approval. [19]

Branches

The Mariner demonstration library, which opened in 2016 Mariner demonstration library, Everett, WA.jpg
The Mariner demonstration library, which opened in 2016

As of 2018, the Sno-Isle Libraries system has 23 branches. [20] They serve every city in Island and Snohomish counties, with the exception of two cities: Everett, which has its own system, and Woodway, which had contracted service until 1978. [14] The system covers an area of 2,260 square miles (5,900 km2) and a population of over 700,000 residents. [21]

Two locations, in the Mariner area of Everett and Smokey Point area of Arlington, are "demonstration" libraries that are in leased retail spaces that precede a permanent branch. [20] [22] The Camano Island location was formerly a demonstration library that was replaced by a permanent branch in 2015. [20] A permanent library for the Mariner neighborhood is planned to begin construction in 2026 as part of a mixed-use development. [23]

NameAnnexed [24] Building opened [25] Floor space [25]
sq ftsq m
Arlington 19815,000460
Brier 19962,800260
Camano Island 20154,900460
Clinton 20001,300120
Coupeville 20106,000560
Darrington 200820095,000460
Edmonds 2001198220,0001,900
Freeland 20064,800450
Granite Falls 20016,500600
Lake Stevens 200819852,500230
Lakewood/Smokey Point [26] 20184,000370
Langley 201219233,500330
Lynnwood 199925,9002,410
Mariner (Everett) [27] 20173,700340
Marysville 1968199523,0002,100
Mill Creek 19927,400690
Monroe 1966200220,0001,900
Mountlake Terrace 1985198812,8001,190
Mukilteo 1996199815,0001,400
Oak Harbor 199311,2001,040
Snohomish 200323,0002,100
Stanwood 19865,400500
Sultan 200819994,400410

Operations

The Sno-Isle Libraries system is headquartered at an administration and processing center on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, west of Marysville. [28] It is governed by a seven-member board of trustees, of whom two are appointed by Island County and five by Snohomish County. [29] The system is overseen by an executive director that is appointed by the board of trustees. Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory, a longtime library employee, was appointed as executive director in 2002 and retired in 2018. [30] [31]

The library system has annual expenditures of $77 million and revenues of $74 million. [1] As of 2017, 98 percent of revenue was generated by a property tax levied on all properties within the district. [32] The remaining two percent of revenue were sourced from a timber excise tax, a leasehold excise tax, contract fees from municipal governments, and donations. [33]

In 2022, Sno-Isle had a total circulation of 7.4 million items, placing it third in Washington behind the King County Library System and Seattle Public Library. [2] It had the state's fifth-highest turnover rate, at 4.74 checkouts per item. [2] : 22 

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snohomish County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

Snohomish County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most populous in the United States. The county seat and largest city is Everett. The county forms part of the Seattle metropolitan area, which also includes King and Pierce counties to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlington, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Arlington is a city in northern Snohomish County, Washington, United States, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The city lies on the Stillaguamish River in the western foothills of the Cascade Range, adjacent to the city of Marysville. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Everett, the county seat, and 40 miles (64 km) north of Seattle, the state's largest city. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Arlington had a population of 19,868; its estimated population is 20,075 as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darrington, Washington</span> Town in Washington, United States

Darrington is a town in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in a North Cascades mountain valley formed by the Sauk and North Fork Stillaguamish rivers. Darrington is connected to nearby areas by State Route 530, which runs along the two rivers towards the city of Arlington, located 30 miles (48 km) to the west, and Rockport. It had a population of 1,347 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmonds, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located 15 miles (24 km) north of Seattle and 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Everett. With a population of 42,853 residents in the 2020 U.S. census, Edmonds is the third most populous city in the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granite Falls, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Granite Falls is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located between the Pilchuck and Stillaguamish rivers in the western foothills of the Cascade Range, northeast of Lake Stevens and Marysville. The city is named for a waterfall north of downtown on the Stillaguamish River, also accessible via the Mountain Loop Highway. It had a population of 3,364 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Stevens, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Lake Stevens is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States, that is named for the lake it surrounds. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Everett and borders the cities of Marysville to the northwest and Snohomish to the south. The city's population was 35,630 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynnwood, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located 16 miles (26 km) north of Seattle and 13 miles (21 km) south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the fourth-largest city in Snohomish County, with a population of 38,568 in the 2020 U.S. census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marysville, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Marysville is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The city is located 35 miles (56 km) north of Seattle, adjacent to Everett on the north side of the Snohomish River delta. It is the second-largest city in Snohomish County after Everett, with a population of 70,714 at the time of the 2020 U.S. census. As of 2015, Marysville was also the fastest-growing city in Washington state, growing at an annual rate of 2.5 percent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountlake Terrace, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Mountlake Terrace is a suburban city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It lies on the southern border of the county, adjacent to Shoreline and Lynnwood, and is 13 miles (21 km) north of Seattle. The city had a population of 19,909 people counted in the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukilteo, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Mukilteo is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on Puget Sound between Edmonds and Everett, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2019 population of 21,441.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snohomish, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Snohomish is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,126 at the 2020 census. It is located on the Snohomish River, southeast of Everett and northwest of Monroe. Snohomish lies at the intersection of U.S. Route 2 and State Route 9. The city's airport, Harvey Airfield, is located south of downtown and used primarily for general aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanwood, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Stanwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is located 50 miles (80 km) north of Seattle, at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River near Camano Island. As of the 2020 census, its population is 7,705.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Sultan is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located approximately 23 miles (37 km) east of Everett at the confluence of the Skykomish River and the Sultan River, a minor tributary. The city had a population of 5,146 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodway, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Woodway is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,318 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camano Island</span> CDP in Washington, United States

Camano Island is a large island in Possession Sound, a section of Puget Sound. It is part of Island County, Washington, and is located between Whidbey Island and the mainland by the Saratoga Passage to the west and Port Susan and Davis Slough to the east. The island has one road connection to the mainland, via State Route 532 over the Camano Gateway Bridge at the northeast end of the island, connecting to the city of Stanwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community Transit</span> Bus transit agency serving Snohomish County, Washington

Community Transit (CT) is the public transit authority of Snohomish County, Washington, United States, excluding the city of Everett, in the Seattle metropolitan area. It operates local bus, paratransit and vanpool service within Snohomish County, as well as commuter buses to Downtown Seattle and Northgate station. CT is publicly funded, financed through sales taxes, and farebox revenue, with an operating budget of $133.2 million. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 7,133,700, or about 24,700 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024, placing it fourth among transit agencies in the Puget Sound region. The city of Everett, which serves as the county seat, is served by Everett Transit, a municipal transit system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington State Route 204</span> Highway in Washington

State Route 204 (SR 204) is a short state highway in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It connects U.S. Route 2 (US 2) at the eastern end of the Hewitt Avenue Trestle to the city of Lake Stevens, terminating at a junction with SR 9. The highway runs for a total length of 2.4 miles (3.9 km) and passes through several suburban neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everett Public Library</span>

The Everett Public Library (EPL) serves the residents of Everett, Washington. EPL operates a main library at 2702 Hoyt Avenue and the Evergreen branch, at 9512 Evergreen Way. The main library overlooks Puget Sound and the southern end of Whidbey Island. The library has noteworthy artworks, including works by Dudley Pratt, Ransom Patrick, Guy Anderson, Jack Gunter, and Sonja Blomdahl. The library circulates over 900,000 items per year, provides book and media collections, reference services, on-line resources, in-home library services, and programs for adults, children and families. The library's staff includes specialists in adult reference, children's books, and local history. The Everett Public Library introduced a bookmobile service in May 1924; the first of its kind in Washington state, and the second in the West. It is also one of the few public library systems in the United States that has two full-time history specialists on staff. Northwest Room co-founders Margaret Riddle and David Dilgard retired after 31 and 40 years respectively, and their positions are currently filled by Lisa Labovitch with the second role waiting to be posted.

The University of Washington North Sound was a proposed new University of Washington branch campus that may be placed at one of two sites. The sites had to be north of Lynnwood and south of Arlington, and have good transportation access. The two proposed sites are in Smokey Point and in Everett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everett, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Everett is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is 25 miles (40 km) north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-most populous city in the state by population, with 110,629 residents as of the 2020 census. The city is primarily situated on a peninsula at the mouth of the Snohomish River along Port Gardner Bay, an inlet of Possession Sound, and extends to the south and west.

References

  1. 1 2 "2023 Adopted Budget" (PDF). Sno-Isle Libraries. November 21, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "2022 Washington Public Library Statistical Report" (PDF). Washington State Library. September 2023. pp. 64–66, 70, 74. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Sno-Isle Regional Library celebrating anniversaries". The Enterprise . Lynnwood, Washington. April 28, 1965. p. 3.
  4. ↑ "Rural Areas Seek Vote On Libraries". The Everett Herald. September 20, 1944. p. 1.
  5. 1 2 "Sno-Isle Library Plans to Move This Year Into $215,000 Building". The Everett Herald. April 22, 1965. p. A1. Retrieved March 5, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Heath, Susan (March 1, 1965). "Sno-Isle Librarian Emily Wilson 'Never Wavered From Career Choice'". The Everett Herald. p. A10. Retrieved March 5, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "50th Anniversary Celebration in 2012". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  8. ↑ Establishes an inter-county rural library district (Resolution). Snohomish County Council. December 17, 1962. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  9. ↑ Salyer, Sharon (April 12, 2012). "50 years later, Sno-Isle Libraries 'bet' a success". The Everett Herald . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Sno-Isle Libraries history". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ "New name for regional library". The Enterprise. Lynnwood, Washington. February 27, 1963. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "Lynnwood Civic Center Near". The Seattle Times . December 28, 1969. p. F5.
  13. ↑ Macdonald, Sally (January 14, 1981). "Friends come to rescue of library". The Seattle Times. p. G4.
  14. 1 2 Brooks, Diane (August 9, 2006). "No library cards?! Families' petition spurs Sept. 19 vote". The Seattle Times. p. H3. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ Bergsman, Jerry (December 8, 1987). "Sno-Island library system looks for levy help". The Seattle Times. p. D3.
  16. ↑ Bruestle, Sara (June 18, 2020). "Curbside service beckons bookworms to downtown Everett library". The Everett Herald. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  17. ↑ Dennis, Ellen (March 6, 2021). "Shrinking the 'digital divide,' area libraries slowly reopen". The Everett Herald. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  18. ↑ Nash, Ashley (January 11, 2024). "Amid deficit, Everett eyes joining fire authority, Sno-Isle libraries". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  19. ↑ Nash, Ashley (February 20, 2024). "Everett library trustees 'ideally' don't want to merge with Sno-Isle". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  20. 1 2 3 Bray, Kari (January 2, 2018). "Sno-Isle library to open in Smokey Point, in leased space". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Sno-Isle Libraries at a glance". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  22. ↑ Bray, Kari (February 9, 2017). "Everett community finally gets long-awaited library". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  23. ↑ Gates, Sophia (June 5, 2024). "Coming soon: A Sno-Isle library on the ground floor, with housing above". The Everett Herald. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Library Service Providers Listed by County". Municipal Research and Services Center . Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  25. 1 2 Bray, Kari (May 16, 2016). "Sno-Isle Libraries seek input on 10-year growth plan". The Everett Herald. Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  26. ↑ Buell, Douglas (December 13, 2017). "Lakewood/Smokey Point Library to celebrate grand opening in January". Marysville Globe. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Mariner Library - Meeting Rooms and Other Services". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Administrative & Service Center". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Sno-Isle Regional Library Board Of Trustees". Snohomish County. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  30. ↑ Reardon, Kate (March 25, 2002). "Sno-Isle library hires chief". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  31. ↑ Bray, Kari (May 21, 2018). "Sno-Isle Libraries executive director retiring after 33 years". The Everett Herald. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  32. ↑ Stevick, Eric (December 1, 2017). "Sno-Isle Libraries will have to make cuts or go to voters". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Funding sources". Sno-Isle Libraries. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.