Library Hours Six Months Later, part VI: Other local governmental libraries

Dear Diary,

This page goes in this order:  municipality libraries, school district libraries, tribal libraries, county libraries.

I have different criteria for inclusion in this part and subsequent ones.  In this part and the next, I'm listing all libraries known to me, primarily from the Washington State Library's library database, that are owned by units of government.  I'm covering in more detail those that were, before the pandemic, open to the general public without a fee.  I take for granted that all are within buildings that have restrooms and water fountains.  Library cards, let alone ones that are free for Seattleites, aren't a criterion anywhere but public libraries in this page; going forward, "open to the public" is the replacement criterion.

But I also demand that the library have at least basic documentation online.  Its address, its hours, and whether it is, in fact, open to the public.  (I'm willing to infer that last from a few indicators:  Does the library invite people to visit?  Does it emphasise that library cards aren't available to all visitors?)  Libraries without their own Web pages (and this part notes many such) are highly unlikely to meet these criteria.

Libraries owned by municipalities

I remember reading that Seattle had a municipal law library, but closed it because there were so many others in town, and specifically the UW's.  Google now professes to know nothing of this; ditto, near as I can tell, The Seattle Times.  In any event, that means the heading of this section is a cheat, because the libraries database, the main tool I'm using for lists of governmental libraries, currently knows of only one municipal library other than public libraries in western Washington, and I don't know of any others myself.

The Seattle Municipal Archives

The Seattle Municipal Archives, before the pandemic, were open to the public, 8 A.M. to 4:45 P.M. Mondays through Fridays, but preferred that one make an appointment first.   They're now "open by appointment only with limited capacity".  They're in Seattle's City Hall, which definitely does have restrooms and water fountains open to the public, but the public area of the Archives is limited to one "research room", to enter which one must sign in, and in which "food and drink" aren't allowed.

Libraries owned by school districts

No, dear Diary, I'm not going there, encouraging homeless people to go to grade schools to use the restrooms.  I doubt most public schools in western Washington are open to the public - certainly the Seattle ones aren't.  So while I certainly hope most of them have libraries (which can't be taken for granted), those libraries aren't on-topic for you.

Jefferson County, in particular, may be an exception:  the Jefferson County Library explicitly says:  "Through a consortium agreement, Jefferson County Library cardholders have access to materials from the ... Port Townsend, Quilcene, and Brinnon School libraries."  But since I've never had a JCL card, I can't know that it really is an exception.  Maybe materials from the school libraries are only available by placing holds, as with materials in KCLS's administrative building.

For all I know, school districts in western Washington may have district libraries open to the public, as opposed to individual school libraries not open to the public, but if they exist at all, they aren't known to the libraries database that's my source.

Anyway, let's go on.

Libraries owned by Indian tribes

Because I'm not myself Indian by most definitions (although family legend, as is true of many white people in America, claims a 19th century Cherokee ancestress), I'm treating this section as something of an ethical minefield.  Sorry for some stilted wording, dear Diary.

The first question here is to define an American "Indian tribe".

There are twenty-five organisations, and a lot of individuals, mostly members of those organisations, in western Washington, that and who would very much like everyone to define "American Indian tribe" as "federally recognized American Indian tribe".  By which standard, only those twenty-five organisations, in western Washington, meet the definition.

Some states recognise tribes the federal government doesn't, but Washington appears not to be one of those states.  The American Library Association, however, "would also like to recognize Duwamish, Wanapum, and Chinook, these tribes are not recognized by the U.S. federal government but have had a long history in present-day Washington".  Given the topic of this page, I should respect the ALA even when it's being ungrammatical.  Now, since I live in Seattle, I know that several of the twenty-five are fiercely opposed to any government recognising, in particular, the organisation that calls itself Duwamish.  The Muckleshoot even maintain (and heavily advertise) a website arguing their case.  I strongly suspect similar situations obtain concerning the other two, but since I'm not a member of any of the twenty-five organisations, and certainly not a government, I'm not obliged to oblige them.  That said, the Wanapum are in eastern Washington anyway.

Next, how do I define "library" ?  The Washington State Library lists 21 libraries of "Type" "Special Library", "Category" "Native American Library", in western Washington.  (Plus six more in eastern Washington.)  Some belong to other categories - public libraries, academic; these I mention in the second list, but don't discuss in detail.  I also incorporate into both lists, as appropriate, whatever I can learn about libraries related to the other four federally recognised tribes, and the Duwamish and Chinook.  Each set is in order by distance from my house.

Many of the places referred to are on land which appears, on the maps available to me, to be part of the relevant reservation.  When I say "on the reservation" this is what I mean, without expressing any opinion on the legal ownership of the land.

The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Library

The Jamestown-S'Klallam Tribal Library is 39.33 miles from my house, on the reservation, in unincorporated Blyn.  It doesn't have library cards (PDF, page 6 of 38), but checks its materials out only to people who've registered with it.  It has a service area, which consists (if I'm analysing the ZIP codes listed correctly) of Clallam and Jefferson counties; people who live outside that service area may register to borrow materials, but only at the librarian's discretion.  Registration requires picture ID.  However, according to the website, the library currently only offers "curbside" service [1], and only Mondays through Thursdays, hours not specified; it says it's closed Saturdays and Sundays, and it doesn't account for Fridays.  As of February 20, 2020 it was open 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Mondays through Fridays.

[1] The Seattle Public Library's "curbside" service required everyone to get out of their cars and basically end up near the library doors, so was in no meaningful sense "curbside".  It was outside, which was undoubtedly better for public health, but it wasn't curbside.   I don't know how others did it, but am suspicious of all.  This is just the first library still "curbside"-only to come up in this page.

The Nisqually Tribal Library

The Nisqually Tribal Library is 50.94 miles from my house, on the reservation, with an Olympia address.  It is open to the public, but only people within six degrees of tribal membership (it's actually a pretty well thought out policy; PDF, page 8 of 14) can get library cards.  The Internet Archive doesn't preserve pre-pandemic hours, but the cited PDF says it should be open 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Mondays through Fridays.  According to the website, however, it hasn't re-opened yet - "curbside" again.

The Samish Indian Nation Library

The Samish Indian Nation Library is 55.25 miles from my house, in Anacortes.  It appears to be open to the general public, but it looks like only tribal members and people from the area can get library cards.  It's open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M., and no, in this case that doesn't seem to mean "curbside", but actually open.

The Shoalwater Bay Tribal Community Library and Heritage Museum

The Shoalwater Bay Tribal Community Library's Web page doesn't talk about access, hours, or cards; the museum seems not even to have a Web page.  But because of the library's deal with Timberland Regional Library (covered in part II), its hours are documented:  they were 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Monday through Friday before the pandemic, and are now 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.  And surely if it's a TRL location, in part, it's open to the public, and yes, Seattleites can get cards - but they're probably only good for the TRL materials there, not the library's own, and I don't know whether the library's staff can supply TRL cards onsite.  NB:  The libraries database has an incorrect address for this one, though it's just across the street.  Speaking of which, the distance calculator I've been using threw a hissy fit on both addresses, insisting they're much closer than they actually are.  So it's about 103 miles from my house.

Other tribal libraries, and lacks thereof

• The Duwamish Tribe, which is not federally recognised, has recently opened a  Longhouse & Cultural Center, but I see no evidence that it includes a library or that the tribe has one elsewhere.  It's open 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., Tuesdays through Saturdays, I'm not sure it has an admission fee, and it presumably has restrooms and water fountains in an area pretty lacking in public ones; it's 7.98 miles from my house.  Nothing of the Duwamish is listed in the libraries database.
  
• The Suquamish Tribe has, on their Port Madison Reservation, a Suquamish Tribal Library.  It's referred to as being on the second floor of a school, but both of the tribe's schools have different addresses about a mile away.  That said, it's meant to provide help to students and "Tribal Members", so I don't know that it's open to the non-tribal public.  Its hours were and are noon to 3:30 P.M., Monday through Friday, and it's 12.03 miles from my house.  The tribal archives, the library tells us, aren't there but at the Suquamish Museum, which is open 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., Monday through Friday, requiring masks, and whose web page is so close-lipped that it doesn't state the admission fee I assume the museum has.  Nothing of the Suquamish is listed in the libraries database.
  
• The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe is represented in the Washington State Library database by the Little Boston branch of the Kitsap Regional Library, already covered, 16.66 miles.  A search of the tribal website for "library" turned up one reference to KRL and two to Little Boston, which is on the reservation.
• The Snoqualmie Tribe doesn't seem to have a library of its own, and most of its members don't live on its reservations.  But the more prominent reservation has parts of the City of Snoqualmie in all four directions, and King County Library System's Snoqualmie branch, already covered in part II, is pretty certainly the nearest public library, 23.46 miles.  Nothing of the Snoqualmie is listed in the libraries database.
  
• The Tulalip Tribes operate the Hibulb Cultural Center, 26.79 miles, on the reservation though the address is sometimes treated as being in Marysville.  It holds a library with materials on Tulalip matters.  HCC charges admission, except to tribe members, HCC members and children 5 and under.  HCC opens at 10 A.M. Tuesdays through Fridays, noon weekends, and closes at 5 P.M.; it's closed Mondays.  If there's a separate Tulalip tribal library, it isn't much documented.  A Tulalip homeless shelter is better documented, so at least they have good priorities.
• Google tells me the word "library" isn't at the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe's website, but KCLS's Muckleshoot branch, 31.48 miles, already covered in part II, is on the reservation.  The Muckleshoot Tribal Schools also appear to have a library.  Nothing of the Muckleshoot is listed in the libraries database.
  
• The Puyallup Tribe of Indians operates the Chief Leschi Schools, school building 32.17 miles, in Puyallup.  The database lists the secondary school library as having Puyallup tribal materials.  There's also a Culture Department (Facebook page), whose hours are listed as 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and noon to 7 P.M. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and which may be open to the public.  There are occasional references (PDFs, the second 211 pages, both towards the end) to a "Puyallup tribal library", but I don't know whether either of these, or something else, is meant.
• The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians is listed in the database as having a library under the Education Department.  The department is there, but I didn't find any sign of a library, not that that actually proves anything.  The database's address, 38.33 miles, is on the reservation, Arlington address, and Google Earth makes it look a halfway plausible place for a library.
  
• The Skokomish Indian Tribe appears to have a library, the maintenance of which is the work of the Cultural Resources Department, but also definitely has a "learning center", run by the Education Department, the latter being what the libraries database lists.  Both departments, if not both actual resources, are in the same building, 45.35 miles, on the reservation, Shelton address.
• The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, according to the libraries database, has a library run by the person who also handles child care and toddlers.  All I got when I searched for that library at their website was a whole lot of evidence that they're in the La Conner Regional Library's district.  The database's address, 51.46 miles, is on the reservation, La Conner address; that building could definitely hold a library.
  
• The Squaxin Island Tribe has both a Cultural Resources Department and an Education one, but the only library referred to on their website is also the one listed in the libraries database, 52.09 miles, owned by a private non-profit, so it belongs in the part or parts after the governmental libraries.
  
• The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe is currently advertising for an education director (PDF), one of whose duties would be "Develops, updates, monitors library for checkouts, adequacy of materials and related matters."  So there must be a library.  The address in the database, 57.22 miles, is on the reservation, which is in Skagit County, but is given as in Darrington, Snohomish County.
• The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, like the Swinomish and the Stillaguamish nearby, is listed in the libraries database as having an Education Department library, but doesn't mention it at its website.  The address in the database, on the reservation though stated as Sedro-Woolley, 60.18 miles; I don't see a building there.
  
• The Lower Elhwa Klallam Tribe appears to operate or to have operated a library, as attested by a page that doesn't discuss hours or access and an expired catalogue.  The address given in the database is the main tribal address (65.18 miles, on the reservation, Port Angeles address), and the librarian named is still listed on the website as education director, so my guess is that the books really are there.
• The Chehalis Tribe, aka The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, are headquartered 71.49 miles from my house.  I find no evidence that there's a library on the reservation.  TRL's Oakville branch is probably closest.  Nothing of the Confederated Tribes or of the Chehalis is listed in the libraries database.
  
• The Lummi Nation is represented in the libraries database by the library of Northwest Indian College, 78.47 miles, which was already on my list of academic libraries to cover in later parts.  The college is on the reservation, with a Bellingham address.  The tribal website's search function found no references to "library" or "Libraries", and the organisation chart (tiny PDF) doesn't mention either a library or librarians.
• The Nooksack Indian Tribe [2] has a library, 79.52 miles, near the reservation in unincorporated Deming.  That library is attested not only by a librarian listed as a staffer in the education department, but by a 2020 reading challenge page that includes an actual photo of shelves with books on them.  However, it isn't attested by an actual website.
  
• The Quinault Indian Nation has a Department of Cultural Resources which doesn't have a website.  Its manager is listed in the libraries database as the manager of the Quinault library, address (94.44 miles, not the main government address) in Taholah, on the reservation, also said to include a museum; Open Street Map shows a large building there.
  
• The Hoh Tribe operates a Hoh Tribal Library (Facebook page) on the reservation, 97.29 miles (not near Forks though the address has that for city); access and hours don't seem to be documented online.  It seems to be heavily focused on kids, and the Hoh Tribe website lists the librarian under family services.
• The Chinook Indian Nation, which is not federally recognised but was recognised for a year and a half two decades ago, has an education committee to administer a scholarship, and a culture committee to carry on lifeways, but Google claims its website nowhere uses the word "library".  Its headquarters is about 105 miles from my house.  Nothing of the Chinook is listed in the libraries database.
  
• The Quileute Nation operates the Quileute Tribal School, 108.34 miles, on the reservation, not close to Forks either but has a La Push address, whose library is the one in the libraries database.
  
• The Cowlitz Indian Tribe has its headquarters at 1055 9th Ave, Suite B, Longview.  The database says its library is in Suite D; that's 110.38 miles.  The listed staffer runs or ran a child care program based a block away.  However, the only library I find on searching the website is a St. Mary's Library, where various tribal events happen; turns out the tribe owns and uses for housing the buildings of an old mission in Toledo, only 86.57 miles.  I have no meaningful information about either possible library.  The reservation is reputedly in Ridgefield, even farther from me than Longview; these places are in three counties, which can't be all that convenient for Cowlitz Indian Tribe members.
• The Makah Tribe operates the Makah Cultural & Research Center, 115.36 miles, in Neah Bay, on the reservation.  It charges admission except to MCRC members and children under 5.  Its Archives and Library Department is open weekdays 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.
  

[2] Yes, this is the Nooksack Indian Tribe of disenrollment fame, but that doesn't make their library an un-library.

Libraries owned by counties

According to the libraries database, there are two kinds of libraries owned by counties in western Washington:  county law libraries, which each county in western Washington is required by RCW 27.24 to have, except Wahkiakum County which has one anyway; and libraries established by two departments of King County.

County Law Libraries

Not all have websites, and not all are required to be open to the public, although most were, before the pandemic.  They are not allowed to give actual legal advice, but can assist visitors in some ways.  I doubt many lend their books to non-lawyers, but haven't focused on that, so could be wrong.

Here's a directory.

And here's a list of those with websites, currently open to the public.

The Internet Archive rarely has the same URL pre-pandemic, and I haven't belaboured the possibilities here as I did with the public libraries, so I can only occasionally compare pre-pandemic hours.  All hours are Mondays through Fridays unless otherwise indicated.  If a library is not in the county seat, I so indicate.  Few put rules of conduct online; I think visitors, including homeless ones, should assume that all reasonably possible rules must be followed.

• The King County Law Library has two branches, in Seattle and Kent, both currently closing at 4:30 P.M.; the Seattle one opens at 8 A.M., Kent at 8:30.  Before the pandemic, Kent also closed from 2 to 3 P.M., so it's actually increased its hours.
• The Kitsap County Law Library is open 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., unchanged according to the Internet Archive's copious record.
• The Pierce County Law Library has three branches, in Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Lakewood.  My best guess is that the 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. schedule seen on the home page is for the Tacoma branch.  The other two are in the Pierce County Library System branches of the same names, and Gig Harbor explicitly keeps the same hours, so the Lakewood branch (whose page is a mess) probably does too.  So anyone who really needs to do legal research in the evening should seriously consider visiting western Pierce County.  That said, I've visited both PCLS branches more than once without noticing law books in them.
  
• The Island County Law Library is currently open to the public 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. Mondays through Wednesdays.
  
• The Skagit County Law Library is currently open to the public 8:30 A.M. to noon, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with limited capacity, so they encourage appointments.
• The Grays Harbor County Law Library is currently open to the public 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
• The Cowlitz County Law Library is currently open to the public 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.  Entry requires ID.  They say they've jettisoned their law books in favour of Lexis/Nexis.
• The Clark County Law Library is currently open to the public 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  It is set to re-open Tuesdays and Thursdays, same hours, on May 2.
  

Three counties you may, dear Diary, have expected to see in the previous list:

• The Snohomish County Law Library "is currently closed for the month of May."
  
• The Thurston County Law Library, like eight others in substantially less populous counties, appears to lack a web page.  One page suggests that there's an extra location, or branch, at the Family and Juvenile Court, which is in Tumwater, while the main Superior Court location is in Olympia.  Maybe that's why they haven't gotten around to a web page yet.
  
• The Whatcom County Law Library "is temporarily closed to the public due to current rise of COVID illness.  This status will be revisited on February 15, 2022." 
  

Well, I knew many lawyers were rich, but I sure didn't know they'd mastered time travel.  (And come to think of it, I have a friend from college who became a law librarian, and as far as I know she's neither rich nor a time traveller.  Hmm.)

Other King County libraries

The Department of Natural Resources and Parks Technical Document and Research Center is open by appointment only, same as in 2017, so is off-topic for you, dear Diary:  nobody makes an appointment to use running water.  The Local Hazardous Waste Management Program had a Library in 2018 before the pandemic, and in 2020 during the pandemic, but now appears to have only an online document library.  So this heading is a cheat too; instead of King County having two extra libraries where a homeless person might hope to find hygiene, it has zero.

So that's a bad note to end on, but anyway, those are all the libraries known to me owned by local governmental units in western Washington.  Next part, the state and federal ones, plus one odder example, after Easter.  I hope you have fun, dear Diary, looking for Easter eggs.  Until we meet again, happy nights and days.