No annual closure for the library this year

Thanks to Seattle voters, city libraries won’t be shutting their doors for their annual week-long budget closure this year. This is typically the time of year when Seattle Public Libraries close to save money for operating costs, but the library levy that passed last year is allowing libraries to stay open.

“Thanks to the voters of Seattle, we are able to keep our libraries open this summer,” City Librarian Marcellus Turner said in a press release. “In addition to increased hours, the levy has also allowed us to expand our collection by adding more books and materials for our patrons to enjoy.”

This is the first time since 2008 that the libraries will not have to implement the closure, and the seven-year, $123 million library levy that passed in August of last year means they shouldn’t have to close for budgetary reasons anytime in the near future.