Puyallup Public Library is the

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

system serving the residents of Puyallup, Washington. The current Puyallup Public Library, the third in the city's history, opened August 30, 2002 on the west side of Pioneer Park. The library contains two floors of materials including books, DVDs, audio books, periodicals, public computers, reading areas, study rooms, and several meeting rooms available to community groups. The library is governed by a 5-member board appointed by the City Manager. It is not affiliated with either the

Tacoma Public Library The Tacoma Public Library system serves residents of Tacoma, Washington. It operates eight library branches, which include a central library in downtown Tacoma, two regional locations in north and south Tacoma, and five neighborhood branch locatio ...

or the

Pierce County Library System The Pierce County Library System (PCLS) is a library system serving the residents of Pierce County, Washington. The Pierce County Library System has 20 library locations serving 580,000 people in unincorporated Pierce County and 15 cities and to ...

History

The first library in Puyallup was created in 1877 before the town formally existed. The library was run by Eliza Jane Meeker, wife of Puyallup founder Ezra Meeker, who lent books from their home in what is currently Pioneer Park. In 1880 the Puyallup Library Association was created to expand the community service. The association raised $5,000 by local businesses to rent a small room and hire its first librarian.

Carnegie Library

Towards the turn of the century the library required repairs and upgrades, and the town of Puyallup requested funding from Andrew Carnegie for the creation of a new library. On February 15, 1912 Carnegie offered the town $12,500 on the condition they pay an annual 10% upkeep and maintenance fee. The town accepted the grant and the new Carnegie library, designed by

Roland E. Borhek Roland Edward Borhek (1883 – May 7, 1955) was an architect in the state of Washington (state), Washington. Biography Borhek was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1883. He attended Lehigh University before working as chief draftsman for the f ...

in the Georgian style, officially opened on February 11, 1913. The Carnegie library was in operation until the 1950s when it was deemed by the county to be unsafe due to the bowing of the second floor from the weight of the books. Despite the razing of the building the library system hosted a 100-year celebration of the original library in 2013 and attempted to raise $12,000 to match the original grant for library use.

Modern library

After 50 years, the Carnegie Library was replaced by new replacement library building paid for by a voter-approved $210,000 bond. Another bond was approved by voters on September 14, 1999 to again reconstruct the library facility, expanding its total size to . This current library opened in 2002. Along with the new renovation the library constructed a local history room, which is opened to the public once a month. The room contains local history back to the founding of the town in the late 1800s, copies of the newspaper from 1903, and other genealogical records from the town's first settlers.

References

External links

Library homepageLibrary catalog
{{Authority control Public libraries in Washington (state) County library systems in Washington (state) Puyallup, Washington