Sitka 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 ...

for

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

. It receives about 100,000 guests annually and houses a collection of 75,000 books, audiobooks, music recordings, reference resources, videos (DVD and VHS) as well as an assortment of Alaskan and national periodicals. Its annual circulation is 133,000. It has the largest per capita circulation in the state of towns with populations over 2,500 people. The library is well known by visitor populations for its view. The large windows in front of the reading area look south across

Eastern Channel Eastern Channel is a body of deep water adjacent to the southern half of Sitka, Alaska. It is the best suited of three channels for large ships to approach the harbor in Sitka. Because Sitka is a prime cruise ship destination, but has no deep wate ...

towards the Pyramids. The youth section of the library has a 100 square-foot mural of children's story characters that was completed in 1986.

History

The library was moved into its current building in 1968 after a gift from Theodore Kettleson, a San Diego resident and shareholder in Sitka Cold Storage, enabled local organizers to begin raising funds from state and federal sources to construct a concrete building. The library opened on the March 20, 1923 under the name of the Sitka Public Library. Previous European-language libraries in Sitka had either destroyed or been sold to other libraries on the north west coast of North America. The library was moved ten times and survived fire twice before coming to its current location under the name of Kettleson Memorial Library. In 2015 the library commission moved to change the name back to the Sitka Public Library during a renovation and expansion project.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Sitka, Alaska Education in Sitka, Alaska Libraries established in 1923 Public libraries in Alaska Library buildings completed in 1968 1923 establishments in Alaska