January 2026
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Explore Your Family’s History with Expanded Library Genealogy Programs
Before Sonia’s grandmother passed away, she passed along a host of family stories that Sonia has spent years researching. She has found marriage records, newspaper articles, and other documents that provide conflicting information — and has run into repeated brick walls, especially regarding her ancestors who were enslaved. Sonia knew she needed some assistance with… Continue reading
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February and March 2026 Events at the Library: Red Floor Poetry, Healing Fiction and More
If you could use a heart-centered program right about now, go to the Library. Make a zine for someone special on an upcoming Saturday; watch multidisciplinary artist Miz Floes perform a neighborhood narrative in a fusion of spoken word and theater on Feb. 19; or take your beloved to the Red Floor for love poetry… Continue reading
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A Peek at Peak Picks – February 2026
We’re adding ten Peak Picks in February! In fiction, Jonathan Miles (“a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him”– Los Angeles Times) delivers a blackly comic literary gem in which a broken man confronts a broken world on an uninhabited Pacific island in Eradication; Jasmin Kirkbridge debuts with a… Continue reading
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“We Belong Together”: New Series by Guest Curator Amber Flame
Could you use a little more community, connection, and cheap date ideas this winter? We have just the series for you. Writer and interdisciplinary artist Amber Flame has guest-curated a new series titled “We Belong Together” at the Central Library. With a kickoff event this Sunday, Jan. 25, the three events will explore how we expand… Continue reading
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Why We Read: 6 Books Explore the Pull of the Page
Many of us start the new year with a resolution to read more. We hear that it’s good for us, helps us unplug, opens our mind and gives us space to escape our daily stresses. But what else does reading provide, and what are its perils? These recent memoirs and books about reading explore this question… Continue reading
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Series Highlight: Black Dawn from AK Press
Science and Speculative Fiction has long been a way to explore other ways of existence, as well as a way to think about current moments through alternative lenses. In 2021 AK press, a worker-run, collectively managed anarchist small press that aims to “expand minds and change worlds,” launched Black Dawn, a series of speculative fiction… Continue reading
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Never Underestimate the Power of a Read-In: The Broadview Branch at 50
In late May of 1972, a small ad appeared in the classifieds section of the University District-Herald, a community newspaper in Northeast Seattle: “Broadview & Haller Lake: Want a library at 130th & Greenwood? Join us for a “READ IN” on Thursday, June 1, 3 p.m. Bring Friends!” The ad was just four lines, but… Continue reading
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How the Library Preserves and Promotes Seattle’s History
There are more than 100,000 items in The Seattle Public Library’s Special Collections. The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Seattle Room, on Level 10 of the Central Library, houses extensive collections of photographs, postcards, city documents, news articles, and maps. There are oral histories from Seattle residents, menus from notable restaurants, yearbooks from Seattle schools, works by… Continue reading
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So, You Wanna Join a Cult? A Primer.
Cult stories seem to be having a bit of a moment in our cultural consciousness (go figure), usually the weirder the better. From the ancient Greek Mysteries to Charles Manson to Midsommar, humanity’s cultural landscape is littered with cults. They equally fascinate and repel, highlighting how our deepest longings to belong can so easily be… Continue reading
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Time is Fake!
“Happy” “New” “Year”? Celebrating the passage of time freaks me out. I feel unsettled by the acknowledgement that humans assign numbers and meaning to our spins through space and time. And we don’t even all use the same calendar! Time feels increasingly fake to me. I spent most of my college astronomy class either fighting… Continue reading
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Photo Album: Celebrating 50 Years of Community at Douglass-Truth
On Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, the Douglass-Truth Branch was jamming. Neighbors, families, community leaders, elders, and library staff filled every corner of the branch at 2300 E. Yesler Way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its community-chosen name. Almost exactly a half-century earlier, on Dec. 5, 1975, the branch was renamed in honor of abolitionists… Continue reading
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New Nonfiction Roundup – January 2026
It’s a new year, and a time for reinvention. In addition to a host of “new year, new you” self improvement books, January has plenty of histories, memoir and other noteworthy nonfiction to consider. Take the next step in the Love Language revolution and discover how to personalize love so you really feel it in The… Continue reading
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Winter 2026 Author and Community Events at the Library
Soak in creative and cozy winter vibes at Library programs in January and February. Browse zines and make your own on Saturdays at the ZAPP Zine Collection, celebrate the 60th anniversary of “Dark Shadows,” enjoy love poetry on the Central Library’s Red Floor with guest curator Amber Flame, and more. All Library events are free… Continue reading
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Adult Titles with Teen Appeal – January 2026
We are updating our Adult Titles with Teen Allure list for 2026! Here are some of the best new books written for and marketed to adults, but which have a ton of appeal for teens. When disability activist and blogger Melissa Blake was trolled for putting pictures of herself online, she turned the tables on… Continue reading
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The Seattle Public Library to add Monday hours at the Montlake Branch and update hours at the Capitol Hill, Douglass-Truth branches on Jan. 27
Starting Tuesday, Jan. 27, The Seattle Public Library will update hours at three locations and expand the number of libraries that are open seven days a week – from 13 to 14 locations – with the addition of new Monday hours at the Montlake Branch. The Capitol Hill Branch (425 Harvard Ave. E.) will continue to be open… Continue reading