Arts & Culture

  • New Additions to our Northwest Photograph Collection

    We’ve just wrapped up the addition of more than 800 historic images to our Northwest Photograph Collection thanks to grant funding from Washington State Library and Institute of Museum and Library Services. The collection now includes over 1300 photographs from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska. The newly added photos include views of : The… Continue reading

  • June 2022 Author Events: Quintard Taylor, Judy Heumann, Ottessa Moshfegh and More

    June 2022 Author Events: Quintard Taylor, Judy Heumann, Ottessa Moshfegh and More

    The Library is bringing in June with amazing author evens. Learn about the history of Seattle’s Black community, hear poems inspired by video games and AI, meet the authors of one of the most talked-about comics of 2020, listen to award-winning fantasy authors, hear the story of leading disability rights activist Judy Heumann and more.… Continue reading

  • The Soul Pole Standing Tall Again at the Douglass-Truth Branch

    On Tuesday morning, April 5, a small crowd of neighbors, Library staff and journalists gathered outside the Douglass-Truth Branch to see a very welcome event: A forklift lowering the carefully wrapped 21-foot tall Soul Pole artwork into its base on the lawn of the Library. The Soul Pole has stood tall in that base since… Continue reading

  • Visit Museums For Free Through the Library: New Partners

    Seattle-area residents who have a card with The Seattle Public Library can visit more museums for free, courtesy of the Library’s Museum Pass program (www.spl.org/MuseumPass). We are excited to share that five Seattle museums have rejoined the program: the Center for Wooden Boats, the Henry Art Gallery, Museum of History & Industry, the Seattle Art… Continue reading

  • The Negro Motorist Green Book Exhibition: March 19 – June 12, 2022

    The Negro Motorist Green Book exhibition opens this Saturday, March 19, at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. This immersive, multimedia exhibit was curated by Candacy Taylor, former Harvard fellow and celebrated Green Book scholar, for the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service. The Green Book was published between 1936 and 1966 and became the… Continue reading

  • 50+ Free Things You Can Do Through The Seattle Public Library

    50+ Free Things You Can Do Through The Seattle Public Library

    Want to learn a language, improve your job skills, find free one-on-one tutoring, learn web design, or find a read-aloud for your child? You can do all of these things and much more through The Seattle Public Library. A dozen or so of the activities in this list do not even require a Library card.… Continue reading

  • Tenth Annual Seattle Asian American Film Festival

    This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF). The festival, which shares Asian American independent films with Pacific Northwest audiences, takes place March 3 through March 13. All 102 films in the SAAFF’s 2022 program (including 13 feature-length films, 12 shorts programs, and 2 free programs) are available for… Continue reading

  • Soul Pole Stories: Conservation and Restoration

    Soul Pole Stories: Conservation and Restoration

    As mentioned in our “first Soul Pole story,” the historic sculpture at the Library’s Douglass-Truth Branch in the Central District was deinstalled in 2021 so that it could undergo conservation work. The goal was to preserve the piece so that it could be reinstalled at its original location at the corner of 23rd Avenue and… Continue reading

  • Recent Books Celebrate Magnolia Branch Architect

    The life and work of architect Paul Hayden Kirk, designer of The Seattle Public Library’s Magnolia Branch, is commanding renewed interest due to the publication of two new books: Paul Hayden Kirk and the Rise of the Northwest Modern by Seattle author and filmmaker Dale Kutzera, and Paul Hayden Kirk and the Puget Sound School… Continue reading

  • Stream Your Own MLK Day Film Fest

    Stream Your Own MLK Day Film Fest

    As the ongoing pandemic presents challenges for those seeking to observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday in ways that are both meaningful and safe, we invite you to stream your own Martin Luther King Jr. film festival. The following documentaries from our collection are all available to stream, right now. (New to streaming movies… Continue reading

  • Winter Break Boredom Busters: 12 Family-Friendly Streaming Picks at the Library

    When it comes to raising kids, the years might be short, but the days are very long during winter break, especially when it’s pouring rain outside, and you’re trying to get work done or handle last-minute holiday hassles. Streaming entertainment to the rescue! Through your Library card, you can access hundreds of family-friendly films, TV… Continue reading

  • Horror movies to stream this Halloween weekend

    Halloween weekend is upon us! If you’re looking to cozy up with a frightful movie marathon, we’ve got you covered with some streaming scaries – all free to access with your library card, no need to even leave home. (Audience note: most of these films are for adult audiences; please use discretion if watching with… Continue reading

  • MeatEater: Your Link to the Food Chain

    Steven Rinella grew up in Twin Lake, Michigan and learned to hunt and fish at an early age. This love of hunting and the outdoors has now become quite a career as an author, television personality, podcaster, and conservationist. He breaks the stereotype we have of the “American hunter” – when he explores a subject,… Continue reading

  • Dreamathon: Reimagining Pandemic Life Together

    As we look ahead to fall and winter, what can we learn from communities who have been at the front lines of COVID response about the role of art, culture, creativity and joy? After enduring more than 18 months of a pandemic, what does the world need now? These questions are at the heart of… Continue reading

  • Watch and Read: Sweet Tooth

    Those of us who have watched Sweet Tooth know that it’s a show that’s easy to love. The series takes place after an apocalyptic event called “The Great Crumble,” which kills off much of Earth’s human population due to a virus. Babies born in its wake develop certain animal characteristics. Gus, the main protagonist, resembles… Continue reading

  • The Book Was Better, 2019

    The Book Was Better, 2019

    It is rare that a movie or TV show is better than the book it is based on. I mean, it happens, but it’s rare.  Yes, some movies live up to or complement their source material, but most of the time they don’t. For starters, let’s take 2019 – remember 2019? – back when we… Continue reading

  • Watch & Read: Ozark

    Watch & Read: Ozark

    Ozark is one of those shows that is just pure madness – it snakes in on itself in perpetual chaos. No breaks, no ease, just edge of your seat shenanigans the whole time. And I can’t get enough! While we wait for the next season, here are a few items in our collection that will… Continue reading

  • Sharknado!

    2013 was a watershed moment for disaster films. While many folks were updating their anti-Zombie kits some of us were shopping for chain saws in case the absolute worst-case came to be – a Sharknado. This terrifying premise is exactly what it sounds like – a huge Oz-level tornado sucks up sharks (and only sharks)… Continue reading