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Tukwila Library

History of the Tukwila Library

In the early 1920s, the Tukwila Library began through the efforts of the Ladies Improvement Club. The source of this collection is recorded to be the donated private libraries of Ramona Scott Minkler and her mother, Mae Scott. It was located on Interurban Avenue in a small building, next to the Community Hall. It had become famous as being the smallest library in the state. The open hours were two afternoons a week. Sometime in the early 1930s a fire destroyed the library. A few books were salvaged and kept at the Community Hall. Later, the Tukwila Community Club, a re-organization of the original Ladies Improvement Club, received an estate donation of over 1,000 volumes. This collection was added to the books at the Community Hall.

In 1945, the King County Library System undertook the responsibility of library service and placed a library at the Duwamish School. It was designated for use by students and adults of the community. This Duwamish Branch Library had its most active book circulation of 13,855 in 1956. Then, when library use dropped, King County Library System changed its service to a bookmobile in 1962. For the next 17 years, the only library service available to some Tukwila residents was via this bookmobile.

On December 26, 1979, the King County Library System opened the Tukwila Library in the old Tukwila Grade School. This 1,918 square foot building, built in 1920, was used for formal education through 1938. From 1947 through 1978, the building functioned as City Hall for the City of Tukwila. In 1979, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites of Community Interest. The Tukwila Friends of the Library received a grant to refurbish and restore the building in 1990. Tukwila Library's location is central to the residential community; a 1990 survey revealed that 75% of the patrons walked to the library. In 1992, the residents of Tukwila voted to annex to the King County Library System.

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Last Updated: June 26, 2007