Entertainment Articles Card to Brilliance Top Ten Coffee Shops Things to do on a beautiful day The city of the music stores Tale of Two Casinos Casino Reviews Savor Seattle Food Tours Drink Socially? Try Locally! Tractor Tavern Pike's Place Centennial Bumbershoot Remedy Teas Post a Secret New Year Traditions Wine Guide SIFF Spring Cinema 2008 Drop City Gallery Fiori Floral Design Museum of Glass Bookstore Guide Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Teatro Zinzanni Seattle Aquarium The Vera Project The Black Panthers: Making Sense of History Seattle International Children's Festival Interview w/ Oceanaire Chef Eric Donnelly   Information Community Business Seattle Media Ask us!!! Search

Have you ever wondered why Seattle is known as the most “educated” city is the United States?  Part of the reason is 52.7 percent of our residents have a college degree or higher (MSN Encarta).  Another reason might be because Seattleites place very high value on their books.  

With 30 braches in the city limits (go to http://www.spl.org), the Seattle Public Library establishment has more than 2.5 million items that can be checkout throughout the many branches.  In 1998, Seattle voters allocated 196.4 million dollars and private donors gave an additional 80 million to the renovation of the local branches and create the hub of all libraries: the downtown branch.

The new downtown library was quite the process, but the result of all of the city’s hard planning and dedication paid off because it is now a statement of Seattle’s value of cutting-edge architecture, avant-guard art, and books--lots and lots of books.  Opening in May 2004, the downtown Seattle branch is 11 stories of space conscious windows and shelves and also includes a 275-seat auditorium and underground parking garage.

The University of Washington also contributes to Seattle’s brilliance, with its long list of area specific libraries including the East Asia Library, Mathematics Research Library and the Suzzallo & Allen Library to name a few, holding more than 6 million volumes and allowing students and Summit Catalog Colleges to check out an unlimited number of books.  It is the most comprehensive selection of books in the Northwest.

Seattle has earned its right to be called the most-educated city in America.  It is our duty to utilize the wealth of educational resources available to us.  All we have to do is check it out.