Company Description

Bellingham Public Library is a library system for residents of the City of Bellingham in Whatcom County, Washington. It maintains three libraries, one in the Civic Center of downtown Bellingham, one in Fairhaven, and one in Barkley Village.HistoryBellingham Bay Public Library and Fairhaven Library were originally established separately in the early 1890s. Bellingham Bay Library began in 1891 as a subscription library and became a free library in 1903. In 1906, the city of Bellingham received funds from the Carnegie Corporation for a permanent building, which was constructed in 1908 and used until 1951, when the current Central Branch library building was opened.The Fairhaven Library also began as a subscription library in 1890. Fairhaven Library received funds from the Carnegie Corporation for a permanent building, which was completed in 1905 and is used to this day. The Central Library and Fairhaven Library were consolidated into one library system in 1903, when the towns of Fairhaven and Whatcom joined together to form Bellingham.ServicesBellingham Public Library circulates 1.6 million items each year and has over 52,000 registered cardholders. In 2008, Bellingham Public Library's per capita circulation was 18.7 – the highest rate for libraries of its size in Washington state.Bellingham Public Library hosts a number of special events throughout the year, including weekly storytime events for children, author appearances, adult literacy tutoring, and family and community outreach events. The library also offers readers' advisory talks and materials to assist patrons in selection of materials from the collection. A popular annual community event is the library's "Summer Reading Program", with separate programs for children, teens and adults.

Products & Services

Circulation of books, media, and other items ,   Programming for children, teens, and adults, including storytime events, author appearances, and community outreach ,   Interlibrary loan services for accessing materials from other libraries ,   Materials delivery to patrons upon request ,   Reference services, including reader's advisory and materials selection