Bothell Regional Library

Bothell, WA > Bothell Groups & Organizations > Bothell Health and Fitness > Bothell Regional Library

address:18215 98th Avenue North East Bothell, WA 98011 phone:425-486-7811 website:Bothell Regional Library

History of the Bothell Library

Main Street, 1905As early as 1905, when Bothell emerged as a logging and shingle mill village, a circulating library was begun in the Odd Fellows Hall on Main Street between First and Second Avenue (now 101st and 102nd). Librarian, Della Chambers, not only maintained the new library but also tended the switchboard for the new Independent Telephone Company. But what became of this library there is unknown. Another library was comprised of the private book collections of School Superintendents George Sickles (1905 - 1907) and Henry A. Simonds. Because of the voluntary nature of these library collections, when Henry Simonds retired in 1918, the library retired with him. Other private libraries also operated out of the Bothell Methodist Church (1909 - 1913) and Harlen Rupp's drug store, until it moved to Seattle in 1916.