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On October 23, 1853, a shipment of about 2,000 books, plus maps and globes, came ashore at the Olympia waterfront. It had sailed from New York around the tip of South America. Congress had provided $5,000 for a Territorial Library in the Organic Act that created Washington Territory that March.
That collection became the Washington State Library, the state’s oldest cultural institution. It is based at 6880 Capitol Blvd SE in Tumwater, Thurston County. Its Special Collections hold rare publications, manuscripts, rare maps and the Governor Isaac Stevens’ Territorial Library Collection.
Washington Wide is joining Special Collections. Crystal Hicks, Head of Collections, acquired a copy for the library. The book is a 172-page hardcover of panoramic film photographs from 30+ years across Washington State, shot on Fuji Velvia 50. Randy Lewis, a Colville elder and storyteller, wrote the foreword. It is $59.99 at washingtonwide.com, with free shipping in the contiguous US.
The library offers limited in-person access by appointment, Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m.