The Washington State Library has announced program closures for its research library and the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library, as well as a restriction of services at those locations, after funds to keep them open were not included in the signed 2025-27 state budget.
Both the research library in Tumwater and the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library in Seattle will be closed to the public beginning on July 1 and will continue to be closed until further notice.
Staffing and resource cuts at both locations made keeping them open and running impractical, the Washington State Library stated in a news release.
“The lack of budget appropriations to retain our knowledgeable staff and keep our programs running was an unfortunate casualty of the large budgetary shortfall facing our state legislature,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said. “The impact of the closures will risk denying communities access to the information, literacy tools, and resources they depend on. Libraries are cornerstones of civic life and education in many areas of our state.”
On the last day of the legislative session, the state Legislature passed the 2025-2027 operating budget without including any of the $6.7 million requested to support library operations. The decision arrived amid a severe budget deficit for the Washington State Library, driven by a sharp decline in real estate transactions and loan refinancing, both of which contribute recording fees that help fund the Washington State Library.
Impacts on the Research Library in Tumwater
• The research library will be closed to the public.
• Access to important historical and governmental collections will be restricted and digitization options are limited.
• Those calling the state switchboard phone line and the library directly will leave voicemails that will be responded to within one week.
• Email inquiries will also be answered within one week.
• Subscriptions to genealogy databases will be discontinued, and the acquisitions of new materials will be drastically limited.
Impacts on the The Washington Talking Book and Braille Library in Seattle
• The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library will be closed to the public.
• Phone service will consist of responding to voicemail messages, so response to requests will be slowed.
• Registration of new borrowers will be slowed.
• Circulation of materials may be slowed.
• Programming including multisensory story time, Low Vision Workshop, Touch of Braille workshop, and others will be canceled.
“These disruptions jeopardize equitable access to information for some of Washington’s most underserved residents unable to read standard print,” said Washington State Librarian Sara Jones. “While a newly signed bill will provide some funds in the future, the current funding gap is affecting our employees and important services now.”
The Timberland Regional Library is funded mostly by timber revenue and property taxes in the five counties that it serves — Lewis, Thurston, Grays Harbor, Mason and Pacific — and was not directly impacted by state and federal budget cuts. However, the Timberland Regional Library does utilize both Washington State Library services that are being restricted.
In previous reporting by The Chronicle, the manager for the Centralia and Chehalis Timberland libraries, Muriel Wheatley, said she is concerned about access to resources funded by the state, such as the catalog of databases that the state pays to access or the Talking Book and Braille Library.
“However, we receive so many benefits by what the State Library is able to do,” Wheatley said. “In my time at Timberland Library, I’ve signed up so many people for this service, and it’s hugely impactful for people to have materials that they can actually read.”
Learn more about the Timberland Regional Library system at https://trl.org.
