If you live in Seattle or King County you have a rich set of library resources available to you! Here are some tips on how to get the most out of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and the King County Library System (KCLS).

Use both libraries

While Seattle is within King County, they have separate library systems. In 2015 SPL and KCLS created a new, and frankly better, reciprocal use agreement. This means that if you live in Seattle you can use the King County library and vice versa. In addition to opening up a broader set of library resources, this covers checking out books in one library system and returning them at another one.

Consider bookmarking the catalog for your primary library on your mobile device: SPL | KCLS.

Both systems use BiblioCommons for their online catalog system and you can add both cards to your account. Then when you’re browsing one library catalog for a book you can use the upper right menu to swap to the other one. This makes it easy to see if the other library has a resource in a different format or with a shorter hold.

But where this really comes in handy is checking out eBooks. Both SPL and KCLS have a great selection of eBooks and if you are a member of both libraries you have an incredible selection available to you. Often I find an eBook available at one library system where the other one has a wait.

You’ll need to go in-person to a SPL or KCLS branch to get a library card. All you need at either is a photo ID that shows your birthday and a piece of mail with your address on it.

Kindles & Amazon household

If you live in a household with more than one reader with a Kindle, Amazon makes it easy to share library eBooks with each other via Households. When a Kindle-format eBook is checked out to one household user, any member of the household can have it delivered to their Kindle too via Manage Your Content and Devices.

It’s worth pointing out that eBooks from the library don’t expire if your device is in airplane mode! So if you check out a Kindle eBook from the library and put your device in airplane mode you have as long as you want to read the book.

More than books

Both SPL and KCLS have much, much more to offer than just access to books (although I’ll be honest, I use them mostly for the books). You can listen to music (including streaming!), borrow movies (including streaming!), get free passes to local museums, reserve a meeting room, and so much more.

Happy reading!