(Photos courtesy Washington Talking Book & Braille Library)

This month, we’re devoting all three of September’s Library Jewels to the amazing Washington Talking Book & Braille Library in downtown Seattle.

WTBBL (pronounced Wuh-tah’-bull) an important and beloved part of our Washington State Library. It provides audiobooks in various formats, as well as large print and braille books, to about 9,000 patrons throughout Washington.

The first of our three “WTBBL Jewels” is a pair of photos showing what is now the library’s children’s room in the front of the building. You can’t tell now because of the carpet hiding it, but there is a 14-foot-wide automobile display turntable on the room’s floor. Yes, the WTBBL building at the corner of 9th and Lenora once housed an auto dealership! From 1948 to 1980, it was home to the S.L. Savidge Co., which sold Dodge and Plymouth vehicles. WTBBL moved into the building in 1983.

The top photo shows members of the Automotive Machinists union striking outside the building in 1978 (the union was striking several Seattle dealerships at the time). The bottom photo shows the same space today.