This article features the Pierce County Library System (PCLS) in Tacoma, where new services are changing the way customers experience the library. PCLS is comprised of 17 branches, two bookmobiles, one Explorer Kid's bookmobile, serves 509,000 people, and has 234,000 cardholders. The evolution of customer expectations and needs motivated the…

Few public buildings, and no libraries, have ever received the sort of acclaim that Seattle's central library garnered even before it opened in May 2004. "The Seattle building is thrilling from top to bottom," wrote Paul Goldberger in "The New Yorker." Herbert Muschamp, in the "New York Times," agreed: "In more…

Describes the Pacific Northwest Conspectus Database, a regional resource assessment tool which includes information about library collections in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Use of the database by academic, public, and special librarians to better manage their collections and to coordinate planning and purchasing with other…