Editing Thurston County, Washington (section)

===Libraries===

Thurston County is part of the [[Timberland Regional Library]], a [[public library]] system that serves five counties in southwestern Washington and is headquartered in Tumwater.<ref>{{cite news |last=Spegman |first=Abby |date=July 24, 2019 |title=As it plans for the future, hard feelings remain over Timberland's attempt to close libraries |url=https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article232697132.html |work=The Olympian |accessdate=October 27, 2024}}</ref> It has seven locations in the county and a dedicated [[bookmobile]] service.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 2024 |title=2023 Washington Public Library Statistical Report |pages=125–126 |url=https://www2.sos.wa.gov/_assets/library/libraries/libdev/2023stats.pdf |publisher=Washington Secretary of State |accessdate=October 27, 2024}}</ref> Thurston County is a founding member of the Timberland system, which was established as a pilot project in 1964 and made into a permanent intercounty rural library district in 1968. The county had previously been served by the South Puget Sound Regional Library, which was contracted to operate libraries in the cities of Lacey, Olympia, and Yelm. These cities were later annexed directly into the Timberland system by the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 2013 |title=TRL Board of Trustees Manual: A History of Timberland Regional Library |pages=1–6 |url=https://trl.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/140/2023/05/Board-History.pdf |publisher=[[Timberland Regional Library]] |accessdate=October 27, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=February 3, 1982 |title=Voters Pass Library Plan |page=B2 |work=The Olympian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olympian-voters-pass-library-plan/157977319/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=October 27, 2024}}</ref> The oldest public library in the county was opened in 1896 by the [[Woman's Club of Olympia]], who donated their collection of 900 books to the city government in 1909. A permanent [[Carnegie library]] in Olympia was opened in 1914 with 1,500 books and was used by the city and Timberland until a new library building opened in 1978.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pemberton |first=Lisa |date=September 14, 2014 |title=100 years of going to the library |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olympian-100-years-of-going-to-the-l/157977418/ A1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olympian-100-years-of-going-to-the-l/157977425/ A18] |work=The Olympian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olympian-100-years-of-going-to-the-l/157977418/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=October 27, 2024}}</ref>