These bibliographies highlight books from the collections of the Washington State Library. Most contain a mixture of fiction and non-fiction titles.
The Manuscripts Collection contains unique, unpublished records created by organizations and individuals in the conduct of their activities. Letters, speeches, minutes, reports, writings, and other types of records document the history and culture of the Pacific Northwest.
The State Library has a collection of over 600 distinct collected manuscripts. These include records, printed documents, memorabilia, graphic materials, maps, newspapers, ledgers, published books, pamphlets, correspondence, scrapbooks, proof sheets, clippings, and other historically significant materials or ephemera. There are many original manuscripts of published Washington State history titles in the collection.
Washington State Library Special Collections collect and preserve manuscripts that are not generated through the government of the State or Territory of Washington.
Manuscript collections generated through state and local government may be found through the State Archives.
The Washington State Library has many maps, which are found in our rare, northwest, federal publications, and state publications collections. You can search our online catalog for maps. To limit your search to maps, select the maps collection in the "View Entire Collection" drop down box.
The Washington State Library has a collection of Metsker atlases for each Washington County. They are available for on site use only. All of the Metsker maps are listed in our online catalog.
Since its inception, the Washington State Library has preserved and provided access to a comprehensive collection of information on the geographic area we now know as Washington State and the other identified regions of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana.
The collection also contains works on Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory to reflect our shared histories.
The Northwest Collection deals with diverse formats: printed books, periodicals and newspapers; maps, microfilm and fiche, sound recordings, and video recordings on a wide range of subjects: history, education, ethnic groups, geology, geography, environment, individuals, plants, animals, counties, cities, transportation, sports, and the arts.
All items in the Northwest collection are listed in our catalog.
The Washington State Library has hundreds of rare and historical maps in the following cartographic formats: base and outline, geologic, historic, road, topographic, demographic, environmental, hydrologic, cadastral, property, seismologic, soil, urban planning, nautical, and aeronautical charts.
The Special Collections of the Washington State Library collect and preserve rare and archival materials that enrich research in the history and culture of the Pacific Northwest.
The Geographical region comprises the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho in their entirety; the province of British Columbia; and western portions of the State of Montana, Alaska and Yukon Territory materials are also acquired selectively when they relate to the Pacific Northwest region.
These non-circulating collections are comprised of historic and unique books, pamphlets, maps, and manuscripts that are available for research in our reading room.
The Washington State Library has a large collection of federal topographic maps issued by the U.S. Geological Survey. You can search our online catalog for maps. Do a keyword search for the place name along with the word topographic. This collection does not circulate, and unfortunately, library staff is unable to undertake map research on behalf of patrons. An ever-increasing number of Historic topographic maps are being added to the USGS, National Map web resource.