Ned M. Barnes Northwest Room
The Northwest Room will close to the public on February 14, 2020 through 2021 for Downtown Library renovation. When the Downtown Library reopens in late 2021/early 2022 it will include an enhanced Northwest Room experience on the 3rd floor with a focus on the Inland Northwest. Learn more about the Downtown Library renovation and our other library renovation projects at future.spokanelibrary.org.
Northwest Room materials are not available to the public during renovation, but customers can continue to access digitized Northwest Room materials below.
Exhibits, resources, and special collections
High school yearbooks
Several hundred Spokane high school yearbooks are now available online.
You can view these yearbooks in your web browser without downloading any files or additional software.
Biographical files
For over 100 years, librarians at SPL clipped the newspapers for biographical information.
These clippings include obituaries on pioneers, but they also contain all kinds of biographical information from papers in Spokane and around the Northwest.
Digitized photo archives
These collections, available online, emphasize the most frequently requested subjects in the Northwest Room – the homes, buildings, streets and activities in and around Spokane.
Northwest exhibit schedule
The Northwest Room displays permanent art as well as exhibits which rotate several times a year.
The Fuller Collection
The Fuller Collection consists of rare materials relating to the history of writing and printing.
Northwest Map Collection
Maps offer a whole different dimension to studying and understanding the history of the Pacific Northwest.
Northwest Room Photo archive
Spokane Public Library’s small, but impressive, photograph collection contains several hundred prints offering glimpses of life in the Pacific Northwest.