Using the Northwest Room

Appointments, Research Assistance, and Image Requests

Due to staff reductions, Northwest Room in-person use is currently only available by appointments scheduled in advance. To compensate for this change, staff have made more resources available online and in the reference collection, and have defaulted to completing house history and newspaper lookups for researchers rather than booking those as appointments. If your needs fall outside of these topic areas, or if you prefer to do that research for yourself, you can make an appointment, request research assistance if you do not wish to come in, or request copies of items in our Digital Collections, using the online form linked below.

Click here to fill out the appointment, research, and image request form. 

Planned Temporary Reductions in Services

Please note, the Northwest Room will be operating at a reduced capacity due to furlough during this period of time:

• December 8-22

During this period, the Northwest Room Assistant will be available using the request form above to assist with the following types of requests:

• Conducting property research using in-house or online resources.
• Retrieving articles and obituaries from microfilmed or digital resources.
• Assisting with Ancestry.com lookups.
• Making appointments to view known items in the collection. If you are able to find something in the library catalog and it shows the location as Northwest Room, use the above form to make an appointment to work with those materials. 
• Retrieving high-resolution copies of images in the Northwest Room digital collections or attributed to the Northwest Room elsewhere.

The Northwest Room Assistant will not be able to conduct original research on archival materials or otherwise advise with research projects. No donations of materials will be considered during these periods of absence. If you have a project that requires in-depth research assistance, please make arrangements to speak with the History Specialist in advance and factor in away time in terms of how they relate to your deadline. It is possible to set aside archival materials and other resources under your name for use during these periods of reduced staffing. Access to these reserved materials will require making an appointment with the Northwest Room Assistant using the above form.

General Usage Information

If you require research assistance and are not requesting an appointment, use the form linked at the top of this page. Please include as much detail about your question and timeline for needing a response as possible. If you are looking for property history information or newspaper lookups, Northwest Room staff can quickly compile this information for you, saving you a trip in. If you enjoy doing that research yourself, the same form can be used to request a research appointment.

If you need access to the Northwest Room's most frequently used materials, some have been made more accessible outside of the Northwest Room for quick access. These include:

• A collection of Polk City Directories in the Reference collection next to the 2nd Floor Reference Desk at the Main Library. This set is not as complete as the one in the Northwest Room and lacks the Cole Directories and phone books, but it generally is complete enough for most house history requirements.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are available on the Digital Collections site.
• Everett High School Nesika annuals are available on the Digital Collections site, and also in a collection in the reference collection near the 2nd Floor Reference desk at the Main Library. The digital collection only covers through 2013. The physical collection in the Northwest Room also has a gap from 2013 through 2024. If you are looking for annuals during that time period, please contact Everett High School. 
• Everett Daily Herald assistance. Any Everett Public Library reference staff can assist in accessing and using the Everett Daily Herald, which is now digitized and searchable on Newspapers.com. Visit the Reference Desk to inquire. If you wish to have Northwest Room staff research something in the Herald for you, please use the form above to submit a research request.
• Northwest Room staff offer property history research services, so if you do not have the time or desire to do the research yourself, they are happy to send you the results of that research within a reasonable timeframe. 

About the Northwest Room

The Northwest Room at the Everett Public Library was founded in 1977. Its staff plays an active and visible role in collecting, preserving, and interpreting local history. The Northwest Room provides access to a range of materials and services that enhance our understanding of the Pacific Northwest region, with specific strengths in Everett and Snohomish County history. Northwest Room collections feature maps, pamphlets, oral history interviews, historic photographs, and online digital collections. Staff is available to provide reference and research assistance and to provide programs and workshops to school and community groups. Use the form above to make a research appointment or request reference assistance.