March 27, 1905. Meetings were held annually until 1909 when the first WLA was merged with the newly formed Pacific Northwest Library Association. It was briefly organized as the Puget Sound Library Association and then re-established in its current form with its first meeting on June 30, 1932. The WLA has published an academic journal called Alki since 1983.

WLA has four divisions: Academic, Public, School, and Special. WLA also has eleven interest-based sections, Collection