The public is invited to comment on where to build the new Northgate Library at the next meeting of the Seattle Public Library board of trustees at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22 at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, 2021 Ninth Ave. The Library Board is expected to discuss and recommend a preferred site for the new library at this regular board meeting. For more information, call David Kunselman, Library project manager, 206-386-4096.
In recent months, Library staff members have pursued options to buy the Bon Tire Center site at Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 105th Street or the commercial site a block north. The Library also has been willing to consider participating in a mixed-use development on the south parking lot of the Northgate Mall at Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 103rd Street.
Finding a site for the new Northgate Library has long been a priority. In 2000, the Library held two community meetings to discuss locations. In March 2000, the Library Board narrowed to six the number of potential sites for the new branch.
Since then, the Library, city agencies and community members have taken part in workshops and meetings regarding the future of the area and to help make informed decisions about siting public projects in Northgate. In May 2001, the Library and other agencies launched a series of open houses to keep the public involved and continue the momentum toward planning and development.
The new 10,000-square-foot branch will have a new collection of 40,200 books and materials, reading and homework areas for children and youth, computer work stations and instruction areas and a meeting room. The $5.1 million branch is scheduled to open in 2004.
The new library is part of the $196.4 million "Libraries for All" bond measure that Seattle voters passed in 1998. The plan calls for improving or replacing all 22 branch libraries, building five new branches and building a new central library.
The Seattle Public Library Foundation is in the midst of a "Campaign for Seattle's Public Libraries" with the goal of raising $75 million from private sources to enhance the public bond commitment. Every dollar raised will ensure the library system reflects our community's needs in buildings, books, technology and people, long into the future. For more information about "Libraries for All" or the Foundation, visit the Library's Web site at www.spl.org.
(For more information, call Caroline Young Ullmann, communications assistant, at 206-615-1627.)
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Content modified: 10 January 2002
12/30/2005
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