The Seattle Public Library Board authorized the sale of two library properties in Ballard last week to private developers. The site of the former Ballard library was authorized for sale to Pryde Johnson Urban Development for $3.1 million. According to the library, the developer's tentative plan is for multifamily residential use.

An additional property, a 12,000 square foot empty lot on the east side of the new library at 5614 22nd Ave. NW, was sold to Schnitzer Northwest, for $1.5 million.

The authorization of the sale of the former library, in all likelihood the final step in selling the public property, ends any hope of the site being used for low-income housing. A non profit housing developer had made a bid on the property, but it was not among the top offers.

The sale of both properties was authorized under the Libraries for All Capital Program, part of a 1998 measure Seattle voters approved for $196 million in bond financing to upgrade and build new library facilities.

In 2001, the library board adopted a resolution seeking to "maximize value" from the sale of old library sites and proceeds from those sites would be used in budget assumptions for the capital program.

The new, $10 million Ballard library is a product of that program. The building, which opened May of this year, is roughly twice the size of the old library.

The previous library was built in 1963 and had approximately 8000 square feet of space in a single story building, with an unfinished basement, sitting on a 20,000 square foot lot.

Future owner Pryde Johnson, has another development in Ballard, a pair of eight story buildings at the site of the former Key Bank at 1536 NW Market St, slated for groundbreaking this month.

Library gets budget bonus

Library users got an early Christmas gift from the Seattle City Council. The council added approximately $2.5 million from the 2006 city budget to the library last week. About $1 million of that will go to library operations, meaning libraries will be able to stay open later.

"Some of that money will go to opening libraries from 6 to 8pm on Thursdays. We'll be adding two more hours system wide, to every location," Seattle Public Library Andra Addison said.

Currently, all library branches, including Ballard, Greenwood and Fremont, close at 6pm on Thursday nights.

The Ballard branch is open on Sunday from 1pm to 5pm but Greenwood and Fremont branches are closed that day. The library board is also considering how and where to expand Sunday library hours for branches. There has not been a decision as to which branches to extend or open Sunday hours to, but part of the emphasis will be on doing so in a uniform way.

"What we're trying to do is restore some of the hours that have been cut over the years. [The library board] wants to have more consistent hours. [In previous years] they had a scattered open hours approach. It was very confusing for the public. We want to avoid that," Addison said.

$1.5 million from the city budget is allocated towards enhancing the library collection. $1 million to future budgets, and $500,000 as a one time addition. The Seattle Public Library's collection of 2 million items suffers by comparison with other public libraries of similar size. According to the American Library Association, public libraries in Dallas, Cleveland and even Toledo Ohio have significantly larger collections than does Seattle. Boston's public library is the largest in the United States with 14 million items in its collection and Harvard University is the largest private library with 15 million items.