Thanks to voter approval of last August’s library levy, all 27 locations of The Seattle Public Library will open Sundays beginning Jan. 6.
The Northgate branch, 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E., will be open seven days a week.
In a press release, the library notes this will be the first time in at least a century that all library locations have Sunday hours, which will be 1-5 p.m. Currently, 15 branches are closed on Sunday, including the Northgate branch and the Green Lake branch, 7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N.
The Green Lake branch remains closed on Fridays, as do several others. Current library hours and locations are here.
The Sunday hours were made possible when voters approved a seven-year, $122 million levy, which also ends the week-long shutdown the library has used since 2009 to save money.
The levy is the first time the library has had a designated source of funding. It passed with 62 percent support from voters.
To celebrate the Sunday openings, all branches with new Sunday hours will host a special celebration on a Sunday from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. between Jan. 6 and May 5. Each celebration will feature a children’s craft activity, refreshments and an opportunity to participate in a Check-Out Sundays Challenge.
The Northgate celebration is April 28. The Green Lake celebration is April 7.
Additional library card designs will also be available in January. One design is especially for children, the other four feature photographs of iconic Seattle sites: the Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, Mount Rainier and the Central Library.
Patrons can swap their existing cards for one of the new designs for no charge.
