How The NE Seattle Branch Library Came About

Wedgwood in Seattle published this interesting account of the founding of the Northeast Branch of the Seattle Public Library:

Seattle Northeast Branch Library

The Northeast Branch Library has a history book that tells the history of the library.

In the early 1900s, the land surrounding the Northeast Branch Library at 6801 35th Ave NE was owned by Marvin and Isabella Jones, who wanted to share their wealth by donating a portion of their land to charities and community organizations.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Jones were no longer alive when the library opened in 1954, they would have been pleased to have created such a wonderful living resource as the library.

This blog post shows the creation of the Northeast Branch Library and what the area in front of the library looked like during the land ownership of Marvin and Isabella Jones in the early 20th century.

The first bookstores in Northeast Seattle

Northeast Seattleites have long been avid readers, as evidenced by their early efforts to establish a neighborhood bookstore. The first, called Ravenna Station in the 1920s, had no librarian or other staff. As shown in the picture below, it was a stack of books located at the Bell Drug Store at 2818 Northeast 55th Street . The shopkeeper received one penny of "rent" for each book he borrowed. During the economic crisis of the 1930s, Ravenna station was closed because the city could not pay the "rent".

Bell Drug Store at 2818 Northeast 55th Street in the Ravenna neighborhood. In the 1920s, it served as a bookend. The "Ravena Orchard" label in the image is the file name that is part of the property's legal description in King County property tax records.

Ravenna's other station library, pictured below, opened in September 1945 in a storefront building in the 3200 block on the south side of NE 65th Street (the current location of the school's gym). At first it was only open three days a week. This medium library had children's books, and the librarians said that up to 200 children would visit the Ravenna station library in one day.

The storefront building is located at 3219 Northeast 65th Street, on the south side of Northeast 65th Street. The building no longer exists as Assumption School expanded to NE 65th Street.

The 1950s push for a new library building in Northeast Seattle

By the 1950s, Seattle had twelve branch libraries throughout the city, including the University District and Green Lake, but the areas east of the University District and down to Lake Washington lacked library buildings to serve the growing population. Funding for a new library was still very difficult, as the 1950 bond issue did not raise enough votes.

The need for a larger bookstore in northeast Seattle was noted in a March 2, 1952 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article. This article is from the Northeast Branch Library history album.

In addition to funding, another challenge was finding a suitable location for a new library building in northeast Seattle. A central location was needed to serve residents of Bryant, Hawthorne Hills, Laurelhurst, Ravenna, Sand Point, View Ridge and Wedgwood. Locations in business districts like NE 65th Street cost more.

Wedgwood neighborhood, northeast of Seattle. Map reproduced with permission from HistoryLink.

Volunteers went out and went door to door asking for information on available sites for a new library building. Finally, the available land was located on NE 35th Avenue at NE 68th Street. It was located on NE 35th Street, which meant easy access for library patrons, although the area around this corner of NE 68th Street is more residential than commercial.

The corner of NE 68th Street was not far from Bryant School at 3311 NE 60th Street and Assumption School at NE 65th Street, whose children were avid library users. It was the new View Ridge School located east of Artery and Eckstein Junior High on NE 75th Street. Other potential library users come from the Seattle Children's Home at 3200 NE 65th Street and Theodora House at 6559 35th Ave NE.

Design of the new northeast branch library

The architect chosen to design the new Northeast Branch Library building was Paul Thierry, known as the "Father of Modernism in the Pacific Northwest." In architectural design, modernism consists of clean lines and forms built without external decoration. Thiry designed the bookcase to be built using a steel column and truss system, eliminating the need for internal support columns. The interior of the library consists of wide open bays.

Northeast Branch Library 6801 35th Ave NE. Valarie's photo.

One of Paul Thiry's design principles was that the building should be in harmony with its site. Seeing how livable the surrounding neighborhood was, part of his design plan for the Northeast Branch Library was to connect the new building and make it feel more like home. Landscaping around the building was also part of the project to make the building look like part of the natural environment.

Built in 1910, the university's library has a grand entrance with many steps.

The architectural design of the Terry Library was flat and single-story, giving the building a "shoddy" appearance like many homes in Northeast Seattle in the 1950s.

The entrance to the library is angled so it can be accessed from NE 68th Street on the first floor. The low ceiling, large windows, open spaces, and accessible entrance were very different from earlier Seattle libraries, such as the University Department. The university's central library is designed in a classical style and has a long staircase leading to the entrance.

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