Opening Week schedule

SUNDAY, May 23, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

10:30 a.m. Several percussion groups perform, including Djembe Safara (Senegalese), Show Brazil (Brazilian), One World Taiko (Japanese), Radost Folk Ensemble (Bulgarian/Macedonian), Tsimshian Haayuuk (Native American) and Washington Middle School youth steel-drum band.

10:45 a.m. Dedication ceremony featuring City Librarian Deborah Jacobs, Mayor Greg Nickels, Library Board President Greg Maffei, City Council President Jan Drago and J. Benson Porter, Washington Mutual senior vice president of community and external affairs. Washington Mutual is the main sponsor of the grand opening and inaugural year programs.

GETTING THERE ON SUNDAY Address: 1000 Fourth Avenue Free bus service: With 30,000 people expected to tour the new building Sunday, Metro is offering free rides to the Central Library from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You'll need to pick up a free ticket — designed as a bookmark — at any branch of The Seattle Public Library; at Metro's Customer Service office at the King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson St.; or Westlake Station, mezzanine level. Free tickets will be available outside Central Library entrances for return trips. Patrons may also contact Metro at 206-553-3000 for more information. Parking: The new library has an underground parking garage that can hold 143 vehicles. But don't count on parking there next Sunday for the opening ceremonies; the garage will probably be filled by early-arriving volunteers who are helping with the opening. And yes, they will be paying to park there — just as you will be if you use the garage after Sunday. The library will validate parking for its users for up to two hours; without validation, rates are up to double the validated price. The lowest validated rate is $3 for 20 to 40 minutes of parking. It goes up to $4 for an hour and $10.50 for two hours. The non-validated rate is $4 for 20 minutes or less, $8 for an hour and $14 for two hours. The parking garage will be run by AMPCO Parking. Traffic: Two lanes of traffic on Fourth Avenue will be closed from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday.

11 a.m. Doors open at the Fourth and Fifth Avenue entrances.

5:30 p.m. Discussion of artwork in the new library by artists Ann Hamilton, Gary Hill and Tony Oursler at the Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., Plestcheeff Auditorium. Call (206) 654-3121 for tickets, which are free but required.

Until 7 p.m. Library staff, volunteers and signs will help guide the public through the building. Because of the thousands of people expected on opening day, the library staff encourages patrons to wait until Monday, May 24, to conduct library business.

Keepsakes: While supplies last, everyone attending opening day will receive a perforated paper model of the building.

10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Book-It Repertory Theatre will give performances in the auditorium of "Baseball Stories" featuring "Wait Till Next Year" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

11 a.m. Genealogist Cyndi Howells will discuss her book, "Planting Your Family Tree Online," in the auditorium.

2 p.m. Seattle Post-Intelligencer book critic John Marshall will talk about his book, "Place of Learning, Place of Dreams: A History of The Seattle Public Library," in the auditorium.

Jugglers, storytellers and musicians will be performing all day in the auditorium.

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