Donor requires public match for $500,000 gift to Seattle library

An anonymous donor has given $500,000 to the Seattle Public Library Foundation if it can raise a matching amount.

On Wednesday, the foundation kicks off its "Help Us Make $1 Million for the Library" campaign, and it's confident the match will be made.

Jonna Ward, director of the foundation, said the donation came in a mysterious phone call this spring. She said someone had been reading about the financial problems facing the library and decided to make the anonymous donation.

"We have no idea who this person is," Ward said. "This came from out of the blue, a once-in-a-lifetime gift that hardly ever happens."

She said the foundation raises about $3 million a year from donors, so matching the $500,000 shouldn't be difficult. Ward said the foundation hopes to raise $4 million this year.

The money from the donation will likely go to buy books and materials and assist the library's homework-help program. It can't be used to restore library hours that were cut this year, as the library does not use donated money for operations.

"This was an amazing, phenomenal opportunity for us," Ward said. "It couldn't have come at a better time with the continued down economy."

The foundation got a call from a financial institution whose client read about the library's budget problems and wanted to find a way to help, according to the Seattle Public Library.

The foundation hopes to raise the matching money by Dec. 31 so the money can be used next year.

Donors have been generous to the library. The largest donation was $23 million from the Paul Allen family. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave $20 million in 1998 to kick off the library's campaign to build and remodel libraries in Seattle.

To donate, go to foundation.spl.org or call 206-386-4130.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com