Spaces named for donors include: the Guiseppe and Assunta Desimone Reading Area and The Satterberg Foundation Children's Area.
Giuseppe and Assunta came to Seattle from Italy in the late 1800s. They met and married in the early 1900s. Their first home was on a farm in the Georgetown area. Shortly after, they moved to South Park where they operated a large truck garden farm and raised their family of five.
In the 1920s, Giuseppe Desimone urged the Pike Place Market to focus on local farmers and their produce. He was involved with major finances and management in the Market. The city of Seattle acquired the Market from his family in the mid-1970s. Today it remains a major tourist and local attraction.
In the mid-1930s, Desimone's concern for the economic growth of our community led him to donate waterfront property on the Duwamish River to The Boeing Co. for $1. This helped Boeing remain in our area and provided the land for to develop Boeing's Plant 2.
This room is a tribute to the many contributions immigrants have made to the South Park community and our city.
The Satterberg Foundation’s mission is to maintain and enjoy the interconnection of its family members and to provide funds to non-profit organizations that enrich and support our communities.
The children's area of the South Park Branch is a wonderful base for supporting the foundation's mission. The whole Satterberg family grew up loving libraries and the worlds within books. The Foundation hopes that the kids and families using the South Park Branch will enjoy the same experience.