Visit to Seattle Public Library

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (William Butler Yeats)
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

--William Butler Yeats

It's not surprising that Librarians on vacation (or on sabbatical leave) visit other Libraries. So on June 30th, 2006, I did just that. While heading to the hammock at the Hood Canal, we stopped to see the Central Library.

According to their website, "More than 25,000 persons visited the new Central Library on opening day. As expected, it is drawing more than 8,000 visitors per day during its first year of operation (4,000 a day in the old building)." We were there...

We approached this amazing building from the South and stood gazing at the exterior design. Light and angles...diamonds reflecting the beautiful light from the sunny Seattle day. Each of the nine floors presents different concepts in space and use. The visitor can't help but wonder: "If this was my home public library, where would I choose to be..."

Although the building was not filled to capacity, there was no question that the computer commons was one of the most popular zones...all ages and ethnicities, business suits and homeless sitting side by side in this digital arena. RFID and self-checkout was a breeze...
The compact shelving serving the Friends of the Library was one of my favorites...Volunteers close it up and go home!

You won't see the extnsive automated book handling (I saw it when I was at an OCLC Western meeting a year ago) but you can read about it at this site:
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_central_bookhandling&branchID=1

Check out this photo gallery...don't miss the Dewey numbers on the floor, the yellow elevators, the mixing chamber, the colors, the light, the spaces...the beauty!
http://www.spl.org/images/slideshow/NewCentralSlideshow.asp

What a way to begin!