Move over Space Needle there's a new Icon in Town

Seattle Public Library - Photo Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

                                                                            

The first stop on any tour of modern library design is the land of Java, Grunge, and Gates. The Seattle Central Library put public libraries on the map. Few public libraries had ever garnered so much attention and acclaim before its opening in May 2004. The ten-story glass and steel building was designed by Pritzer Prize-winning Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and at the time of completion, it was largest of its kind in the United States.[i]

Book Return
Photo Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

Paul Goldberger of The New Yorker wrote, “The Seattle building is thrilling from top to bottom”, Herman Muscahamp of the New York Times felt similarly: “In more than 30 years of writing about architecture, this is the most exciting building it has been my honor to review.”[ii] 


It is not just the journalistic elite who were excited about the opening, 12 year old Alex Brewer, interviewed by NPR, was so excited he saved all his book returns (a suitcase full) for opening day just to be able to watch them drop from the return slot onto the computerized conveyor belt. 


Deborah Jacobs, head librarian and driving force behind this project admittedly loves the bells and whistles but feels it is the community focus that is really at the heart of why she is so excited about the building.[iii]  

Living Room
Photo Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

As cultural meeting places go this one is topnotch. Within the first year of operation 2.3 million people experienced the light-infused atrium of the Living Room, complete with information and circulation desks,  computers, comfortable reading chairs, popular magazines and the library’s fiction collection, a coffee stand (not Starbucks) and gift shop.[iv]  There is no shushing here; this room is all about community. You can enjoy a coffee with a friend, flip through the latest Vogue, enjoy a game of chess, browse the latest bestsellers, or just soak up the sun. The Living Room is the epitome of  Jacob’s goal for the library; the ultimate community centre.

Just in case you were a little worried about how Startbucks felt about not providing the coffee remain calm because you only need to go to the back of the Living Room to the Starbucks Teen Center for reassurance. Now others might be crying “What about Microsoft?” remain clam folks, Bill and the gang contributed a 275-seat auditorium as a place for public discourse.  

That really is Chartreuse!
Photo Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

When you are done with your coffee and Vogue take a ride on the fluorescent chartreuse escalators  to the Mixing Chamber. No, this is not a book themed discothèque, it just happens to be the reference center. With over 135 computers in the Mixing Chamber alone the library aims to have one for each patron who has an inquiry. The goal of the Mixing Chamber is to create one go-to area for all reference needs. It acts as a multidisciplinary reference area that will satisfy virtually all reference inquiries. All reference librarians are equipped with a walkie-talkie like devise to aid in collaboration with all disciplines. If a book is needed a request is made to the appropriate library area and a dumbwaiter brings it to the Mixing Chamber.[v] If you are scared of the reference librarian or want to find a book on your own head to the Book Spiral.

Take a spin through the Music Section
Photo Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

The Book Spiral is one of the main design features and important functional achievements of this library. Time and time again the question arises about how to deal with the increases and decreases within a libraries book collection as there tends to be limited space. Seattle’s answer is Koolhaas’s Book Spiral. The Spiral organizes the books in one nonstop Dewey succession of gently sloped ramps that are flexible and can adapt to changes in design and collection size. The Spiral can hold up to 1.45 million volumes.[vi] 

When faced with the Sprial finding a specific item can seem like a daunting task. The library tries to help by placing floor mats labeled with the Dewey numbers next to each stack and labeling each elevator stop with the corresponding Dewey number.

Once you have located that text on Norwegian drinking songs you can head to the Reading Room for an in-depth study. The Betty Jane Narver Reading Room is just how we like it, a clam, noise-free oasis with spectacular views. 

Betty Jane Narver Reading Room
Photo Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

Sounds and looks like heaven non? Well there have been a few issues with the design and library functions. The Sprial continues to challenge patrons who get easily lost. Apart from the floor mats signage is not a all that prominent or helpful.[vii]  Others complain that the reference and service desks apart from those in the Mixing Chamber are hard to find as they tend to be tucked into back corners of the various floors and departments.[viii] 


Some who praised the building when it opened are now less than enthusiastic. Lawrence Cheek of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer revisited the library in 2007 and wrote that his earlier praise was a mistake and he now found the library “confusing, impersonal, uncomfortable, oppressive.”[ix] 


The library also received censure from the Project for Public Spaces. In a 2004 newsletter an article questions whether the library truly achieves Jacobs’ goal, “If the library were a true “community hub,” its most active areas would connect directly to the street, spinning off activity in every direction.”[x]

The critics are hardly affecting business. I was unable to find recent information on gate counts but with over two million visitors in the first year of operation and $16 million in economic activity[xi]. Trying to be everything for everyone is a difficult thing to do, especially for a public library. I think it is safe to say that Seattle Central Library has overcome some the biggest hurdles when it comes to library design and has placed the bar high.

And here's a video for the road (thanks to Peter Wilson for passing this along) a great TED Talk from Joshua Prince-Ramus, an architect involved in creating the Seattle Central Library:

If you can't get enough of the Seattle Central Library you can take a virtual tour here.

---

[i]  Profile: Grand opening of the new Seattle public library (2004). Washington, D.C., United States,  Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.lib.uwo.ca/cgi- bin/ezpauthn.cgi/docview/189796268?accountid=15115

[ii] Kenney, B. (2005). After Seattle: By discarding every preconception about a public library building, they created the first 21st-century library. Library Journal, 130(13), 34+.

[iii] Profile: Grand opening of the new Seattle public library (2004). 

[iv] Kenney, B. (2005).

[v] Kenney, B. (2005). 

[vi] Kenney, B. (2005). 

[vii] Murakami, K. (2006, September 4). Too many people getting lost in new downtown library. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved from http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Too-many-people-getting-lost-in-new-downtown-1213582.php

[viii] Kenney, B. (2005). 

[ix] Cheek, L. (2007, March 26). On architecture: How the new central library really stacks up. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved from  http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/article/On-Architecture-How-the-new-Central-Library-1232303.php?source=mypi

[x] Fried, B. (2004, July). Mixing with the kool crowd: Have architecture critics forgotten how to judge public spaces?. Making Places Newsletter, n.a. Retrieved from http://www.pps.org/articles/mixing-with-the-kool-crowd/

[xi] Kenney, B. (2005).