I’ve lived in Seattle for 4 years. It feels like that time has flown by! In all that time I never set foot in this building until recently even though I’ve been meaning to visit for a long time. The Seattle Central Library building is the main branch of the Seattle Public Library and is located in the downtown area. It is an impressive glass and steel piece of modern architecture. Don’t you agree?
If you read my last blog post, then you know I’ll be leaving the Emerald City soon. I am a little sad about leaving Seattle and the Pacific Northwest region even though I am leaving for an amazing new adventure that I’ve been working towards for a long time. This is a really beautiful part of the United States and you can’t beat the summers in Seattle. I definitely plan to move back here one day.
Until then, I’m making time to visit places in Seattle that I’ve been meaning to visit. One of these places is the Seattle Central Library building. I have driven/walked past this building countless times without setting foot inside. Until a few days ago.
This library is very extremely different from one of my other favorite public library buildings, the main branch of the New York Public Library. In a lot of ways Seattle is a “young” city when compared to the rest of the United States so it makes sense that the Seattle Central Library is so “futuristic” looking. After all, this building was just finished in 2004.
When I visited, it was a bit later in the day on a weekday but I spotted a few other avid photographers and tourists taking photos. If you are in Seattle and have time, and you’re in the neighborhood, definitely visit for a bit. Just know the elevators aren’t the fastest and you’ll want to stop on multiple floors to get the full “experience”.
You can’t necessarily tell from the outside of the building but, there are 11 floors. The 10th floor is the highest publicly accessible floor and, when it’s a bright sunny day outside, the 10th floor looks like a great place to get a tan.
I read that the architects wanted the building to be modern, open, bright instead of following the typical library design which can feel “stuffy”. I think they accomplished their goals. You could even say they were ahead of their time by going in this creative direction. Considering how many new steel/glass buildings are currently under construction in the city, this library is sure to fit in with the shifting landscape of downtown Seattle.
