I really am a book worm. And my favourite building in most cities is the public library. I can’t help it, I judge a city by its libraries. Stockholm has a beautiful, amazing main city library, and a couple of really great public libraries both downtown and in the suburbs. The public library on Manhattan, New York, is overwhelming. Oxford is uncomparable. And now, Seattle has joined the group of my favourite library cities in the world.
Something that most of my favourite libraries has in common is that they are old. The actual buildings. Back in the day, the people with money and power still had an appreciation for books and having a good and well built public library was considered as a status symbol for a city. Most modern libraries just seem to be huge concrete boxes to store books in. Nothing to get inspired by.
Well, this is not the case in Seattle. The public library in Seattle was opened in 2004 and is a beautiful piece of modern, experimental glass architecture. Both from the outside and from within, it’s a masterpiece of light and geometry – and as an amateur photographer, you know I love that.
Especially on the top floor, that is solely furnished with study tables and groups of reading chairs, you feel the full advantage of the glass ceiling. Especially considering how prone to cloudiness Seattle is, the extreme amount of outside light that is let in is just perfect. Suited for Seattle like the hand in the glove (a Swedish saying that might or might not make sense to all you English speakers). On my first day in town, I spent several hours sitting there in a comfy chair, reading the guidebook, writing and using the free wifi.
Right there, in the afternoon of the 31st of May in the public library, was when I first fell in love with Seattle.
Of course I did my routine check. And even though it wasn’t as good as in Vancouver, they sure had a few Astrid Lindgren books on the shelves in the kids department.
But as if one awesome library wasn’t enough, Whitney told me to visit the University of Washington Suzzallo Library. The guidebook told me that it was named after the principal who commissioned it, and that he wanted it to look like a cathedral, because ‘the library is the soul of the university’. Oh, how I love the people with the power to build houses, who realise the great importance and power of architecture. It really looks like an old, European cathedral.
It even reminds me of Oxford, the old stone beauty of Christchurch Collage.
I could transfer to University of Washington, just to be able to sit in this reading room and study for my geographical information systems exams. As it were, I only had time to read a little in the guidebook and study the awesome free map of Seattle that I found by the library entrance. Considering that I’m a geography student, that could almost count as an exam study session.
I can have nothing but pure respect for a city that has chosen to build such beautiful buildings for its, in my opinion, most important artefacts of our shared cultural heritage: the books of the learned and of the world. Hats off for Seattle!
Katja Malmborg 