Seattle Central Library

Left: The innovative, four-level Books Spiral Right: The grand staircase begins at Books Spiral 6 and patrons can use it to move throughout the four-level Books Spiral and climb to the Reading Room on Level 10.

Escalators, elevators and stairs are a bright, almost fluorescent green-yellow. In the Central Library, the creative color helps direct patrons to ways to get from level to level.

The 'Book Spiral' implies a reclamation of the much-compromised Dewey Decimal System. By arranging the collection in a continuous ribbon-running from "000" to "999" -- the subjects form a coexistence that approaches the organic; each evolves relative to the others, occupying more or less space on the ribbon, but never forcing a rupture. It liberates the librarians from the burden of managing ever-increasing material. The spiral is realized as a series of flat tiers, connected by gentle ramps. It is an architectural organization that allows all patrons to easily access the collection. The book holding capacity of the library presently stands at 1.4 million books.

Conceptual artist Ann Hamilton designed the floor for this area of the Fourth Avenue level.

Internationally recognized conceptual artist Ann Hamilton designed the floor for this area of the Fourth Avenue level, which leads into the Literacy/ESL/World Languages collection. The floor includes 556 lines of text, in reverse, in 11 languages and alphabets, and consists of the first sentences of books found in the collection.

View of the Children's Center

The 'Faye G. Allen Children's Center' is 15,000 square feet, compared to 2,000 square feet in the old building. The furniture includes "Poufs" - fun, round, foam-filled seats. The triangular Anne Marie Gault Story Hour Room here is green with pinpoint lights that shine from the ceiling like stars.

The 'Betty Jane Narver Reading Room' on level 10 seats 400 and has vignette views of Elliott bay. The highest point of its ceiling reaches 40 feet.

Credits

• Text: Courtesy, the architect
• Photos by Fred Housel, courtesy of The Seattle Public Library
• Compiled and edited by Varun M. Ajani

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