The Seattle Public Library – Central Library

This building is utterly amazing. Take a few moments out of your day to enjoy the architectural splendor.

The Seattle Public Library is an absolute gem. I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of coming here in search of new books to read, but solely to marvel at the architecture. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the large steel beams and endless panes of glass are completely stunning, and you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t make the journey to the very top of the library.
I am entirely jealous and envious of those that get to spend a cold, rainy Sunday in this behemoth of a library.

Awesome looking building on the outside and really cool on the inside too. It was nice hanging out here to catch up on some stuff before moving along to the next adventure. There are seven floors (i think) and lots of room to spread out and have some quiet time.

Wow! This library is HUGE! Also, the outside of the library (I almost typed museum) is beautiful.
Along with that, a 10 story library? How do you even find a book in this place? Along with that, there is a point on the very top floor of the library where you look straight down to the 1^st floor. Let’s just say, hold onto your phones tight so you don’t drop it and I hope you’re not afraid of heights.

Beautiful library with extremely helpful staff. I stopped by while in Seattle to admire the architecture and while I was there decided to print by boarding passes for my flight home. The staff was extremely helpful, allowing me to use their computer and print my passes on the house. Really great library with even better people.

Tread carefully those who seek the respite of the Seattle Public Library for there be folks quietly using the desk spaces up the stairs to read about pirates.
I have to say that the Seattle Library is really part library, part architectural work of art, and all visually interesting. I highly recommend you take the elevator all the way up to the top (unless you regularly suffer from vertigo) to take a look down at all of the interesting inner-​workings and some of the amazingly-​slanted glass panel work that renders the library with the feel of a cathedral.
There’s no real limit to the number of odd books and crannies you’ll find. One section was entirely dedicated to cataloging/​displaying old phone books. Let that sink in a little: in case the written word ends tomorrow, like an ersatz library of Alexandria, the Seattle Library will have your phone book needs covered. Perhaps it is an epitaph to a prior era, but that touch actually struck a chord in me and made me appreciate this museum all the more.
Many of the books are loving splayed atop the rows of book shelfs, like the prime artifacts that they are. This place is a must-​visit in your tour of Seattle. Conveniently just down the street from the Pike Place market, you have no excuse not to visit.

Woah, this house for books is incredible!
Clean, quiet, architecturally magnificent!

STILL one of my favorite organizations hands down. The Central Library is like Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders in the digital age. It’s a massive, misshapen glass box full of pure golden information (352,987 sq ft, I hear).
Whether you just need a place to study OR want to show your guests that Seattle is cooler than wherever they’re from, this place is it! It’s not necessary to have a membership if you’re just perusing. Membership is FREE if you live in King County and grants you access to all the local neighborhoods branches (one card to rule them all!).
Just the architecture itself is worth a visit. The outside might make you wonder if it’s even structurally stable… Just proceed to the psychedelic escalator ride all the way to the highest viewing point and stop by floor 3 on the way down for some delicious chocolate.
Here are some ideas:
a.) Free museum passes? You can «check out» passes online with your library card = free admission to dozens of nonprofits in the area including the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, and Seattle Art Museum. (
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b.) Planning a dream vacation? They have tons of travel books. You can even plan a date to the library with your SO/​friend to plan your next vacation together. Awwww. And while you’re at it, check out their language learning software (available online and for rent).
c.) Love music? They have tons of CDs, DVDs, and FREE sheet music (located on floor 8). They even have practice rooms if you need to spare your roommates from you sawing away at that violin.
d.) Bored in a car/​plane? Check out an audio book or e-​reader book for free with their Overdrive app (
) I love to do this on long car rides to the mountains. You can even download them to your phone for when you don’t have reception.
e.) Check out their events! They have FREE movie screenings, lectures, bookclubs, etc.
Bonus: Learn more about their crazy automated sorting machines they have for returned books. They’ve got an info video by the front desk.
Oh, and did I mention that (almost) everything is FREE?! :)

i love this library! i recommend people to go check it out all the time if they’ve never been. rem koolhaas is the architect.
each floor has unique aspects such as the red hall, atrium, etc. the children’s section is nice and colorful.
of course there will be homeless people but the library is public and they’re just trying to get a rest or read, whatever!
i certainly did not smell body odor inside. unless you’re sitting right next to a person, i can see how one have that experience.

You can’t help but notice how beautiful the architecture is when you arrive. Then once you step inside, go to the check-​in/​lobby area and you can see some of the that have checked out booked returning them. Might not sound all that cool, but Seattle Public Library has this machine that once the books are returned, it goes up the machine to the appropriate floor, and boom – the book is gone!
There’s 10 floors of just quiet and peaceful people doing work, reading books, and people just relaxing. My favorite floor is the third where the «Living Room» is. There’s a small café and the floor is just so open. There were a ton of people in there and it was SO QUIET.
When visiting Seattle, SPL is a MUST, especially if it’s your first time!

Wow this place is amazing, I found it driving around Seattle. It just caught my eye and I wanted to know what it was. The design is beautiful and ultra modern. It is a cool building filled with great spaces. I had a great time just wandering around and seeing it.
The library spaces are big and filled with natural light. It is quiet and has soaring ceilings and is just a great home for books and a great place to visit for the people who love books.
I guess I shouldn’t be to surprized, Libraries, especially main branches are usually cool spaces (I’m from Portland and our main branch is a cool historic place). Seattle’s is better then most though even in that great company.
Being it is in Seattle, of course it has a coffee shop inside, and great seating so you can relax. It’s just a great place.

We walked up to the library and went inside to explore a bit. It’s a huge library with a big children’s section. It is filled with light. You don’t have to be a member of the library to get in so don’t worry about not being a Seattle resident.
What a cool building in downtown Seattle. You can explore this modern engineering marvel for FREE. It’s really cool to see. Designed by famed architect Rem Koolhaas and built in 2004.
The view from the top floor will stop your heart, but if you can’t find the final escalator down with it’s neon lighting, you’ve missed a fun ride, so need to pop back up a few floors until you find it again.
They have a terrific little store in the lobby to buy some great souvenirs on for your visits. Worth a visit if you need wifi! Beautiful building, but it truly is a library: just books and people working. Also, smells a bit like feet.

I highly recommend visiting this building. The architecture itself is amazing and it has 10 floors of pure awesomeness. Take the elevator or escalator to the third floor because it is literally all red. Then walk up the stairs to the fourth floor and continue walking up the yellow escalators passing the 5^th to the 9^th floor. Then go around the Seattle room upwards towards the 10^th floor and go to the «highest view point.» You can literally look down all 10 stories from the atrium. Then head down to the 9^th floor and stop by the map room! Even though I was only here for about 30 mins, I thought it was definitely worth the stop!
Weird fact: the bathroom stall doors are really short so you can see people’s faces or heads when they stand up, lol.

I’m writing this review because of how appalled I am. Never have I been to a library in my life that STINKS. The place reeks of body odor and homeless people. I was pretty shocked, I’ve been to public libraries in New York and Copenhagen and I have never ever had this problem. I mean props to the homeless for staying educated???
At first I thought it was the elevator I was in but after walking through a few floors (there’s about 10 floors in this building, it felt that the horrendous scent was everywhere.) I tried really hard to not breathe through my nose but the thought of breathing in the air with my mouth makes me gag. At one point I needed to use the restroom but decided not to, it must be an abomination in there when the public areas of the library smell this bad.
I just moved to Seattle and I’m praying that not all the libraries here are like this.
Also for those who gave 5 stars for this place, are your noses broken or did you come in here with a gas mask? Cause I’m seriously pinching my nose and scratching my head right now…
And for those of you who work at the library, I salut your poor souls, so help you God…

Beautiful library at the heart of downtown Seattle. It’s a great place to take your architecture nerds and out-​of-​town friends on a rainy day. There’s plenty of seating, so you can chill after a day of walking around downtown Seattle and then head over to Sazerac down the street for happy hour or to Frolik on 5^th Ave if it’s a sunny summer day. When I was working at Disney (across the street), they used to have big company meetings at the auditorium here at the SPL.
Being a local, I think I take the Seattle Public Library for granted. They have a lot of great resources for business and market research purposes and the librarians are always happy to help you with your research. Did you know that they have a click to chat feature on their website? You can chat with a Seattle Librarian during business hours but you can chat with a real, live librarian from other places 24/​7, 365 days a year! That’s better customer experience than what you’ll get from most Fortune 100 companies. They also do workshops and fun seasonal things, like Seahawks themed library cards.
As with any public library, you’ll see a lot of homeless people here during the day. I would totally be here too if I were them.

If you enjoy heights and views, this is the library for you. There are many levels that contain observation posts and great views of the library below you. This library has beautiful architecture and art. The inside is clean, and parts of it are museum like mazes. There’s a massive amount of books present here. It’s fun to wander if you’re in the area and you’ve never seen it before, or to come here as a resident to read and work. I’ve mostly come here as a tourist attraction, but now that I live in the area it’s quite nice to be able to come in and hang out.
I’ll come back often.

This is probably the best library that I have ever been in. I’m so jealous for Seattle.
Oh yeah, the wifi is crazy fast. As in an unnecessary 230mbps down/​200mbps up for a single public user at peak hours.

Woah. This place is cool. I’ve always admired the architecture from outside, but had never been in.
So. Big. And busy! We came in just because my mom wanted to swoop up a library card — I mean helloooo they have Seahawks cards! We walked in lost, and were easily able to find our way around thanks to the nice man at the front desk. We went down the huge, dark, scary, escalator and quickly found the computers to sign up for a card.
The entire process took less than five minutes. The guy registering us for our cards was very friendly and knowledgeable about the program and explained in depth how everything worked with checking out books and the online stuff we could use.
We didn’t really wander around, but we did see they have a giant theater like room downstairs with a huge screen that looked pretty awesome. My mom said you can watch Seahawks games there — uhh cool!
Even if you don’t like to read or have a card or whatever, come in this place just to check it out! You won’t be disappointed!

This library is a landmark! If you haven’t come here simply because you’re not one to check out books, you’re missing out. This is a real treasure in our city and the views, the neon escalators, the people-​watching, it’s all an experience everyone ought to have just once. Especially if you’re a local!
I’ve been to this library countless times. Sometimes for the annual book sale, sometimes to grab a book, and once to take photos with my brother who was visiting from out of town. I even came another time with newly married (like 10 mins prior) friends who wanted a cute wedding day photo at the neon escalators.
Check this spot out, even if you don’t check out a book. I promise you’ll be glad you did and you’ll smile every time you pass it in the city and be glad you know what’s on the inside.

An excellent community resource. Not only great for books and free wifi… they host excellent events on a vast array of subjects.
The children’s section offers a generous selection of foreign language books. In my experience… staff members are approachable and will go out of their way to tell you about events that migh be of interest to you. Can’t get enough of this place.

I wish we had a library like this in LA. Great public space and a fantastic library. The cost was US $ 169.2 M. Bravo to the Seattle Public Library who had the foresight and courage to engage in such a great civic project. This place conjures up images of the great library in Alexandria and what it might be like.
I was here only on a whistle stop after visiting Pike Place Market. Enjoyed it immensely. Will return and spent more time here. By the way it’s free to see it. As good as the space needle and better than the EMP museum.
Here is an excerpt from Arch Daily which describes the program of the library succinctly.
«The Seattle Central Library redefines the library as an institution no longer exclusively dedicated to the book, but as an information store where all potent forms of media – new and old – are presented equally and legibly. In an age where information can be accessed anywhere, it is the simultaneity of all media and, more importantly, the curator-​ship of their content that will make the library vital.»

Huge, beautiful modern library in downtown Seattle.
Several spacious floors and comfortable seating areas with tons of natural lighting.
If you’re not local and you purchased tickets to the Space Needle online, you will need to print your tickets. I used a mobile app and realized when I received the confirmation email that I needed to print the tickets. The email clearly states that the email cannot be used as a ticket. Now that’s a pain in the arse for a tourist. Visitors can get a free 30 minute pass to use the computer and print for 15 cents per page. Probably should have included this information in my Space Needle review.
Anyway, it’s a gorgeous library.

Great library! First, it is a beautiful building in terms of architecture. A lot of people were inside just taking pictures and looking around. I love how many floors there are and each floor has places to read/​charge your things/​study or just relax. Nice environment for studying or reading a great book.
PROS: Lots of seating, beautiful design, lots of outlets, lots of books too!