Seattle Central Library
Seattle
The Seattle Central Library is the city's main library, opened in 2004. Its steel building, with its crooked floors, is one of the most famous in the city.
A library born in 1868
The first residents founded a library association in 1868. In 1890 the library became a city service. It moved many times until it found a home on this block.
Three libraries in the same place
The first library on this block was paid for by a rich industrialist. It was damaged by an earthquake and replaced by a new one, opened in 1960. Each time, the new library was bigger. The third, the one you see, opened on May 23, 2004.
A building unlike any other
Each floor has a different job and a different shape. The parts rest on one another like shifted boxes. Outside, a steel net wraps the whole building. Inside there is a very tall hall, full of light, called the Living Room.
A vote for books
In 1998 the people of the city voted for a big plan for libraries. Today there are books in many languages here, spaces to study and rooms for meeting. A famous critic called it the most exciting building he had seen in thirty years of work.
