Seattle Public Library - Central Library — Attraction in Seattle

I am a native of Seattle and used to use the Downtown Seattle Public Library Regularly as I live within walking distance. They offer Ethernet connections but many of them do not even work. I emailed the library directly (with the # of the ethernet plugs as they are displayed) and months later they aren't fixed. Some of the employees I talked to told me they cannot even get a steady wi-fi signal. Depending on where you sit the Wi-fi signal varies remarkably. The fastest connection I have found running a speed test is around 12/mbs and it can go down to 300/kbs. This alone is mind boggling as Seattle is a leader on the Planet in Computer Technology and home of Microsoft. Do not use this branch if you want reliable internet. At times you cannot even stream a video using their wi-fi and it disconnects regularly. I am sure they have an IT dept. but it is probably one of the most inept or uncaring in the city as their internet service has yet to join the 21st century. Security will harass you for having a small snack, minding your own business quietly but people are allowed to have conversations on their cell phones where signs are posted stating "this is a cell phone free area" and If you mention something to someone who works there , they will look at you like you are a trouble maker or ask if you want them to call security to resolve the issue. The Bathrooms are a good place to have a hands on meeting with various homeless. Once , someone ran into me rushing into the bathroom causing my cell phone to fall out of my jacket pocket and broke the screen. Expect to have dealings with homeless and mentally ill people if you spend any amount of regular time here. Think of it as part of the charm or scenery. Even the employees who shelve books harass the patrons over trivial issues and monitor them. Some must think having a small snack or accidently not turning your cell phone to vibrate is a felony. I've had security guards stop and look at me funny for chewing gum thinking I am eating something. It is ludicrous, disrespectful and utterly stupid. Expect bizarre confrontations between security, staff and patrons if you spend quality time at this branch. I suppose it is nice if you are a tourist and want to spend an hour walking about while drinking your Starbucks and marveling at the Architecture or Design. But as a community resource it is poor and only attractive...

Great library SO MUCH to see & find! The employees have all been very helpful as I'm sure they can understand why it may be difficult to locate things it this massive, BEAUTIFUL library.

It's a shame it will be closed soon. (Temporarily)

They say it's funding but I'm not sure how the city could be lacking in funds seeing all the roadwork going on & with Seattle's excessive taxes. If lack of funding were the case I would think they might choose to cut elsewhere.

And so... maybe it's actually NOT the funding that is creating this closure of Seattle's libraries.... maybe it's to cut the apron strings to the people without a place to go. The libraries are a warm, free place and many have come to expect it to be available for them.

Oh, how I could continue down a rabbit hole of our leaders creating this problem & then acting as if it's the individuals fault for becoming addicted and homeless. Sure, we all have individual responsibility but those more prone to mental issues & addiction are not well cared for and when the problem worsens & they are seemingly stuck in a life of crime, hate and homelessness they are even more so not well cared for.

This is a problem in lack of love for one another. Simply put. If we each could see & feel into anothers existence.... maybe we could show compassion & understanding while also knowing the hard spot these people have allowed themselves to be overtaken by and some tough ish love while holding space for their process & never abandoning our families out there it's my belief that they will see they CAN do better they to DESERVE a better life created by themselves. It's a hard road, figuring that out & some won't make it. But we've got to see that we are also part of the problem in the addiction/homelessness problem.

WE need to also take responsibility for OUR part in creating a space where "they" are a "they", separating a whole group of people because of things out of their direct control initially.

The majority of people are just as unaware & dead inside as the people in the fetty fold. We are all similar & HAVE THE CAPACITY TO LOVE even our haters. It's also a choice.

That went a little Sideways here I apologize. Maybe someone will see what I'm presenting & adjust their way of thinking, which will, in turn, help another & so on and so forth.

We love you SEATTLE LIBRARY SYSTEMS...

Seattle Central Library is a glass-and-steel hallucination of a place, a kind of postmodern fever dream where books are stacked like a conceptual art installation and silence is optional. It’s an architectural mood swing. An angular, jagged thing that can’t decide if it’s inviting you in or daring you to figure out how to navigate its Escher-like levels without getting lost, abducted, or stabbed.

You step inside, and it’s a little like stepping into the future, or maybe a high-concept idea of one. There’s an airy vastness that feels momentarily exhilarating, until it turns into that slightly agoraphobic feeling you get in a really well-designed Apple Store. There are books here, somewhere, though they almost feel incidental to the experience like the library is more about the idea of books than the books themselves. The spiral stacks are a marvel, a space-age take on the Dewey Decimal system, but they also create this vertiginous sensation, a reminder that information is infinite and you will never, ever read it all. And then there’s the Red Room. A hallway, really, bathed in a color so lurid and surreal that it feels like stepping into David Lynch’s subconscious. It’s beautiful, unsettling, and also kind of hilarious in its own overly considered audacity. It’s like the whole place is saying, Yes, this is a library, but we’re not going to make it easy for you to read books. You’re here to read the rooms, between their lines.

The Seattle Central Library is not warm. It is not cozy. You do not come here to curl up with a book and a sense of belonging. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe it’s supposed to be alienating and dazzling and just a little bit hostile, because knowledge isn’t comfortable, and neither is the future. It’s a place that wants you to be impressed by it. And you are. But whether you love it, well that depends on whether you like your library, and future with a side of...