Some libraries I’ve visited has just been a quick run in and out whilst passing by. Seattle Central Library is one such visit. I went there on a Wednesday evening in October 2019 when I was travelling around the US. I remember being hungry and looking for a vegan burger joint when deciding to stop at the library because it was on the way. I also remember being very tired and therefore staying in at the hotel in the evening watching Star Trek: TNG on the telly. Strange associations with this library, but I guess travelling is a mix of experiences blended into one lasting impression.

Library	Seattle Central Library
Place	Seattle, WA, USA
Coordinates	47.606698, -122.332487

I took some pictures of the library and it’s easy to see that my old phone camera didn’t produce the best pictures. In fact I also think I had a phone case that somehow made the pictures worse but otherwise was very good at protecting and storing things in the phone. You get some, you lose some. These two pictures are quite similar, one catching the height and one the width. You can probably see better pictures on the Wikipedia page of the library.

Here’s an example of a typical library picture I would take: no shelves, but a floor plan or directory. Not as picturesque, but it often contains more information about a library than a random picture of a random shelf with books! The only issue I take with this sign is the use of lowercase letters – was it written by Bruno K Öijer? :C I think the contents of the library really show how the library is a place for finding information, culture, sightseeing, having meetings, and hanging out.

I also found a couple of videos on the old hard drive where I stored these pictures. I usually don’t take videos and I’m usually very careful not to include identifiable people in videos and photos. The escalator video does contain some people at the end and I’m unsure of how privacy invasive this is? It is in the entrance so you can’t see what they do at the library – something I think is very important to never show – but it’s a difficult case. Let me know in the comments if you think I should edit this out!

I’m posting the videos here because I think they showcase what I felt at the time – the spatiality of the library and the movement of people inside it. I think the architecture just makes it very clear that this is a place where people move. Not necessarily just passing through, but moving and interacting. The space lends itself very well to a certain library flow, if that makes sense?

Last but not least I had taken a couple of photos from the exhibition I assume was in the Seattle room (since I was there after dark there are no highest viewpoint pictures, it’s probably very nice during the day). The second picture – it’s not very nice looking but I’m intrigued. The poster is folded at place where it hides the answer to the question ”Matrimony is good but single life is …”. What did it say? Why did I take this picture? Did I laugh? Was it absurd? What was the whole exhibition about?

I will have you know I searched through the library’s digital collections with search terms and variations of the poster’s content as well as the 1890s decade category. No result. It’s obviosuly a play, could it be related to this book that was published just a few years earlier? Some sleuthing would required to find out for sure, but I’m afraid I need to get back to writing my dissertation.