Now That’s a Library!

I’ve had a long love affair with libraries. Growing up in small-town Washington we didn’t have a library of our own; the closest was in Centralia, about a 30 minute drive away. My mom would take me there when I was in the primary grades, and later on in high school it was a wonderland. I didn’t have much free time then, but when I did it was usually in the book stacks.

In middle school I had a chance to attend a program at the University of Washington over the summer, and that’s the first look I ever had at a real college library (the Suzzallo Library, pictured above). Later when I was attending Eastern Washington they remodeled their library, and it became the archetype in my mind.

Then I saw pictures of the Old Library at Trinity College in the June 6th edition of The Chronicle Review (Dublin, Decoded), and my mind was blown. I’ve never seen any reason to go to Ireland before, but now I have one—I simply must see that library. Wow.

What’s your favorite library?