In honor of National Library Week, we’re visiting Seattle Public Library’s Central Library. With its innovative glass and steel design, you could say we’ve come a long way from the world’s first libraries that housed archives of clay tablets and papyrus scrolls. Downtown Seattle’s 11-story flagship public library has lots of open spaces like this one that allow patrons to meet, study, search the web, or read in comfortable, light-filled rooms. It can house more than 1.5 million books, many of which are stored in an innovative "Books Spiral," which displays the volumes in a continuous helix of bookshelves over 3.5 stories without breaking the Dewey Decimal System onto different floors or sections. The library, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, moves all those books around by using a sorting system that resembles an airport’s luggage conveyor belt. How’s that for high-tech?
Ready, set, read
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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A fair that s star-studded
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National Go Birding Day
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Goats don t grow on trees
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Celebrating Panama s independence
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This reef is nowhere near the sea…
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Even nature needs a backup plan…
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Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy
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Shark Awareness Day
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The tallest animal in the world on the longest day of the year
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Dreaming of the Tyrrhenian Sea
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Indian Independence Day
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Black grouses lekking
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White Desert National Park, Egypt
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Darwin Day
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Isla del Pescado on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
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Design for Each and All
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Pollinator Week
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Wildcat in a winter wonderland
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Pride 2024
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50 years of Earth Day
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International Archaeology Day
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National Dolphin Day
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Hemingway’s Keys
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Rooftops in the walled city of Urbino, Italy
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Fallow deer, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
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World Poetry Day
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International Rock Day
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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Spotted eagle rays in the Galápagos Islands
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A cozy winter village
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

