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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It’s World Migratory Bird Day
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Nature Photography Day
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Porto Timoni beach, Greece
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World of WearableArt Awards
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Glacial spires in the fog
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Summer solstice
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Azaleas blooming on Hwangmaesan Mountain, South Korea
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Ölüdeniz, Turkey
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Patriot Day
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Swimming into the season
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Nomads of the Gobi
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Earthrise on Moon Day
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I m here! Take a look at me!
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Macro photograph of a migrant hawker dragonfly
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Beautiful baobabs
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La Rocque Harbour, Island of Jersey
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Flock together for Cousins Day
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Gem State views
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Okefenokee Swamp
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Arrone in Umbria, Italy
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Brown-throated three-toed sloth in cecropia tree, Costa Rica
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The Bahamas as seen from the ISS
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Pegadung Rock, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia
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Amelia Earhart
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Infant Sumatran orangutan, Indonesia
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A night of art and culture
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Old Fortress, Corfu, Greece
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Who s hiding in the kelp?
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Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
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World Meteorological Day