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 species worth defending
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Maloja, Switzerland
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Celebrating Take Your Dog to Work Day
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International Literacy Day
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A center of antiquity on the Mediterranean
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Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
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Dog days of summer
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The party’s just starting
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Everglades National Park, Florida
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International Talk Like a Pirate Day
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Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC
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The Bahamas as seen from the ISS
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Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
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South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida
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Mossy Grotto Falls, Oregon
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Old Fortress, Corfu, Greece
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Fall for Chile
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A tower of light
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Here we honor the women who ve served
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Cherry blossoms in Shanghai, China
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Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
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Ski touring in Austria
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The smoke before the bonfire
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Feel the spray in Monterey
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Earth Science Week
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Protect your neck
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A peek behind the royal curtain
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Vila Franca Islet, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal
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Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba
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Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, Italy