A distant view of Seattle's downtown public library.
Throughout American history, the desire for libraries has inspired cities, architects and robber barons to build, not just boxes for books, but secular temples to the worship of words. Here are America's 10 coolest, from old school Beaux-Arts beauties to the airy halls of contemporary architecture.
Seattle Central Public Library, Seattle
Award-winning Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed the Seattle Central Public Library, an angular yet graceful confection of glass and steel, as one of the coolest contemporary buildings in America. Inside, the patrons are quiet but the colors are loud, with shocking-yellow escalators and an entire floor -- walls, floors and ceilings -- done in deep reds and pinks.
Made for access as well as aesthetic impact, the 11-story building features an innovation on traditional library stacks: a Books Spiral that lets readers browse 75 percent of the library's collection on one continuous ramp. In the Mixing Chamber, librarians use wireless communication devices and a dumbwaiter connected to the Books Spiral to speedily solve all reference questions. And when visitors have their hands on the books of their choice, they can settle down in the Living Room, under a 50-foot glass ceiling, to read and relax.
Boston Copley Public Library, Boston
The McKim Building on Copley Square has been called "a palace for the people." Unsurprising, perhaps, since architect Charles Follen McKim drew on royal models like the Italian Palazzo della Cancelleria to create this stunning example of Renaissance Revival and Beaux Arts. "Boston Globe" writer Sam Allis singled out Bates Hall, the library's great reading room -- an enormous, sweetly vaulted cavern lit by a series of huge, arched windows -- as one of Boston's "secular spots that are sacred." This seemingly rarified structure is, however, fiercely democratic in its intent, as the writing on the wall declares: "Built by the people and dedicated to the advancement of learning."
