San Diego Public Library Grand Opening

At long last, San Diego gets a new central library

Even as far back as 1982—when I moved to San Diego to work for the county library—residents as well as librarians lobbied for a new building to replace the once-modern, but now extremely crowded, central library built in 1954. Efforts continued all 10 years I lived there and beyond. Finally, yesterday, San Diego's new central library was opened to much fanfare and happy appreciation.

The building is truly magnificent. Wood and timeless shades of brown and grey dominate the interior. The exterior is capped by an enormous dome that has already become one of the most iconic features of San Diego's skyline. As architect Rob Quigley explained at yesterday's opening ceremony, the unfinished dome reminds us that knowledge is never complete. I absolutely love it.

The front of the library

View from the 2d floor

Looking down on the ground floor

One of my favorite rooms is the auditorium, which

has an accordion wall that opens outside to accommodate 

overflow audiences. The art installation (above) fills an entire 
wall of the theater: open books behind mesh. Fabulous!!

Another favorite feature: chalkboard

on the top and sides of the teen room

stacks. Brilliant!

The 8th floor reading room not only has a phenomenal

view of the Coronado Bridge and San Diego Bay, it also

reminds me a lot of the wonderful "living room" in the

amazing Seattle Public Library's central facility

Dome scaffolding at the top of the building

The view from the top of the building: PetCo Park

baseball stadium

The art gallery

An artifact from the past: card catalog in

the California Room

The stacks

Looking skyward at the dome

The unfinished dome

The line of community members was too long to see the children's room, which is decorated in Dr. Seuss; plus I missed the baseball collection, which is supposed to be terrific. So I guess I'll just have to return soon to see the rest of the library. Oh, darn!

P.S. So I did indeed return to the library a couple weeks later. The children's library is lots of fun and the baseball collection impressive. See for yourself:

Dr. Seuss on the children's room

walls

Colorful furniture for kids

Children's information desk

Baseball books and art on the 8th floor

Sea-Tac Airport Library

Signs in the Southwest terminal

Imagine our surprise when the first thing my husband and I saw, as we arrived at the Seattle airport recently, was a huge sign (above) admonishing us to “Take Time and Read.” Not only does the King County Library encourage passengers to read, they also provide free books—and even rocking chairs!—for folks to use while they’re waiting for their flight. According to an article in MyNorthwest.com, some 15,000 books are taken by Sea-Tac travelers a month. Obviously an excellent and well-used program—other libraries should take note!

Books, magazines and rocking chairs

Find a seat and read!