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On my own first visit, I entered from Fourth Avenue, and a quick poll showed that other first-time visitors felt similarly disappointed with the initial visual impact of the library interior, with its concrete ceiling and columns and brown polyurethane flooring.

This entrance is a working space, housing the check in/ check out desk — to and from which metal conveyer belts transport electronically tagged books — and the "Language Center." On the maple-wood floor of the Language Center, 11 of the world's languages found in the library collection are presented backwards in a Braille-like artwork by artist Ann Hamilton.

From the check in/ check out space, a glowing yellow escalator takes users up to the Living Room. This pedestrian traffic route through the library "is the next piece of the trajectory in the hill climb circulation that runs from the ferry terminal to Fifth Avenue," says Ramus.

"We wanted to create a sense of moving between urban spaces and not spaces in a building," Ramus continues. Providing a public route through the library from Fourth Avenue to Fifth gave the architects permission to increase the floor area ratio (the ratio of the interior floor area to the size of the building's footprint).

The bright yellow escalators are useful as wayfinding markers in the voluminous interior. Less obvious are the similarly colored elevator interiors. While riding an elevator I asked a librarian what he thought about the color. "It keeps you awake," he joked.

The highly saturated red curved corridors connecting the meeting rooms on level four are equally bright. Visually overpowering for some, the intensity of the red enhances the crisp coolness of the colors in the Living Room, viewed from behind a mesh wall on this level.

At first, the overall lack of signage kept me walking around the library, trying to find my bearings. Jacobs concedes this is "the worst part of the building." However, patient exploration of the library interior enabled me to map out other visual reference points and to piece together the spatial organization of the building. There were also librarians on every floor to help me find my way around.

Despite minor criticisms, this is an impressive building and apparently a success as well. Thirty-four percent of visitors are tourists, and check-outs have increased by 65 percent. In addition, Jacobs says, the library is inspiring librarians and public officials. With events such as the upcoming Shattering Stereotypes conference, people are absorbing ideas that could affect library design and management everywhere.

Robert Such writes about and photographs architecture and interior design for publications around the world.

Architect: Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and LMN Architects
Structural engineering: Arup and Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Civil engineering: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing: Arup
Facades: Dewhurst Macfarlane & Partners
Lighting: Kugler Tillotson Associates
Vertical transport: HKA Elevator Consulting
Acoustics: Michael Yantis Associates
Landscape: Inside/Outside and Jones & Jones
Environmental graphics: Bruce Mau Design

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Children's area of the Seattle Public Library, by Rem Koolhaas, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), and LMN Architects. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Public Library The check in/ check out room with artwork embedded in the floor and book-moving equipment looming behind. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Public Library Above the entrance levels, the bright red meeting level includes six differently shaped meeting rooms. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Public Library The Books Spiral is a ramped pedestrian walkway through the Dewey Decimal System. Photo: David Owen, Artifice Images Other modes for traveling through the Books Spiral: stairs and escalators. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Public Library Brightly colored stairs through the Books Spiral. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Public Library One of several public computer rooms. Photo: Poul A. Costinsky Library patrons at work. Photo: Poul A. Costinsky Reading room near the top of the building. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Public Library Public access culminates with overlooks from an elevator lobby. Photo: David Owen, Artifice Images   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.