Beacon Hill Branch Library
The Beacon Hill Branch Library is a branch of the Seattle Public Library in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
| Beacon Hill Branch Library | |
|---|---|
 Beacon Hill Branch exterior and entrance | |
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| General information | |
| Type | Library |
| Location | Beacon Hill, Seattle, Washington, US |
| Address | 2821 Beacon Ave. South |
| Coordinates | 47°34′41″N 122°18′41″W / 47.5780°N 122.3115°W |
| Opened | July 10, 2004[1] |
| Renovated | 2017 |
| Cost | $5.3 million[1] |
| Renovation cost | $696,000 |
| Owner | Seattle Public Library |
| Technical details | |
| Size | Over 40,000 books |
| Floor area | 10,400 square feet (970 m2)[2] or 10,800 square feet (1,000 m2)[3] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Carlson[3] |
| Main contractor | Steele Corp. |
| Website | |
| Seattle Public Library | |
| Building design and engineering notes from SPL[4][5][6] unless noted | |
Beacon Hill is one of five branches, all south of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, that saw declining use in the 2010s, possibly because job-seekers in the city's less affluent southern half had been using libraries during Seattle's 2008-2012 recession.[7]
History
Beacon Hill Branch was housed in a number of locations, including a location at 2519 15th Avenue South converted to a library in 1962.[8] It was described as "the poster child for Seattle's worn-out library system", a "crumbling 1920s-era variety store with more books than shelves to hold them".[9] A new library was funded by a "Libraries for All" bond in 1998. The building opened in 2004 and included stone from the same quarry as the downtown Central Library.[10]
In 2017, the library underwent a $696,000 renovation to increase the number of electrical outlets for digital devices and add a "laptop bar", install LED lighting, de-clutter the checkout area, and make other improvements for patrons.[6][11]
Public art
Public art installed at the library includes The Dream Ship: Beacon Hill Discovery, a kinetic sculpture atop a spire rising through a hole in the roof at the building's entrance. Other pieces include haiku carved in stones and rain scuppers shaped like ravens' beaks.[12] These and certain elements of the interior design were called "phony multiculturalism" by a critic for Seattle's The Stranger weekly newspaper.[13] Four years after the opening, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said of another Seattle library design that it "shuns architectural drama" unlike the Beacon Hill and other contemporaries.[14]
References
- ^ 1.0 1.1 Charles E. Brown (July 9, 2004), "Here and Now – New Beacon Hill Library", The Seattle Times
- ^ "Dozens of library projects on tap for Seattle, King County", Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, May 20, 2004
- ^ 3.0 3.1 Charles Mudede (April 17, 2013), "I Hate the Beacon Hill Library, and You Should Too: A Journey to Seattle's Heart of Darkness", The Stranger
- ^ "Beacon Hill Branch building facts". Seattle Public Library. Archived from the original on 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
- ^ "About the Beacon Hill Branch". Seattle Public Library. Archived from the original on 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
- ^ 6.0 6.1 Fact sheet for improvements to the Beacon Hill Branch, Seattle Public Library, archived from the original on 2017-11-01, retrieved 2017-12-31
- ^ Gene Balk (2016-06-12). "Seattle libraries get quieter, but digital use booms". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.
- ^ Alan J. Stein (December 10, 2000), "Beacon Hill Branch, The Seattle Public Library", HistoryLink, Seattle: History Ink
- ^ Byrnes, Susan (October 14, 1998), "Turning a page: Seattle Proposition 1, a $196.4 million facelift, would expand and renovate the public library system", The Seattle Times, p. A1, ProQuest 383645176
- ^ Williams 2017, p. 191.
- ^ Marcus Harrison Green (May 2, 2007), "Beacon Hill celebrates grand re-imagining of neighborhood library", South Seattle Emerald
- ^ Art at the Beacon Hill Branch, Seattle Public Library, archived from the original on 2017-11-01, retrieved 2018-01-01
- ^ Wendi Dunlap (April 19, 2013), "Beacon Hill library: the "Heart of Darkness"?", Beacon Hill Blog
- ^ Lawrence Cheek (November 24, 2008), "On Architecture: AIA awards for top local designs seem almost backhanded", Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sources
- Williams, D.B. (2017). Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-74129-1. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
External links
