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Mini Free Libraries Around Seattle

With neighborhoods spilling over with books, Seattle aims to raise its literary profile

0314littlelibrary

This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

!–paging_filter–pMarch may be National Reading Month, but in hyper-literary Seattle that’s the case every month. We boast outstanding bookstores img src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library_2.jpg” style=”float: left; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″(Elliott Bay), niche shops for poetry (Open Books), math/science (Ada’s Books) and mysteries (Mystery Bookshop), several publishers, packed reading series and one of the largest and busiest library systems in the country. And still, this city of ravenous bookworms isn’t sated! Over the last couple years, little free libraries have been popping up on side streets in increasing numbers, thanks to neighbors eager to share their favorite tomes (often leaving notes explaining why books are “must-reads”). Novelist Ryan Boudinot, one of the sea of prominent local writers, is working to make our predilection for reading official—as a UNESCO City of Literature, joining seven cities worldwide, including Dublin, Melbourne and Reykjavic. Having gathered support and application assistance from Seattle literary organizations, and a City Council resolution in favor of the effort, this month Boudinot submits the official bid. In November, we hope to receive the global stamp of approval on what locals already know to be true. a href=”http://www.seattlecityofliterature.wordpress.com” target=”_blank”seattlecityofliterature.wordpress.com /aem(Photo: Little library in Wallingford)/embrbrimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library3.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″/p
pWest Seattle/p
pimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library7.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″/p
pGreenwood/p
pimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library8.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″/p
pMadrona/p
pimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library9.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”600″ width=”400″/p
pMagnolia/p

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…