Books, books, books

Special Issue: Deborah Jacobs is no ordinary librarian, and her Seattle masterpiece is no ordinary library | Mark Bergin

SEATTLE— Massive concrete pillars jut up diagonally in various directions from the bamboo floor of a 10,000-square-foot children's zone at Seattle's Central Library. Walls of lipstick pink, lime green, and sunflower yellow contrast those stark beams with a playful backdrop to an asymmetrical maze of thousands of shelved books.

In the center of it all stands city librarian Deborah Jacobs, a 55-year-old kid in a book-lover's candy shop. An hour before doors open on this overcast Friday morning, she wanders through the empty area pointing out a story-time reading room and banks of child-friendly computers. "This is the biggest children's room in the country," she says proudly. "It's a magnet for kids from throughout the city."