Salt Lake City Public Library - (801) 524-8200

The downtown library, designed by world-class architect, Moshe Safdie, is a gem of Salt Lake City! The openness of the interior lends an invigorating atmosphere to a genre of building that is often crammed. Visitors will enjoy the huge, slanted wall, filled with desks and sofas, for a wonderful reading area with views on both sides. The children's section is especially fun, with attic and ice-cave themed reading rooms. Every time I go, I find something new and exciting in the architecture. Adding to the amazing building is the atmosphere: a place where people from all walks of life can come together. A library is a perfect place to come out of your comfort zone and enjoy the cross-section of society (including the homeless--they are members of our community, too.) All the community social spaces, separate from the reading spaces, facilitate this. An excellent feature for an institution created for the gaining of knowledge. If I could change one thing, I'd just have it sta

The architecture is interesting but very impractical, especially for a library. The gigantic lobby is a huge waste of space. The structure has been fraught with problems (i.e. leaking roof, crumbling stone pavers, cracking stairs, etc.) When I toured the library shortly after its opening, there was a display in the juvenile section of gay reads for teens; not exactly your family friendly or child-safe institution. Loud talking and talking on cell phones is allowed which creates a mall or sometimes even a circus atmosphere not at all conductive to study or thought. One of the most negative aspects is that library leadership welcomes and encourages the homeless to patronize the facilities- and it shows. I have been threatened by a homeless man while at the library and would never let my children out of my sight there. On the up-side: the city library does have a large collection and its all in one place- just don't trip over the buckets catching the water falling from the ceil

This library is fairly new. I mean within the last 5-10 years. It is really cool to look at because it is made up of so much glass and it has a different shape. The great thing about this library is that they have about every book imaginable. It is great place to find that book you have been looking for. My children love the kids section. There are fun places to read a book everywhere. The problem for us it that it takes 30 minutes to get there. They also charge for parking. PROS: great library CONS: location, parking