View source for Suzzallo Library

{{Short description|Library at the University of Washington}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{redirect|Allen Library|the library at Case Western Reserve University|Allen Memorial Medical Library}}
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{{Infobox building
| name                 = Suzzallo Library
| native_name          = 
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| image                = MK03214 University of Washington Suzzallo Library.jpg
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| altitude             = 
| building_type        = 
| architectural_style  = [[Collegiate Gothic]]
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| cost                 =  
| client               = [[University of Washington]]
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| location_town        = [[Seattle, Washington]]
| location_country     = United States of America
| coordinates          = 
| start_date           = 1926
| completion_date      = 1963
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| renovation_date      = 2000
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| architect            = Charles H. Bebb, Carl F. Gould
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| awards               =
| website =  [http://www.lib.washington.edu/suzzallo/ Suzzallo & Allen Libraries ]
| references           =
}}

'''Suzzallo Library''' is the central [[library]] of the [[University of Washington]] in [[Seattle]], and perhaps the most recognizable building on campus. It is named for [[Henry Suzzallo]], who was president of the University of Washington until he stepped down in 1926, the same year the first phase of the library's construction was completed. The library was renamed for him after his death in 1933.<ref name=official-pamphlet>"Suzzallo Library", University of Washington Libraries pamphlet #96 revised 2009-09.</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Suzzallo Library 01.jpg|thumb|Graduate Reading Room in the Suzzallo Library]]
The library's original architects, [[Charles Bebb|Charles H. Bebb]] and [[Carl F. Gould]],<ref name=official-pamphlet /><ref name=JohnstonDotson>{{citation | last1 = Johnston | first1 = Norman | last2 = Dotson | first2 = Jay| title = University of Washington | publisher = Princeton Architectural Press | year = 2001 | page = 30 | isbn = 1-56898-247-X}}</ref> called for three structures built in [[Collegiate Gothic]] style<ref name=official-pamphlet /><ref name=JohnstonDotson /> and arranged in a roughly equilateral [[triangle]] with a bell tower in the center. The proposed {{convert|300|ft|m|adj=on}} bell tower, however, was never built.<ref name=official-pamphlet /> A terra cotta bas relief of this plan, with the bell tower, can still be found on the wall outside the northeast entrance to Smith Hall.<ref name=JohnstonDotson />

[[Image:Suzzallo Library Across Red Square.jpg|thumb|Suzzallo Library, looking east across [[Red Square (University of Washington)|Red Square]]]]
The first phase, completed 1926, built the wing that forms the west face of the triangle.<ref name=official-pamphlet /> Its façade dominates the eastern side of the university's Central Plaza, better known as [[Red Square (University of Washington)|Red Square]]. The south wing, the second phase of construction, was completed in 1935.<ref name=official-pamphlet /> Part of this second phase added a floor between the first and second floors of the original building, and the curving Grand Staircase on either side of what was formerly a rotunda. The original plans for the third wing of the library, completed in 1963, were extensively revised, as by this time the university had largely moved away from its earlier architectural style and had adopted instead [[Modernism|modernist]] [[concrete]] and [[glass]] forms.  A fourth and final addition was completed in 1990 with the {{vanchor|Kenneth S. Allen Library}} wing, named for the father of [[Microsoft]] co-founder [[Paul Allen]]; the elder Allen was an associate director of the university library system from 1960 to 1982. Between the years 2000 and 2002, Suzzallo Library underwent extensive retrofitting to strengthen the structure's integrity as a precaution against the effects of an earthquake. It remained open to the public throughout the entire renovation process, although sections were closed for periods of time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.washington.edu/about/suzzren/readroom.html |title=Suzzallo Library restoration |access-date=2008-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929200309/http://www.lib.washington.edu/about/suzzren/readroom.html |archive-date=2008-09-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> While the [[2001 Nisqually earthquake]] occurred during the renovation, the library only sustained minor damage as 60 percent of the interior seismic work was completed when it occurred.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ellison |first1=Jake |title='Our beautiful library is back,' UW proclaims |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Our-beautiful-library-is-back-UW-proclaims-1097380.php |access-date=March 26, 2022 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |date=September 30, 2002}}</ref>

The {{convert|250|ft|m|adj=on}} long, {{convert|52|ft|m|adj=on}} wide, {{convert|65|ft|m|adj=on}} high Graduate Reading Room<ref name=official-pamphlet /><ref name=Beautiful /> (illustrated below) features cast-stone ashlar wall blocks and details, and oak bookcases topped with hand-carved friezes of native plants, under a painted and stenciled timber-vaulted ceiling. Tall leaded windows feature 35 foot [[stained glass]] panels<ref name=Beautiful>{{cite news|last=Tep|first=Ratha|title=America's Most Beautiful College Campuses|url=http://www.slate.com/slideshows/life/americas-most-beautiful-college-campuses.html#slide_2|access-date=3 November 2012|newspaper=Slate Magazine|date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> reproducing Renaissance [[watermark]]s. On the [[oriel window|oriel]]s at each end of the room, painted world globes bear the names of European explorers. The Graduate Reading Room spans the entire third floor of the west front of the library.  Its distinctive look, reminiscent of the [[great hall]]s of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, is also said to have been inspired by Henry Suzzallo's stated belief that universities should be "cathedrals of learning."

[[Image:University of Washington - Allen Library 01A.jpg|left|thumb|Allen Library]]

Adorning the exterior of the early wings are [[terra cotta]] [[sculpture]]s by Allen Clark of influential thinkers and artists selected by the faculty.  These include [[Moses]], [[Louis Pasteur]], [[Dante Alighieri]], [[Shakespeare]], [[Plato]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Justinian I]], [[Isaac Newton]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Galileo Galilei]], [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], [[Herodotus]], [[Adam Smith]], [[Homer]], [[Johann Gutenberg]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Hugo Grotius]]. The front façade is also decorated with stone coats of arms from universities around the world, including Toronto, Louvain, Virginia, California, Yale, Heidelberg, Bologna, Oxford, Paris, Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, Uppsala, and Salamanca. Three cast stone figures representing "Thought", "Inspiration", and "Mastery" stand above the main entrance.<ref name=official-pamphlet />

== Artwork ==
The Allen wing hosts the ''Raven Brings Light to this House of Stories'' ({{Lang|slh|ʔuʔəƛ̓cəb ʔə kaw̓qs tiʔəʔ sləx̌il dxʷʔal tiʔəʔ ʔalʔal ʔə syəyəhub}} in [[Lushootseed]]), an installation project by the Washington State Arts Commission, Art in Public Places Program. It is composed of sculpted ravens and crows in the lobby, the ''Table of Knowledge'' (a cedar table by Ron Hilbert Coy) with a presentation of ''International Symposium of Light'' (a book printed and bound by Mare Blocker), ''Broadsides'' (poems by J.T. Stewart) in the lobby and on the 2nd floor, ''Study Desks'' (two ''cawpets'' by Carl Chew) on the 1st and 3rd floors of the Allen wing, and a ''Things the Crows Left'' (a special collection).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Raven Brings Light to this House of Stories — UW Libraries |url=https://www.lib.washington.edu/suzzallo/visit/raven |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=www.lib.washington.edu}}</ref>

==Library collection==
Of the 6 million volumes that make up the University of Washington Libraries collection, approximately 1.6 million are housed in Suzzallo/Allen Library.  Along with the Main Collection, Suzzallo/Allen Library also has a Children's Literature, Government Publications, Natural Sciences, and Periodicals collections.  The Special Collections contains a Rare Book Collection with books printed before 1801.  The Microforms/Newspapers collection is the largest collection of microform materials in any Association of Researches Library.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.washington.edu/Suzzallo/Suzztour/ |title=UW Libraries - Suzzallo-Allen Library Tour Guide<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327040557/http://www.lib.washington.edu/Suzzallo/Suzztour/ |archive-date=2008-03-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Suzzallo Library also houses the main technical services units of the UW Libraries, including the Monographic Services Division and the Serials Services Division.

== In popular culture ==
The Suzzallo Library appears as a recurring setting in the 2018 [[virtual reality]] video game ''[[Moss (video game)|Moss]]''. Several members of Polyarc, the game's developer, graduated from the University of Washington.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://operationrainfall.com/2021/01/27/vr-interview-polyarc-games-talks-about-moss-part-1/  |title=VR INTERVIEW: Polyarc Games Talks About Moss (Part 1) |date=January 27, 2021 |website=oprainfall |author=Quentin H. |access-date=2023-08-29 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[University of Washington Libraries]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.lib.washington.edu/Suzzallo/ Suzzallo and Allen Libraries]
**[http://www.lib.washington.edu/msd/ Monographic Services Division]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100614004235/http://www.lib.washington.edu/about/libdirections/Fall98/suzzallo.html Paula Walker, "Suzzallo Library: Architecture and History", 1998]

{{University of Washington}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Federal depository libraries]]
[[Category:Libraries in Seattle]]
[[Category:Library buildings completed in 1963]]
[[Category:University and college academic libraries in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:University of Washington buildings]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:University and college buildings completed in 1963]]