Anticipation gives way to bustle on library's first day

By Monica Soto Ouchi
Seattle Times staff reporter

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While others eased into church pews across Seattle, Skorick stood in line at the Seattle Central Library, reading a Japanese comic book for inspiration. He had dreamed of riding the shocking yellow escalators. He had yearned to take in the sweeping views. "Sometimes events in your life can seem more significant when you treat them specially," said Skorick, 24, a budding architect whose reveres Rem Koolhaas.

"Like climbing Mt. Fuji to see the sunrise — if you go in the afternoon, you won't see it the same."

Skorick was third in line this morning for the library's grand opening. The $165.5 million marriage of glass and steel saw 9,000 visitors ushered through its doors in just two hours. Attendance swelled to 24,013 by 5 p.m.

If much of the advance fanfare had centered on the renown Dutch architect and his bold design, yesterday was about the regular folks who'll be using the library to borrow books and surf the Internet.

Mayor Greg Nickels said as much in his opening remarks, noting that Seattle residents check out more books per capita than any other city. More important, at least to some: patrons could bring drinks inside as long as they had a lid.

"Is that a Seattle library or what?" Nickels said. "Never again will Seattleites be parted from their lattes."

Ed Wirkala, 60, a devout library patron, checked out the first book. Perhaps a sign of the times, it was a book-on-tape.

Wirkala, who produces legal documents for a downtown Seattle law firm, borrowed the audio versions of "The Road to Wellville" by T. Coraghessan Boyle and "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen. (Eye-strain from the computer, he said.)

Wirkala said he didn't intend to be first; he had to borrow the books fast so he could get on to work. But his mother, Virginia Wirkala, 81, said it's no surprise.

"He kept me out of church to see this," she said.
 
Each floor carried buzz and anticipation. On one, a woman sat on a Nerf-like chair and flipped through a book about reproduction while others walked by with stacks of books in their arms. In another corner, others sat engrossed, watching a library video with topics such as, "What does the future hold for the card catalog?"

For each patron, yesterday's opening brought a different — but no less personal — experience.

Irina Ratner, 93, of Lake City Way, uses the library's mobile service to borrow books. She was named one of the winners of the grand opening's "I Love My Library" contest.

Leszek Chudzinski, a Slavic languages librarian, said Ratner wrote in her essay that one cannot have a better friend than a book: "The old age is not much of a threat if you have with you a wise and loyal friend — a book."

Ratner's favorite author is Tolstoy. Her favorite American author is Steinbeck.

For her winning entry, Ratner was among the first to be allowed inside yesterday. "I'm happy," she said through an interpreter, hand placed over her heart.

Skorick, the third patron in line, was born and raised in Tokyo. He attended international schools and moved to the U.S. to earn an architecture degree from the University of Illinois.

When the Central Library was in its initial design phase, he interned at LMN Architects of Seattle, the joint architect for the project, along with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in the Netherlands.

During that time, Skorick would often go over to the section handling the library and sneak peeks as the models were being built. After a year at LMN, he worked for six months at another Seattle architectural firm, Balance Associates. He decided he needed more hands-on experience so he got a construction job.

Yesterday, he traced his hand along the library's walls. He sketched drawings and jotted ideas in a black journal.

He said he admires Koolhaas because he doesn't rely on precedent or formality.

"I like how they accented things that can be accented," he said, noting the carpet on the top floor. "It's kind of like wearing bright socks underneath a suit. That's how they maintain the grace. They're always at the edge, but they don't cross."

On the top floor, Skorick sat on a desk and took in the scenery. In the end, he surmised that being third wasn't as important as being here.

"I'd still enjoy the view," he said. "Isn't this what's important?"

Monica Soto Ouchi: 206-515-5632 or msoto@seattletimes.com