LEAP at Seattle Central Public Library

LEAP at The Seattle Public Library stands for Library Equal Access Program. LEAP allows patrons who are hearing or vision impaired to have access to all items in the library's collection. 

Access is double easy now that LEAP has relocated (a while back) from Level 3, to Level 1 (Fourth Avenue entrance), no more zigzagging to get where you want to be.

Make a B-line from the front door to LEAP.

Still, here are some zigzagging pointers, so you know what to expect.

• To the left you'll have the elevators
• On your right you'll pass the Welcome Desk, the Check-in-and-out counter
• Again to the left is the entrance to the Microsoft Auditorium and the up-and-down escalators

Judith's Feet - Photo Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times

You'll find yourself on top of Public Art, conceptual artist Ann Hamilton's wooden floor, 7200 square feet of computer routed first sentences in eleven languages. This department is called LEW for Learning English as a Second Language and the World Collection.

• To the left a wall with a comfortable chair or two and display cabinets
• To the right stacks with the World Collection
• Reference librarians have their desk amidst the stacks to the right
• Behind their desk are the carrels for patrons who study English as a Second Language

As you continue your B-line to LEAP, you'll find the SirsiDynix Gallery which leads to the Children's Department. It has a polyurethane floor and a stainless steel wall.

• To your left the old-fashioned pay phones and water fountains
• On the right tables to study or read between the stacks of the World Collection

Past the telephone bay the wall continues and you'll find

• Men's Bathroom
• Women's Bathroom
• Entrance to LEAP 

Every fourth year we need a leap year to keep our Gregorian calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun, at the library LEAP is there for you every day!

This post was published on February 29, 2012 on Judith van Praag's blog Hope Filled Jars

This work by Judith van Praag is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License