- Size: 250 feet long, 52 feet wide and 65 feet high, according to the library's history page.
- Ceiling: a vaulted timber ceiling with colorful, gilded details.
- Bookcases: oak cases topped with hand-carved friezes of Washington native plants.
- Windows: tall leaded-glass windows with medallions of 28 Renaissance watermarks.
- Globes: hand-painted world globes at each end naming explorers, with Columbus and Magellan in the south apse and Cortes and Cabot in the north.
The room's Gothic look is why tour hosts started calling it the "Harry Potter Room," as a UW News story put it when the libraries ran a Harry Potter exhibit just outside its doors. A 1927 trade journal went even further, calling it the most beautiful reading room on the continent.
Visiting Suzzallo Library
Who Can Go In
Most UW Libraries locations are open to the public, and Suzzallo and Allen are among them, per the libraries' visitor information page. Visitors can use guest research computers on the Allen North Ground Floor or request temporary wifi, and the Allen Information Desk offers in-person help on weekday middays. If you want to borrow books, UW Libraries offers several visitor account types for community members and alumni; see the libraries' site for details.
Hours
The building typically opens weekdays from morning into the evening, closes on Saturdays and reopens Sunday afternoons, with shorter hours on Fridays. Hours change with the academic calendar and on holidays, so check the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries page on the day you plan to visit.
Free Guided Tours
For the full story, join a free in-person tour of Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, held on the second Wednesday of each month from noon to 1 p.m. No reservation is needed: meet the guide just inside the main entrance of Suzzallo, outside the Starbucks on the first floor. If you cannot make a tour, the libraries also offer a virtual flip-book tour and a short video online.
Etiquette for Visitors
- Keep your voice down: the Reading Room is a silent study area, and students are working.
- Leave seats for studying: if you are only sightseeing, take in the room from the aisles.
- Avoid the busiest weeks: UW Libraries asks school groups not to visit during the first two and last two weeks of each quarter, a good rule for anyone hoping for a quiet look.
Construction Note
UW has been carrying out seismic stabilization and facade restoration on Suzzallo, with the facilities project page listing construction to wrap up around the end of the year. The library has kept publishing regular hours during the work, though it warns that some spaces may have noise.
Getting There
Suzzallo stands on the east side of Red Square, the brick-paved plaza at the heart of the University of Washington campus in the University District. The Red Square entrance has ramp access with a door paddle.
- Light rail: Link's 1 Line and 2 Line stop at University of Washington station on Montlake Boulevard NE, then walk through campus to Red Square. See our Link light rail guide.
- Driving: UW Libraries bases its directions on the Central Plaza Garage, which connects to Red Square; permits and visitor parking rules are on UW Transportation Services' site.
A Short History
Planning began in 1922 and ground was broken in 1923 on a design by Seattle architects Carl F. Gould and Charles H. Bebb. The first wing, the one that faces Red Square, opened in 1926, the same year Henry Suzzallo left the university presidency, and the library took his name after his death in 1933. A southeast wing followed in 1935, a modern addition by Bindon and Wright in the early 1960s, and the Kenneth S. Allen Library in 1990.
The original plan called for three Gothic wings around a 300-foot bell tower that was never built. Look up at the front facade for terra cotta figures of thinkers and artists such as Shakespeare, Galileo, Darwin and Beethoven, stone coats of arms from universities around the world, and three figures above the main entrance representing Thought, Inspiration and Mastery, as described in the library's history.
Make a Day of It
Pair the Reading Room with a stroll through campus and the Quad, then lunch on University Way; our U District restaurant guide lists favorites. Book lovers can continue to the University Branch of The Seattle Public Library nearby, or compare Suzzallo with the downtown Central Library, a very different kind of landmark. For independent bookstores and local makers, see our guide to shopping local in Seattle.
