First off, I must say that the main branch of the Seattle Library in Downtown Seattle is something to see.
I am currently living in Tucson and have visited a few local libraries. I stopped going to one in the NE side here in favor of a location near the foothills area of town. The latter does have a nicer enviroment outside, but is also much quieter usually (except for the occasional screaming kid). Inside, the seats in foothills location are no where nearly as badly stained as the NE location, and I've yet to find a person as described in the article Rapaire has provided in that location. In most other locations, it is just as the article suggests it would be. Some people are noisey, others are just sleeping in what was a perfectly good chair. However, there is never a lack of those who are dirty, drunk, and/or just plain crazy.
The saddest part is that I really do believe that the public library has a very important social function. I'm currious if this issue is discouraging others from making use of the library's services, or if this is the result of a general lack of interest from the public.
Rapaire, thanks for the article and stimulating an interesting discussion.

BMW