Newcastle Library

Nice library — open floor plan, bright, clean, small. Quiet.
Parking is difficult. The small lot is down a side road — no sign to tell you this. I didn’t know so I turned after the library and got stuck in Chase Bank parking, and was like screw it I’m just parking here, after trying to get out of the lot and go around.
There are 2 self check-in’s outside, and one located inside. Book sale is inside and to the left on a few small shelves.
Was able to walk right in and hop on a computer without having to reserve it, so that was convenient. Awkward thing though… one of the volunteers kept walking through the computer areas and standing behind various people staring at their screens… It was strange. I’ve known someone who has worked in a library for 20+ years and she says that that is not something a volunteer is supposed to be doing. Was rather uncomfortable while he did it, but another worker came and shooed him away.
Other than that and the parking situation, I am glad to have stumbled upon this location so I don’t have to make the trek to Bellevue since the Renton one is close (even though I tried my best to avoid that one as well).

Bright, open library. Has study area, kids room, computers. The parking is small though. Often full. We usually end up ordering what my kids want. KCLS has a lot, just not at this location. My biggest issue lately is the homeless man sitting in the teen area sleeping/​eating all day long. Overall, we enjoy coming here.

For a community library, Newcastle is about as good as it gets! Its small (true) but the internet is great and the people are really nice. On top of all that the lighting is amazing as the whole place is glass and the utilities and facilities are really nice. There are only a couple conference rooms tho so you might need to make reservations early if you have a community meeting.
I’m DEFINITELY a fan. :)

Very nice facility and extremely loud. The thing is, the librarians, specifically a young Asian male, talks openly and as loud as possible over quiet patrons reading. What a terrible example to teenagers and children. Isn’t anything sacred anymore? UGH! I’ll go somewhere else…

We are lucky to have this beautiful library nearby. I agree with all of the other postives of the other reviewers. Great staff, access to the KCLS system, modern design and easy access to power for laptops, etc. I knocked it one star for being closed on Sundays (a key library day) and another star for poor parking. The design of the parking area is probably the worst I have seen in modern construction.

Great library! And my daughter adores the pleasant girl who does storytime.

This is exactly what a modern, neighborhood library is supposed to be like. In a time where all of this information is literally at our fingertips, I find the role of the library to be even more important because it saves me time and is the best «information noise» filter available. Research librarians are wonderful people and are far more helpful than any internet search engine can ever aspire to be let alone approach. A very, very welcome addition to our neighborhood.

They say libraries are the living rooms of the communities they are located in. And the Newcastle Library is a very good example of this. This library is new having just opened late last year.
I was driving back from SeaTac one day last month and was looking for a spot to prop myself down to get some work done. Decided to take the opportunity and visit this library to see what it has to offer.
The location is great. It is located by the main shopping area in Newcastle. You turn onto a side road to enter the parking structure. The parking lot could be bigger. There is a handful of slots that are covered, while the remaining are out in the sun.
The space that could have been used for additional parking space instead went into creating a beautiful, modern and bright library. This library is large. They have some study spaces if you want absolute quiet while working or studying. While the main library has tons of seating with many located by the street window that draws interest from people walking on the sidewalk outside looking in.
This truly is a great place to come to work or study. Aside from the parking issue, the only thing I will say critical is that some library patrons here don’t quite understand library etiquette. Bringing a crying baby to a library probably isn’t a good idea for instance.
Of the libraries that I have visited on the Eastside, I would say Newcastle Library has the nicest facility that I have come across. Though the Bellevue location still is the most comprehensive library around.

One of my favorite libraries. Newly built, modern and clean. The staff is super friendly and helpful. I mainly used the computers with a max limit of 1 hour.

Small, easy to get to (though difficult to navigate to the parking lot), great staff. It could use a few more computers, but I think it’ll work well for the area. If you come on a busy day, know that there’s limited parking in the lot.

Construction of this badly needed library was only delayed for 7 years by the Newcastle City Council– thanks alot! They screwed around with ideas to combine low income housing and other things with the library and really delayed construction. Glad it is finally here! Better late than never!!!
It is new and beautiful– although small, it will serve the needs of our community well. Parking is underneath, there are steps and an elevator to go up to the library level. Outside the front entry are some really cool lucite or whatever boxes for sitting– the cool part is that they light up red. They look awesome.
Actually the exterior of the library is plain and ordinary… but the hanging lights visible in the front windows are wonderful, and when you drive by in the dark the lights cast a very inviting glow. The library gets plenty of natural light from large windows, the space is very bright. There are two meeting spaces inside. Very pretty and inviting and a nice place to sit and settle in to peruse some reading material.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Sunday: Closed
Monday thru Thursday — 10am to 9pm
Friday: 10am to 6pm; Saturday: 10am to 5pm

I love this new Newcastle branch of the King County Library System! We went to the grand opening today and stayed for 2.5 hours, until the 4yo & 6yo wanted lunch.
It has a LOT of great spaces to hang out and read. Virtually the entire north wall is window and VERY high, letting in an enormous amount of natural light. But of course there’s no glare from the sun since it faces north. The northern halves of the east and west walls are mostly window too, but also protected from glare.
The kids’ section is well done. It has three large kids’ tables, and a cool wavy kid-​sized double-​sided sofa. My 4yo loved it and was eager to sit on it. The kids’ section also has an interesting bay window seating area with orange-​tinted windows, called the «sunset» nook, because its supposed to be like looking out during a sunset. I thought it was a lot more orange than a real sunset, but kids will probably find it interesting.
As far as the exterior architecture style, I hate it. It’s the usual ugly deconstructivist throwaway junk. I can’t wait for deconstructivism to go out of fashion. I don’t know why we can’t have a beautiful modern classicist or postmodern library. But the inside is more important, and the inside is great.
On the other hand, the glowing red boxes outside the door are beautiful at night. They’re functional too, or at least they will be in warm weather — another nice place to sit and read.
There isn’t a whole lot of parking, and I expect it to fill up on busy days. But there is some street parking in the residential area just behind it. Also there is the large parking area across the street in the Coal Creek Shopping Center. Parking shouldn’t be a serious problem as it is for other branches I could name.
The architect spoke at the opening about how the brick walls reflect the brickmaking heritage of Newcastle. That’s great, but there wasn’t a word about what is arguably Newcastle’s more important heritage — coal. Newcastle coal played an important role in the early growth of Seattle (even before the Yukon gold rush), from where most of it was shipped to San Francisco, the only big city on the West Coast at the time.
If you live in the area, visit this branch when you have a couple hours to hang out and read. You’ll love it!