Comments on Deborah Jacobs Is Leaving Seattle Public Library

That sucks

This just in: The B & M Gates foundation announces plans to build a $600M library in central Kinshasa, designed by Starchitect Zaha Hadid.

In an announcement by Director of Global Libraries initiative, Deborah Jacobs, the foundation states "This revolutionary new building will bring the joy of modern architecture to the Kinshasian population and provide many impactful places for patrons to sit and read."

The library will also provide a "mixing room" where patrons can masturbate to internet pornography.

She's the one who decided to kill the down escalator, isn't she?

That does NOT suck!!!

Seattle's loss is the third world's gain.

Best of luck to her, and I hope we find an equally passionate replacement.

Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead!

Look, the general public may believe her own publicity - at which she is quite skilled - but for anyone who's worked at the libraries who is not one of her little coven, that is GREAT news. The woman is a slash-and-burn finger-pointing Type A headcase. I have never, ever regretted my decision to leave that miserable environment.

And it's not just the people who worked for her that hate this self-promoting cow. What an obscene waste of money to spend $165 million on space that could have been had for free (if the library had traded the land and development rights for 100,000 square feet in the new building). Instead, she builds a monument to her own ego - and is forced to slash services in most of the other branches. Jacobs long ago forgot the true mission of the library - and instead cared only about how to advance her own interests. And it's the citizens of Seattle who have suffered. We should all rejoice to be seeing this horrible woman go.

And when she leaves, can she take that disfunctional and uncomfortable monstrosity at 4th and Madison with her!

She is amazing. Whatever your personal feelings (if you know her that is), she has only really cared about libraries and getting the public to use the facilities. She practices what she preaches, and you are so lucky she brought so much reading to your city.

@7,

Um, what the hell are you talking about? Who made this mythical land swap offer of which you speak?

Before Jacobs even came on, there was an unsuccessful City Library bond proposal in 1994 or 1995 that only had funds for a new Central Library - and precious little else for the rest of the system. They brought it back to the ballot after adding a lot of projects to renovate and/or add new neighborhood libraries and voters passed it handily. As far as I remember, there was never any serious proposal for anything but a new stand-alone Downtown Library (and as I recall, I was happy at the time that they kept it at the original location instead of moving it to the so-called "Cameras West" block as part of the whole foul Nordstrom Garage deal).

You may have reasons not to like Jacobs (or the building that resulted), but that particular line of attack is way off base.

#6 NAILS IT!!!!! "Coven"??? Exactly!!!

I'll tell you what's never overdue...a substantial endowment!!!