Odegaard has always looked ugly from the outside. ...

Odegaard has always looked ugly from the outside. It's a pretty awful brown brick contraption.

The new Odegaard (which is the only Odegaard I've ever known) looks much better from the inside, though. Its wide-open floor plan and tons of natural light deserve credit. This is a model for how libraries should work in the modern age - giving people lots of room to study, plenty of computers, and a selection of the most popular books and movies.

I appreciate how they highlight books - they put them on a table by the reservation desk so you run into them on your way in or out, or when you go to the bathroom. This makes it easy to organically run into something interesting, at least sparking your curiosity.

The place does get pretty noisy; groups come here to "study." People also mess around frequently; it seems like people are only working half the time.

Computer slots are also limited. Despite the gaming ban plenty of people still play online games like League of Legends and DoTA. This is totally inappropriate for a taxpayer-funded resource, and I wish they'd take a more aggressive stance on kicking these people out. If they don't need to study they should go home and not be allowed back in.

I'm giving Odegaard a relatively high score in large part because of the nostalgic memories I have of studying here. I remember pulling my only all-nighter at the University of Washington here to finish a document. You can stay here all day and no one will lecture you. It's a good place to zone out, or focus, or wander, or see your friends. Odegaard is everything you make it.