Considering looking into membership of the Folio

Private libraries in the US are called Athaenaums, and there's a whole network of them across the country. There's one in Seattle, called the Folio, and for an annual charge of $150, you can go in and sit down, borrow books, and use their facilities. That is much much cheaper than a coworking space, though obviously it doesn't have (m)any of the benefits of one either. Specially with the 'silence' rules that libraries love so much, one cannot really take meetings or hang out with friends over there. A social club the Folio is not.

And yet.

It provides a 'third place' that isn't overly-occupied by the homeless folks. It absolves the need to be constantly buying tea or coffee just to see and meet other young people. It's a place, besides the office, where one can work and relax and read outside of one's own abode. They've got good views of the Eliott Bay too. They are on Pike Place Market, so interesting aura in the area too. But then...when might one need such a space, a place to work in an undistracted manner that's neither the CapHill Library, or the Central Seattle Library, or one's office? The walk to the place is not quick and easy, and certainly not peaceful or pleasant. I guess one could go to one's office, and spend time there, but then...that time could be better spent in other ways too?

Here's the gist of the matter, though, the real meat and potatoes. If the place was an avenue for socialization, a place to meet like-minded young (ish) people to make friends or acquaintances with, the calculus would be quite different. It seems that's maybe not the case. From the photos of it I've seen online, it seems to be somewhat of a sausage fest. Which of course all of the 'professional club rooms' were, but at least they had a greater air of exclusivity, better services, and events more targeted at socializing and planning than just studying and working on the computer.

Something I'll keep in consideration for the future, maybe as a recommendation to somebody else, but perhaps I'm not in the most urgent need of it currently.