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2220 NW Market St., L-05
Ballard, WA 98107
(206) 329-1794

The Seattle Metaphysical Library (legally known as the AS-YOU-LIKE-IT Library) was established in Seattle in 1961. We have grown over the past five decades to hold over 16,000 books plus many hundreds of audio and video tapes, CDs, DVDs, magazines and newspaper clippings on a variety of esoteric and controversial topics - material designed to help remove the Veil of Maya - the veil of illusion - from our eyes and help us grow into the fully-realized humans that is our natural birthright.

We are an all-volunteer, independent resource center providing esoteric and alternative material and events to support personal growth to enhance our understanding of ourselves, the universe and our place in it.

We are [usually - not during this COVID lockdown] open to the respectful public. There is no charge for browsing the materials or reading at our location. Operating expenses are paid for by our subscribers, who are able to borrow material. Find out more about becoming a supporter here.

We also host a variety of ongoing events and groups - see a listing on the right, and details on our Events page.

Click Here to see Book Reviews
Click Here to see some of the books we have for sale.

Call for Volunteers

We are always interested in reliable volunteers who care about the Library. Meet other people with the same esoteric interests that you have.  The Library has over 16,000 books, and they need to stay organized by category - volunteering is a great way to see what the Library has to offer. We also need help with publicity, fundraising, helping members and visitors, leading discussion groups and events. E-mail us or stop by if interested.

Book Sale

We are a library, not a bookstore.
We occassionally sell books which have been donated and will not fit in our small space. Stop by and browse, we have some great titles available right now, and they are all very reasonably priced, most in the $2 - $4 range.

Library Contents

Mind-Body Healing, Rife Technologies, Goddess Studies, Ancient Egypt, Alternative Health, Ayervedic Medicine, Christianity, Buddhism, Art, Chinese Philosophy, UFOs, Gender Studies, Parapsychology, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Physics, Rudolf Steiner, Alchemy, Astronomy, Shamanism, Sufism, Qabbala, Herbalism, Ancient Near East, Atlantis, Pre-Columbian America, Theosophy, Magik, Tarot, Near Death research, Tibetan Buddhism, History, Politics and Conspiracies, Secret Societies, Occult Fiction, Science Fiction, Tesla Technologies, Edgar Cayce, Comparative Religion, Yoga, Consciousness Studies, and much more!

For a detailed list of topics please see our Booklist page.

Location

Some people have difficulty finding our location, or a place to park. With good reason!

Click here for a map to our Library:

Click here for a map of parking near the Library, bus map, and street views of the front and back doors

We are located in the basement of the Kress Building, in Ballard. The sign on the building is very small, on a list by the glass door between Bop Street Records and the Pie Bar. We have a sign on the glass door with our open hours.
When we are open, there should be a sandwich board sign on the street with our name and logo.

Upcoming Events