27 libraries to visit in your lifetime
Once having held the record for the largest collection of books in the world, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France has since expanded, but the original buildings from 1868 are still the most beautiful. The Salle Ovale (oval room) in the Richelieu Building is a must see.
The Casa de la Literatura Peruana (home of Peruvian literature) in Lima, Peru, used to be a train station up until 2009. It was converted into a library in hopes of encouraging more Peruvian citizens to read about their country and history.
Modeled after the Colosseum, Canada's Vancouver Public Library takes up a full city block and has restaurants, retail shops, office buildings, and a rooftop garden.
With its impressive Rococo interior, the library of the Wiblingen Monastery in Ulm, Germany, is unique and breathtaking. The upper gallery is supported by large colorful marble columns, and there are plenty of statues and frescoes to capture visitors' interest.
The Virgilio Barco Library in Bogotá, Colombia, was designed by well-known architect Rogelio Salmona and completed in 2001. The library has an open floor plan on the inside, and red brick, water pools, and lawns on the outside.
The Seattle Central Library in Seattle, Washington, has 11 stories composed of steel and glass, allowing for plenty of reading and studying room. The central library is a branch of the Seattle Public Library.
Taking a cue from its forest surroundings in a small town in Beijing, China, the exterior of the Liyuan Library is covered in sticks, and the interior is composed of timber beams. This eco-friendly library is cooled by the lake that it sits on.
Thanks to philanthropist George Peabody, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, has a gorgeous library complete with a skylight and five stories that look down onto the black and white tiled bottom floor where students can find a quiet table to study.
Also known as the Black Diamond because of its black granite and unusual angles, the Royal Library of Copenhagen is an extension of the National Library of Denmark. The library's glass atrium looks out onto the water that stands in front of it.
Part of the historical residence of the King of Spain, the Royal Library of the El Escorial Monastery in Madrid is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The amazing frescoes painted on the library's ceilings depict the seven forms of liberal arts: rhetoric, dialectic, music, grammar, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy.
Boasting such artifacts as an original Russian Sputnick and a 1699 atlas that was the first to show the sun as the center of the universe, the Walker Library of the History of the Human Imagination is as much museum as it is library. The library — which is located in Jay Walker's private home in Ridgefield, Connecticut — is particularly unique with floating platforms, multiple staircases, and special lighting and music.
Dating back to the 8th century, the Abbey of St. Gallen, Switzerland, is an incredibly well-preserved UNESCO World Heritage site that houses a spectacular Baroque library. It's the oldest library in the country and has original manuscripts dating back to the time the abbey was founded.
Along with the skeleton that hangs in the middle of the Pedro Vásquez Library in Mexico City, Mexico, the bookshelves in the library also appear to be hanging. The library is named after a Mexican philosopher and politician.
The unique design used for the Vennesla Library and Cultural Center in Vennesla, Norway, was modeled after the ribs found in a whale's skeleton. That's why the library's interior is filled with numerous arches.
Housed in the College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed at Oxford College in England, the Codrington Library was completed in 1752 thanks to a monetary donation from British solider Christopher Codrington. Codrington also donated his personal collection of 12,000 books.
Made up completely of glass on the outside, and by mostly bookcases on the inside, the Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan, is truly an architectural anomaly. The Japanese architect who built the library — Sou Fujimoto — used only bridges that people use as reading space to break up the bookcases inside the building.
The Clementinum National Library in Prague, Czech Republic, was founded in 1781 and has the largest collection of books in the country. It also houses personal items of historical figures such as Mozart and Tycho de Brahe.
The Library of Congress in Washington DC has more shelf space and books than any other library in the world. The Thomas Jefferson building is especially beautiful with its marble columns, colorful murals, and sculptures.
With the Alps as a background, the Admont Library — located in the Admont Monastery in Admont, Austria — is the second largest monastery library in the world. The beautiful painted ceilings depict the various stages of human knowledge.
Built in 1845, the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney is the oldest library in all of Australia. The Mitchell Wing is one of the prettiest parts of the library.
Much like the over-the-top estate that it's housed in, the library of the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California, is both lavish and elaborate. Its dark wood cabinets, ceilings, and archways, as well as upholstered furniture will make you feel like you've stepped inside an medieval European castle.
The Stuttgart City Library is nine floors of sheer white. The building is cube-shaped — it was modeled after the Pantheon — and the floors all wrap around an open center, making for a unique layout.
Although the Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was built in the 19th century, it houses literature dating all the way back to the 16th century. The library's collection of Portuguese books is the largest collection outside of Portugal.
A tribute to Egypt's original library of Alexandria — which dates back to the third century BC — the current Alexandria Library was designed like a sundial. The building leans towards the Mediterranean Sea and allows for plenty of sunlight through its many skylights.
The most famous room in the Trinity College Dublin Library in Dublin, Ireland, is over 200 feet long and is adequately named the Long Room. The dark wood and old books in this library — which houses the largest collection of books in Ireland — will make you feel as though you've traveled back in time.
Stretching two entire city blocks and complete with 42 oak tables, the Rose Main Reading Room in the New York Public Library in New York City can accommodate vast numbers of readers. Now the third largest library in the world, the library — which is a Beaux Arts Landmark — was one of the largest marble structures in the US when it was first built.
The hole punch-like windows in the Kanazawa Umimirai Library in Kanazawa City, Japan, are meant to make the library look like a forest of books. The goal of the library's design is for it to be a tranquil space.
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