24 libraries of the world so magnificent they’ll take your breath away

[The One]

Libraries have long stood as the greatest symbol of our intellectual development. Many have been built on a grand scale, their creators sparing no expense. Despite the passage of time, some of these great public buildings still have the power to astound. In fact, there are very few modern libraries which have the ability to match these older ’temples of knowledge’.

Here are 25 of the most surprising, astounding, incredible and beautiful libraries around the world.

The National Library of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic


Admont Abbey Library, Admont, Austria


Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland


The Royal Portuguese Library, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


George Peabody Library, Baltimore, USA


The St. Florian Monastery Library, Linz-Land District, Austria


The National Library of France, Paris, France


The National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, Netherlands


Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria


The Joanina Library, Coimbra, Portugal


Stuttgart Municipal Library, Stuttgart, Germany


University of Iowa Law Library, Des Moines, USA


Science Library, Görlitz, Germany


The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, New Haven, USA


French Senate Library, Paris, France


The New York Public Library, New York, USA


Walker Library, Minneapolis, USA


Vennesla Library, Vennesla, Norway


Mazarine Library, Paris, France


Library of St. John’s College, Cambridge, Britain


The Library of Congress, Washington, USA


Library of the Technical University, Iassi, Romania


Library of Sárospatak Reformed College, Sárospatak, Hungary


The National Library of China, Beijing


Source

[Dreamtimer]

Wow. I've been to a couple of these. Embarrassingly, not the one in Baltimore. It's now on the list.

[bsbray]

Notice that these libraries are almost completely empty when photographed, but the National Library of China is almost completely filled with people. There is something to be said about the use of resources there. The New York Public Library is the other library shown with lots of people in it. It's a shame that the other libraries aren't being given the same attention, especially the ones with old volumes and manuscripts that aren't well-remembered today.

[Outlander]

Absolutely fabulous, The One!

[Joanna]

Stunning, thank you. I think the building below, the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey, could be the oldest surviving library building from the ancient world (built in the early second century CE), since the Library of Alexandria burnt down. Celsus Library is said to have housed some 11-12,000 manuscripts/books, a lot for its time.



In early 1994 I went to National Library in Paris, France for several days running. They had an exhibition of their entire collection of 14-15th century French hand-written and illuminated manuscripts on display, for the first time ever. Of course, they were in cabinets and couldn't be touched, but every day a page was turned in each book...the exhibition ended up running for two extra months, because people came from all over the world with a passion for these books - medieval scholars and enthusiasts (I had finished an Honours thesis the year before on 14-15thC French and Italian manuscripts, so it was a thrill to see firsthand the actual books). Every morning there was a great long queue of people waiting for the library to open, and there was such a hum of excitement in the air. Some folk just fall in love with these books!

Bsbray, maybe those empty libraries were photographed before or after opening hours?