100 Majestic Libraries Every Book Lover Should See
For those of you who have the opportunity to travel the world and visit exotic new lands, here is an updated version of our most beautiful libraries list. Even if you can’t travel to all these places, think of this image gallery as a digital trip around the world.
This time around we aimed to create the ultimate list by having the 100 most visually striking libraries from all over the world. If you would like to jump straight to a specific country, just click on the links below. Enjoy!
Australia
Barr Smith Library at the University of Adelaide, Australia
Mitchell Library, Sydney, Australia
State Library of South Australia
State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
Austria
Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria.
Kremsmünster Abbey Library, Austria.
Melk Monastery Library, Austria.
St. Florian Abbey Library, Sankt Florian, Austria.
The University Library of Graz, Austria.
Vorarlberg State Library, Bregenz, Austria.
Brazil
Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The National Library of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.
Canada
Central Library of Vancouver, Canada.
Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada.
Chile
The National Library of Chile, Santiago.
China
Liyuan Library, Beijing, China.
National Library of China, Beijing.
Colombia
Virgilio Barco Library, Colombia, Bogotá.
Czech Republic
Clementinum National Library, Prague, Czech Republic.
Strahov Monastery Theological Library, Prague, Czech Republic.
Denmark
The Royal Library Of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Egypt
Alexandria Library, Egypt.
France
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris.
Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève, Paris, France.
La Sorbonne Reading Room, Paris, France.
Germany
Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany.
Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum, Berlin, Germany.
Leipzig University Library, Germany.
Philological Library of the Free University, Berlin, Germany.
Saxon State and University Library, Dresden, Germany.
Stuttgart City Library, Germany.
Wiblingen Monastery Library, Ulm, Germany.
Holland
Utrecht University Library, Holland.
India
Connemara Public Library, Chennai, India.
Ireland
Trinity College Dublin Library, Ireland.
Italy
Angelica Library, Rome, Italy.
Biblioteca Malatestiana, Cesena, Italy.
Pontifical Lateran University Library, Rome, Italy.
Japan
Kanazawa Umimirai Library, Japan.
Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Tokyo, Japan.
Tama Art University Library, Tokyo, Japan.
Lithuania
Vilnius University Library, Lithuania.
Mexico
José Vasconcelos Library, Mexico City, Mexico.
Palafoxiana Library, Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Mexico.
Netherlands
Old Library (Handelingenkamer), The Hague, Netherlands.
Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Rijksmuseum Research Library, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
New Zealand
University of Otago Central Library, Dunedin, New Zealand.
North Korea
Grand People’s Study House, Pyongyang, North Korea.
Norway
Vennesla Library and Cultural Center, Vennesla, Norway.
Pennsylvania
Lehigh University Library, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Peru
Casa de la Literatura Peruana, Lima, Peru.
The Library of the San Francisco Monastery, Lima, Peru.
Poland
Warsaw University Library, Poland.
Portugal
Biblioteca Joanina, Coimbra, Portugal.
Mafra Palace Library, Mafra, Portugal.
The University of Coimbra General Library, Portugal.
South Korea
Tripitaka Koreana, Haeinsa Temple, South Korea.
Spain
The Escorial Library, Madrid, Spain.
University of Salamanca Library, Spain.
Sweden
Malmö City Library, Malmö, Sweden.
Switzerland
Abbey Library of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Taiwan
Beitou Library, Taipei, Taiwan.
UK
Bristol Central Library, Bristol, UK.
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, England, UK.
Codrington Library, All Soul’s College, Oxford University, UK.
Library of Birmingham, UK.
Merton College Library, Oxford, UK.
Queen’s College Library, Oxford University, UK.
Sir Duncan Rice Library, Aberdeen, UK.
The Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK.
Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge University, UK.
United States
Armstrong Browning Library, Waco, United States.
Bapst Library, Boston, United States.
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, United States.
Boston Public Library, United States.
Cornell Law School Library, Ithaca, United States.
Cornell University Uris Library, Ithaca, United States.
Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States.
Fleet Library, Rhode Island School of Design, United States.
Hearst Castle Gothic Study, San Simeon, United States.
The Paul Barret Jr. Library at Rhodes College, Tennessee, United States.
Indianapolis Public Library, United States.
Iowa State Capital Law Library, United States.
Library of Congress, Washington D.C., United States.
Los Angeles Central Library, United States.
New York Public Library, United States.
Phillips Exeter Academy Library, New Hampshire, United States.
Seattle Central Library, Seattle, United States.
Suzzallo Library’s Graduate Reading Room at the University of Washington, Seattle, United States.
The Harper Library Reading Room, University of Chicago, United States.
The Joe & Rika Mansueto Library, University of Chicago, United States.
The Peabody Library, Baltimore, United States.
The Walker Library of The History of Human Imagination, Stamford, United States.
Thompson Memorial Library, Arlington, United States.
University of Michigan Law Library, Ann Arbor, United States.
Williston Memorial Library, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, United States.
Want to dive even deeper into the history and architecture of libraries?
From the ancient world to the electronic age, “The Library: A World History” by James W. P. Campbell and Will Pryce, is a great coffee table book that includes beautiful photography and great historical facts on many of the libaries featured on this post.
More Resources:
Paul Nowak
Paul is the founder of Iris Reading, the largest provider of speed-reading and memory courses. His workshops have been taught to thousands of students and professionals worldwide at institutions that include: NASA, Google, HSBC and many Fortune 500 companies.
Comments
Barbara
Beautiful collection. Please note that Holland and the Netherlands are the same country (last one is the official name). Missing in the list is the public library in Vught, opened a few years ago in a church
Caroline
Love this! Thanks for curating. You’ve inspired my library bucket list. :)
Benjamin Peng
Those pictures are great. But I found two libraries look the same. Is that true ?
St. Florian Abbey Library, Sankt Florian, Austria.
Clementinum National Library, Prague, Czech Republic.
Jerome Mason
The time and effort you devoted for this article are much appreciated!
Paul Nowak
Thanks Jerome! It took some time, but it was a lot of fun to work on this :-) Glad to hear you liked the images.
Ravikiran
I think, you missed the wonderful library at MIT University, Massachusetts
Penny Georgiou
Thank you for forwarding.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever – well, for a long time anyway.
best,
Luis
Beautiful collection, inspirational temples of learning.
R. Sivaraj
Thanks for providing a visual treat!