49 Breathtaking Libraries From All Over The World

Libraries are at once solitary and social, often serving as cornerstones of communities. Throughout history, their design has developed alongside the democratization of knowledge. A new book, Reflections: Libraries, which Roads published in November, traces this evolution through buildings that, whether modern and inviting or ancient and exclusive, are marvelous to see.

The first library in the book is the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. The book then traverses the globe, from the minimalist, modern libraries of Asia and Scandinavia to the massive classical libraries of the United States and Western Europe, including the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre at Humboldt University in Berlin, with its five stories of cherry-wood terraces.

“In terms of function, we aimed to have a wide representation. There are some of the largest libraries in the world, private libraries, university libraries, and small community libraries,” Maeve Convery, publishing director for Roads and editor of Reflections: Libraries, said via email. “Some were chosen because of the exciting design, such as Stuttgart City Library, and others have unparalleled historical significance, like the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.” Source: Slate.

01. Library of Congress — Washington, DC, USA.

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02. Royal Portuguese Reading Room — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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03. Reading Room at La Sorbonne — Paris, France

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04. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University — New Haven, Conn.

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05. Codrington Library at Oxford University — Oxford, England

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06. Trinity College Library at University of Dublin — Dublin, Ireland

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07. National Library of Belarus — Minsk, Belarus

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08. Balme Library at the University of Ghana — Accra, Ghana

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09. General Library at University of Coimbra — Coimbra, Portugal

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10. Suzzallo Library at University of Washington, Seattle — Seattle, Wash.

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11. Philological “Brain” Library at the Free University — Berlin, Germany

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12. Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego — San Diego, CA.

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13. Library at the Benedictine Monastery of Admont — Admont, Austria

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14. Library at Pontifical Lateran University — Rome, Italy

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15. Library of the Canadian Parliament — Ottawa, Canada

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16. Stuttgart City Library — Stuttgart, Germany

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17. National Library of France — Paris, France

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18. New York Public Library — New York, N.Y.

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19. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at University of Toronto — Toronto, Canada

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20. Joe & Rika Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois.

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21. Jose Vasconcelos Library — Mexico City, Mexico

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22. Frederick Thompson Memorial Library at Vassar College — Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

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23. Central Library at National Autonomous University of Mexico — Mexico City, Mexico

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24. Library at the Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial — San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain

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25. Harper Memorial Library at University of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois.

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26. Seattle Central Library — Seattle, Washington.

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27. Library of the Dutch Parliament — The Hague, Netherlands

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28. Beitou Branch of the Taipei Public Library — Taipei, Taiwan

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29. Misr University for Science and Technology Library, Egypt

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30. Villanueva Public Library — Villanueva, Colombia

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31. Los Angeles Central Library — Los Angeles, CA.

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32. Kanazawa Umimirai Library — Kanazawa City, Japan

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33. Galway Mayo Institute Of Technology Library — Galway, Ireland

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34. Library at Pompeu Fabra University — Barcelona, Spain

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35. Library at Delft University of Technology — Delft, Netherlands

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36. József Attila Study and Information Centre at University of Szeged — Szeged, Hungary

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37. Library at Catholic University of Leuven — Flanders, Belgium

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38. Bishan Public Library — Singapore

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39. Library at Asian Institute of Medicine, Science, and Technology — Kedah, Malaysia

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40. Connemara Public Library — Chennai, India

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41. The Royal Danish Library — Copenhagen, Denmark

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42. Vatican Library — Vatican City

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43. Library of Alexandria — Alexandria, Egypt

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44. Central Public Library — Vancouver, Canada

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45. Central Library at Cairo University — Cairo, Egypt

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46. Sendai Mediatheque — Sendai, Japan

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47. Butler Library at Columbia University — New York, N.Y.

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48. Library at Utrecht University — Utrecht, Netherlands

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49. George Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University — Baltimore, Md.

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