20 Most Beautiful Libraries In The World - Learning From Literature

Books (and literature in general) have played a shifting but constant role throughout human history. From Austria and Egypt to America and Japan, here are 20 of the most beautiful libraries in the world!

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Enjoy!

Admont Abbey Library (Admont, Austria)

Constructed in 1776, this section of one of Austria’s oldest monasteries is adorned in gold and white hues, hosting an impressive collection of 70,000 volumes. The awe-inspiring ceiling artworks depict various phases of human knowledge

Abbey Library of St. Gall (St. Gallen, Switzerland)

With early plans suggesting the collection dates back to 820 AD, it was moved into the current hall in the mid-1700s and earned World Heritage Site status in 1983. Today, it houses approximately 160,000 volumes within intricately-carved wooden shelves

Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Founded in 1837 by Portuguese immigrants, this institution houses the most extensive collection of Portuguese literature outside of Portugal, comprising nearly 400,000 manuscripts

Biblioteca Vasconcelos (Mexico City, Mexico)

Located within a botanical garden, this unique library transforms the reading experience with open, scaffold-like shelving and transparent walls. Moreover, it doubles as a gallery, providing artists with a space to showcase their work

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library (NYC, USA)

Ranked among the largest non-national libraries, this institution boasts an extensive collection of 2.5 million volumes and over 15 million items. Renowned for the iconic marble lions adorning its entrance, the Rose Main Reading Room spans approximately the size of two city blocks

Biblioteca do Convento de Marfa (Marfa, Portugal)

Constructed in 1755, the staff still uses bats to control harmful pests (not the common chemicals or gamma radiation). Natural light filters through numerous windows, illuminating the collection of over 30,000 books

Stuttgart City Library (Stuttgart, Germany)

Appearing like a perfect cube from the exterior, this nine-story library harmoniously blends inspiration from the Pantheon with a minimalist touch, featuring a multi-floor reading room shaped like an inverted pyramid

The Library of El Escorial (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain)

Commissioned by King Philip II of Spain in 1563, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is not only a library with 40,000 volumes but also a monastery, gardens, and pantheons. Seven frescoes within depict the liberal arts: arithmetic, astronomy, dialectic, geometry, grammar, music, and rhetoric

Bodleian Library (Oxford, UK)

The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is home to an impressive collection of 13 million printed items, including treasures like the Magna Carta and Shakespeare’s First Folio, while standing as one of England’s earliest examples of a circular library

The Tianjin Binhai Library (Tianjin, China)

With its continuous curved seating and floor-to-ceiling shelves, this space can accommodate a million titles, though it currently holds 200,000. The central white sphere works as a concealed auditorium

Austrian National Library (Vienna, Austria)

Established in 1735, the collection currently includes 7 million objects dating as far back as the 4th century. The State Hall, nearly 80 meters in length, boasts a resplendent ceiling fresco and four Venetian globes

Trinity College Library (Ireland, Dublin)

Constructed in 1733, Trinity College Library stands as one of the world’s most renowned, featuring the iconic barrel-like ceiling in the Long Room and housing an extensive collection of 6 million volumes

Rampur Raza Library (Rampur, India)

Founded in 1774, this library serves as an archive of Indo-Islamic cultural heritage, boasting a significant collection that includes manuscripts, Islamic calligraphy, and the original first translation of the Quran

Library of Strahov Monastery (Prague, Czech Republic)

Dating back to the 1670s, this institution stands as one of the world’s oldest and most impeccably preserved historical libraries, safeguarding an impressive collection of over 200,000 volumes

George Peabody Library (Baltimore, USA)

Established in 1857 by George Peabody and dedicated to the citizens of Baltimore, the 300,000-piece collection now resides within Johns Hopkins University, featuring an atrium soaring 61 feet into the air adorned with gold-embellished columns and cast-iron balconies

The Morgan Library & Museum (NYC, USA)

J.P. Morgan’s private collection boasts bronze and walnut bookcases in a gold-decorated room, housing original manuscripts of Sir Walter Scott and de Balzac. Hidden stairways connect to balconies above in addition to fresco-covered ceilings and works by artists such as Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Picasso

Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Alexandria, Egypt)

Established around 285 BC, the Library of Alexandria reigned as the world’s premier library for a thousand years, housing up to 400,000 scrolls. Destroyed multiple times, it was rebuilt in 2002 with a circular 11-floor structure, the world’s largest reading room, four million books, four museums, and a planetarium, adorned with characters from 120 languages on its stone facade

Klementinum National Library (Prague, Czech Republic)

Inaugurated in 1722, this library showcases intricate ceiling frescoes, gold-and-mahogany pillars, and a collection of 20,000 volumes

The Hachioji Library at Tama Art University (Tokyo, Japan)

Characterized by an open floor plan and sleek concrete arches, the minimalist space is not only for research and education but also acts as inspiration for the artists. The first level boasts an open gallery for art exhibitions, while the second floor houses nearly 100,000 books

Wiblingen Monastery Library (Ulm, Germany)

Nested within a monastery, the library, established in 1744, is a masterful illusion of painted wood crafted to emulate marble. Housing a collection of 15,000 items, it seamlessly combines aesthetic charm with functional purpose

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