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World’s 30 most beautiful libraries

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Admont Abbey Library, Austria


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The largest monastic library in the world as well as a long-standing scientific collection can be found at Admont Abbey, the oldest still-operating monastery in Styria. It is renowned for its Baroque manuscripts, artwork, and architecture.

Address – Kirchplatz 1, 8911 Admont, Austria

Architect – Joseph Hueber

Type – Baroque-style library

Owner : Josef Hueber

Established -1776

Entry fee – EUR9. 50 and EUR5. 00 for taking a photo

Website – www.stiftadmont.at 

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris


 


In Paris, France’s national library is called the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. In addition to housing sizable historical collections, it serves as the national repository for everything published in France.

Address: Quai François Mauriac, 75706 Paris, France

Architect – Dominique Perrault

Owner : Louis XI

Type – Groundscape-style library

Established –1368

Entry fee – 45€ (adult and children groups), €15(Reading/Culture ), and Free entry for disabled people and accompanying persons

Website-www.bnf.fr 

The British Library


 
 

One of the biggest libraries in the world, the British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Between 170 and 200 million items from various nations are thought to be present. The British Library receives copies of all books published in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a legal deposit library, including a sizable portion of foreign books sold in the UK. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport is the sponsor of the Library, a non-departmental public organization.

Address: 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB, United Kingdom

Architect – Sir Colin St John Wilson and his partner MJ Long

Owner :Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

Type – Modern-style library

Established –1 July 1973

Entry fee – Free of charge

Website – www.bl.uk 

George Peabody Library





 

A library affiliated with Johns Hopkins University that specializes in research into the 19th century is called the George Peabody Library. It is situated on the Peabody campus at West Mount Vernon Place in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere historic cultural neighborhood, north of downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It was formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of Music in the City of Baltimore. In keeping with Baltimorean businessman and philanthropist George Peabody’s intention to build a library “for the free use of all persons who desire to consult it,” the collections are open to the public.

Address -17 E Mt Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202, United States

Architect – Edmund Ge

Owner-George Peabody & Co

Type – Baroque, Rococo, and Greco-Roman-style library

Established –1878

Entry fee – $6 for adults and $4 for children up to age of 13.

Website – www.library.jhu.edu/library-hours/george-peabody-library 

Tianjin Binhai Library



 

 

Tianjin Binhai New Area Library, nicknamed The Eye because of its  iris-like sphere, which is visible from the outside of the library through an iris-shaped opening, gave rise to the name. It is part of the Binhai Cultural Center, being one of its five central attractions. 

Address – China, Tianjin, Binhai, 旭升路347號

Architect – Bernard Tschumi and Bing Thom.

Type – Rotterdam-style library

Established –2017

Entry fee – Free of charge

Library of Trinity College Dublin



 

 

The Library of Trinity College Dublin serves Trinity College and the University of Dublin. It is a legal deposit or “copyright library”, under which, publishers in Ireland must deposit a copy of all their publications there, without charge

Location: College Street, Dublin 2

Architect: Thomas Burgh

Owner : The Provost, Fellows, Foundation Scholars and other members of the Board

Type –Palazzo-style library

Established –1592 

Entry fee – Adults 14 euro, and concessions are 12 euro

Website –https://www.tcd.ie/library

Bibliotheca in Alexandria, Egypt


 


The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. It is a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria, once one of the largest libraries worldwide, which was lost in antiquity. 

Address: Al Azaritah WA Ash Shatebi, Bab Sharqi, Alexandria Governorate 21526, Egypt

Type –Contemporary-style library

Established – 16 October 2002

Architects: Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Craig Edward Dykers, Christoph Kapeller, Øyvind Mo

Entry fee – 

Admission             Individuals University Students and Senior Citizens
Egyptians EGP 5 EGP 3
Non-Egyptians EGP 70 EGP 10

Website –https://www.bibalex.org/en/default 

State Library Victoria



 

 

The State Library Victoria is the state library of the Australian state of Victoria. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia’s oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the world. 

Address: 328 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Established: 1854

Type: Neoclassical style library

Architect: Joseph Reed

Owner: Creative Victoria

Entry fee – Free of charge

Website –https://www.slv.vic.gov.au

Public Library Stuttgart



 

The Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart is the public library of the city of Stuttgart. It is organized as a department of the city’s cultural office and comprises the central library, 17 city district libraries, and two bookmobiles. In 2013, it received the national award of Library of the Year.

Address- Mailänder Platz 1, 70173 Stuttgart, Germany

Architect- Yi Architects

Established- 1901

Type- Korean style library

Entry fee – Free of charge

Website – https://stuttgart.biblionix.com/catalog

Baroque Library of Metten Abbey, Germany





Metten Abbey, or St. Michael’s Abbey at Metten is a house of the Benedictine Order in Metten near Deggendorf, situated between the fringes of the Bavarian Forest and the valley of the Danube, in Bavaria in Germany.

Address: Abteistraße 3, 94526 Metten, Germany

Established: 766 AD

Type: Baroque style library

Architect: Abbot Roman II Märkl

Website :https://top-rated.online/cities/Straubing/place/p/5789054/Metten+Abbey  

National Library, Dublin


 
 

The National Library of Ireland is Ireland’s national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. A 2-min walk from the National Gallery of Ireland

Address: 7-8 Kildare St, Dublin 2, D02 P638, Ireland

Director: Dr. Sandra Collins

Architect: Thomas Newenham Deane

Established: 1877

Type: Classical  style library

Website : www. nli.ie 

Biblioteca de Convento de Mafra, Portugal



 

The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading is a library and lusophone cultural institution, is located in Luís de Camões Street, number 30, in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is listed by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage. 

Address: R. Luís de Camões, 30 – Centro, Rio de Janeiro – RJ, 20051-020, Brazil

Type: Baroque and Neo-Manueline style library

Established: 1730

Architect: João Frederico Ludovica

Website :http://www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt

Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil




The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading (Portuguese: Real Gabinete Português de Leitura) is a library and lusophone cultural institution, is located in Luís de Camões Street, number 30, in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is listed by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage. Elected the fourth most beautiful library in the world by Time magazine, the Cabinet has the largest collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal.

Address: R. Luís de Camões, 30 – Centro, Rio de Janeiro – RJ, 20051-020, Brazil

Type: Neo-Manueline style library

Director : Antonio Gomes da Costa

Established:1887

Website :https://www.realgabinete.com.br

Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland


 
 

Sainte-Geneviève Library is a public and university library located at 10, place du Panthéon, across the square from the Panthéon, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It is based on the collection of the Abbey of St Genevieve, which was founded in the 6th century by Clovis I, the King of the Franks. 

Address: Klosterhof 6D, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland

Type : Baroque style Library

Architect: Peter Thumb

Established: 1767

Owner : Saint Othmar

Entry fee – Free of charge

Website : www.stiftsbibliothek.ch 

Rijksmuseum


 
 

The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw. 

Address- Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam, Netherlands

Director-Taco Dibbits

Architect-Pierre Cuypers

Established-19 November 1798

Owner-The Hague 

Website – https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en 

El Ateneo Grand Splendid


 

El Ateneo Grand Splendid is a bookshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2008, The Guardian placed it as the second most beautiful bookshop in the world. In 2019, it was named the “world’s most beautiful bookstore” by the National Geographic. 

Address – Av. Santa Fe 1860, C1123 CABA, Argentina

Type – Eclecticism style library

Established- 4 December 2000

Owner- Grupo Ilhsa

Website – https://www.yenny-elateneo.com/local/grand-splendid

Library of Parliament


 
 

The Library of Parliament is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. 

Address -111 Wellington St, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A9, Canada

Established -1876

Director – Heather Lank

Owner – Government of India

Website – https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA 

Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial


 
 

El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, or Monasterio del Escorial, is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 2.06 km up the valley from the town of El Escorial and about 45 kilometres northwest of the Spanish capital Madrid. 

Address: Av Juan de Borbón y Battenberg, s/n, 28200 San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain

Type: Herrerian style library

Architect: Juan Bautista de Toledo

Owner: Ministry of the Presidency

Website – http://monasteriodelescorial.com

The Morgan Library & Museum


 
 

The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th Street to the north. Wikipedia

Address: 225 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016, United States

Architect: Renzo Piano

Director: Colin B. Bailey

Type : Renaissance and Palladian styles Library

Established: 1906

Owner: J. P. Morgan

Website –https://www.themorgan.org/visit 

Library of Congress Washington, D.C., United States




The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. 

Address: 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540, United States

Established : 24 April 1800, Washington, D.C., United States

Director: Carla Hayden

Owner: John Adams

Jurisdiction: United States

Subsidiary: Center for the Book

Official name: Library of Congress

Website –https://www.loc.gov

John Rylands Research Institute and Library


 

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, John Rylands. 

Address: 150 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH, United Kingdom

Established : 1 January 1900

Architect: Basil Champneys

Type: Gothic Revival and Victorian Style Library 

Website –  https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands

 

The Iowa State Law Library, Des Moines




In the American state of Iowa, there is a library called the State Library of Iowa. The State Library serves as a resource for the state government and its residents in addition to supporting local libraries throughout the state.

Address: 1007 E Grand Ave UNIT 214, Des Moines, IA 50319, United States

Established –1868

Website – https://www.statelibraryofiowa.gov

Strahovská Kinnona, Prague, Czech Republic


 

 

The Strahov Library is the library of the Royal Premonstratensian Canon in Strahov . The historical part of the library contains over 200,000 volumes, of which over 3,000 manuscripts and 1,500 originals , stored in a special depository.

Address: Strahovské nádvoří 132/1, 118 00 Praha 1-Hradčany, Czechia

Owner: Vladislav II

Established -1671 – 1679 

Entrance fee – basic 150 CZK

                         reduced 80 CZK

                         family 300 CZK

Website –https://www.strahovskyklaster.cz/strahovska-knihovna

Seattle Public Library-Central Library


 
 

The Seattle Central Library is the flagship library of the Seattle Public Library system.  Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus of OMA/LMN were the principal architects, and Magnusson Klemencic Associates was the structural engineer with Arup. Arup also provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, as well as fire/life safety, security, IT and communications, and audiovisual consulting. Hoffman Construction Company of Portland, Oregon, was the general contractor.

Address: 1000 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, United States

Architects: Rem Koolhaas, Joshua Prince-Ramus

Architectural style: Postmodern Architecture

Architecture firms: Office for Metropolitan Architecture, LMN Architects

Opened: 23 May 2004

Owner: Seattle Public Library

Website –https://www.spl.org/hours-and-locations/central-library 

Starfield Library


 

The Starfield Library is a free, open place where anyone is welcome to come to relax, take a break, and spend time among books with other bookworms. There is a large selection of books in many different categories, including the humanities, economics, hobbies, etc. The library has entire sections devoted to foreign literature and well-known authors. E-books can be read on iPads. You can browse nearly 600 magazines, both domestic and international. All of these characteristics distinguish Starfield Library from other ordinary libraries. There are also a ton of events held here, including author meet-ups, book talks, poetry readings, lectures, book concerts, as well as more.

Address: South Korea, Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Yeongdong-daero, 513 스타필드 코엑스몰 B1

Website –https://www.starfield.co.kr/coexmall/starfieldLibrary/library.do 

National Library in Beijing, China


 

The National Library of China is the national library of the People’s Republic of China and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It contains over 41 million items as of December 2020. 

Address: 33 Zhongguancun S Ave, Haidian District, China, 100089

Established: 9 September 1909

Director: Dr. Wang Chunfa (since 2017)

Parent organization: Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China

Website –http://www.nlc.cn/newen/ 

State Library of New South Wales



The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference, and research library open to the public. It is the oldest library in Australia, being the first established in the colony of New South Wales in 1826. 

Address: 1 Shakespeare Pl, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Architects: Walter Liberty Vernon, Andrew Andersons

Established: 1826

Director: Dr. John Vallance; (State Librarian)

Jurisdiction: New South Wales

Website –https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/ 

The New York Public Library Main Branch, Manhattan



 

 

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, commonly known as the Main Branch, 42nd Street Library, or the New York Public Library, is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The branch, one of four research libraries in the library system, contains nine separate divisions. The structure contains four stories open to the public. The main entrance steps are at Fifth Avenue at its intersection with East 41st Street. As of 2015, the branch contains an estimated 2.5 million volumes in its stacks. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark, a National Register of Historic Places site, and a New York City designated landmark in the 1960s.

Address – 476 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York 10018

Type – Research library

Established – May 23, 1911 (opened to the public)

Architect – Carrère and Hastings

Director – Anthony Marx, President and CEO

Website – www.nypl.org 

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