Beautiful or notable Libraries

[RooFlyer]

This thread is inspired by this book I bought recently, which was plugged as the author's descriptions of wonderful libraries he had visited. It does, for a few, but I was disappointed in it; no images at all.



So, what are the beautiful libraries, or ones notable for other reasons, you have visited? Hopefully illustrated

I'll start with the library of the Pannonhalma Archabbey, Hungary.



The abbey was founded in 996 and the basilica built in the 13th century.



The library itself isn't very old ( early 1800s) and contains abt 360,000 volumes. The public areas are beautiful:









Part of the ceiling



Prize exhibit is the Charter of the Tihany Benedictine Abbey,from 1055,



Shhh .. I don't know about this.

 

[smiliemonster]

On the modern end of the scale the Stuttgart Library is amazing. It has a very boxy, nondescript exterior and foyer:





But an absolutely impressive interior:

 

[AIRwin]

Mortlock Wing in State Library of South Australia as posted by @VPS

Reasons to travel to Adelaide

I have never been to Adelaide and would like to justify heading there as a 48 hours stop-over before handing home to Sydney. Other than the wine/work, why would you want to go to Adelaide?

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[zenyattamondatta]

Lofoten Islands, Norway:

 

[JohnM]

The Great Library of Alexandria.

 

[VPS]

Mortlock Wing in State Library of South Australia as posted by @VPS

Reasons to travel to Adelaide

I have never been to Adelaide and would like to justify heading there as a 48 hours stop-over before handing home to Sydney. Other than the wine/work, why would you want to go to Adelaide?

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

As soon as I saw this thread I thought I should pull out some of my photos of the Mortlock

Great thread @RooFlyer

I was just watching Professor Alice Roberts at the John Rylands library in Manchester John Rylands Library which is on my list to visit as is this A B&B with a difference | Gladstone's Library

I grew up in a small country town and the State Lending Library used to send us books every month - they kept a list of how old we were, boy or girl and what we liked (we filled in a card when we sent the books back) and every month it was exciting to go to the railway station to get our box of books.

 

[RooFlyer]

On the modern end of the scale the Stuttgart Library is amazing. It has a very boxy, nondescript exterior and foyer:

Love it. in a similar vein, the new-ish Library of Birmingham rotunda. The Library's Shakespeare collection goes to 43,000 volumes







of course at Ephesus, Turkey, the Library of Celsus (c.110 AD) didn't need all the gimmicks

 

[RooFlyer]

Lofoten Islands, Norway:

View attachment 242600

Well, if you are going small, there's always my local library, up the street:



From the ridiculous to the sublime, we go to JP Morgan's office, library and museum in New York. When he died in 1913, he was worth about US$118 million, of which US$50 was in art etc. John D. Rockefeller was alleged to have said: "and to think, he wasn't even a rich man."

The office:



In which was his safe of course, holding the good stuff - his best books!





The library proper, with a 16th century tapestry for good measure.







And a few collectables - such as Bonaparte's English language notebook from Elba ..

 

[QF029]

The Morgan Library is one of New York's lesser known gems. I used to take visitors there when I lived in NYC. It's free 2 or 3 evenings a week.

 

[dajop]

A bit closer to home for most of AFF, (well for many it's at least in reach right now ) I always used to like to spend time studying in this library. Not as impressive (in terms of intricacy in the building) but nevertheless an awesome space and still a good place to immerse yourself in some reading. {Image courtesy of their linkedin page}

 

[RooFlyer]

A bit closer to home for most of AFF, (well for many it's at least in reach right now ) I always used to like to spend time studying in this library. Not as impressive (in terms of intricacy in the building) but nevertheless an awesome space and still a good place to immerse yourself in some reading. {Image courtesy of their linkedin page}

LaTrobe Reading Room, State Library of Victoria, I'm guessing.

 

[kookaburra75]

My favourite has always been the Library at Trinity College in Dublin

 

[RooFlyer]

My favourite has always been the Library at Trinity College in Dublin
View attachment 242755

I'd agree with that; I visited many, many years ago before even digital photos (!), let alone phone ones! Any more pics would be welcome.

 

[RooFlyer]

The Russian State Library, Moscow; second largest collection in the world - c 46 million volumes. A great regret of mine that I didn't go in - or try to. That's Fyodor Dostoevsky out the front; doesn't he look a happy chappy.

 

[AIRwin]

That's Fyodor Dostoevsky out the front; doesn't he look a happy chappy.

I wouldn't be if I had birds coughping over me all the time...

 

[tgh]

This library, in it's own way, is probably making a fair contribution to human enlightenment...
Yanaba Primary, Alotau , Milne Bay TPNG

Post automatically merged: Mar 9, 2021

Teachers resource centre

 

[jb747]

Austrian National Library, in Vienna.

 

[VPS]

I'd agree with that; I visited many, many years ago before even digital photos (!), let alone phone ones! Any more pics would be welcome.

mine are in an album somewhere so I'll post them when I dig them out

 

[Katie]

Toronto Public Library has a fascinating room for their Arthur Conan Doyle collection. We spent a couple of hours there.

 

[Drakecula]

The Vancouver Public Library is a cool building, with a nice curved atrium. Pics taken in 2013.





I also liked the Bodleian Library in Oxford, though I wasn't allowed to take photos myself. Here's one I snaffled from Google images: