There are so many amazing, unique, and gorgeous libraries all over our beautiful world. Today I’ll highlight a selection of wonderful and culturally diverse libraries.

Stunning Literary Harbors from all around the World:

“Bristol Central Library” EnglandA historic building built in 1906 by Charles Holden, its design was influential in the development of Edwardian Free Style architecture.

“Central Public Library” Vancouver, CanadaCentred on the block, the library is a nine-story rectangular box containing book stacks and services, surrounded by a free-standing, elliptical, colonnaded wall featuring reading and study areas that are accessed by bridges spanning skylit light wells. The library’s internal glass facade overlooks an enclosed concourse formed by a second elliptical wall that defines the east side of the site

“Baltimore George Peabody Library” Maryland
The 19th-century focused research library of The Johns Hopkins University. It is located in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere historic cultural neighborhood north of downtown across from the landmark Washington Monument. The collections are available for use by the general public, in keeping with the famous Baltimorean merchant/banker/financier/philanthropist George Peabody’s goal to create a library “for the free use of all persons who desire to consult it.

“Connemara Public Library” IndiaConnemara as well, it’s just so gorgeous!One of the four National Depository Libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in India. Established in 1890, the library is a repository of centuries-old publications, wherein lie some of the most respected works and collections in the country. It also serves as a depository library for the UN.

“Stuttgart City Library” GermanyThe new 9-storey library building deliberately takes its cue from the block structure of the projected 7-storey buildings in the area, and rises up like a great crystalline cube within the grassed area at Mailänder Platz. The dimensioning and positioning, detached from their urban context, are a symbol of the significance of the library as a new intellectual and cultural centre.

“Real Gabinete Português de Leitura” Rio de Janeiro, BrazilThe Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura, which roughly translates to royal reading room, was built in 1837. It houses more than 350,000 works from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, as well as a small collection of paintings and old coins.

“Taipei Public Library” Beitou BranchLocated within Beitou District, northern Taipei, Taiwan. It is a two-storey building and it is notable as being constructed to be an eco-friendly green building

“Biblioteca Vasconcelos” Mexico City
Labeled by the press as the Megabiblioteca (“megalibrary”), is a library in the north area of Mexico City. The library is spread across 38,000 square metres (409,000 sq ft.)

“Villanueva Public Library” ColumbiaA superb example of how local materials can be used to create sustainable and low maintenance buildings. Former guerrilla fighters from the area worked as part of a rehabilitation program on this 16,000 square foot public library, which is constructed out of locally-sourced river rocks and sustainably harvested pin.

“Kolonihavehus”
Tom Fruins outdoor sculpture  in the plaza of the Royal Danish LibraryFruin’s sculpture is constructed of a thousand reclaimed pieces of plexiglass ranging in size from 2×2 to 24×36 inches. They originate from many sources, including a closed- down plexi distributorship near Copenhagen, a framing shop, the basement of the Danish State Art Workshops, and the dumpsters outside the Danish Architecture Center.

“Wall of Knowledge” Stockholm Public Library, Germany
Designed for the International Competition of Architecture by students from the Architecture School of Paris La Siene. The Wall of Knowledge, the Stockholm Public Library concept won the Master Award for an award winning Architectural Image.

“National Library of Belarus” Minsk, BelarusThe National Library of Belarus is the main information and cultural centre of the country. Its depository collections include 8 million items of various media. In 1993 the National Library of Belarus started to create its own electronic information resources. It has generated a collection of bibliographic, factual graphic, full-text, graphic, sound and language databases that comprise more than 2 million records. The scope of databases is quite wide: humanities, social sciences, history, art and culture of Belarus. Library users also have access to databases of other libraries and academic institutions, including foreign ones.