The World’s Most Stunning Libraries
From L.A. to Tokyo and everywhere between, these 15 libraries offer an unforgettable experience for those who appreciate scholarly style and remarkable craftsmanship.
The Book Lover’s Bucket List
So, whether you’re a lover for literature or design, at least one of these beautiful world-class libraries should be added to your bucket list.
Impressive Design
The libraries on this list meet the highest standards in design, with soaring shelves, vaulted ceilings and ingenious designs. From concrete arches to vintage cathedral ceilings, there’s something for everyone.
Extensive Collections
Aside from their magical appearances alone, these libraries offer extensive collections that may not be found anywhere else in the world.
Let’s explore 26 of the world’s most beautiful libraries.
The Admont Abbey Library, Austria
The Admont Abbey Library in Austria is a late Baroque masterpiece. Completed in 1776, it is considered the largest monastery library in the world—and it looks like something out of a fairytale.
The Admont Abbey Library: Design
The 230-foot long building boasts three main chambers with floor-to-ceiling shelving, 48 large windows, stunning ceiling cupolas and an original color scheme of gold and white.
The Admont Abbey Library: Collection
The Admont Abbey holds an extensive collection of over 200,000 books, which includes 1,400 manuscripts with some dating as far back as the 8th century A.D.
Jorge Royan, Wikimedia Commons
Tama Art University Library, Tokyo
Tokyo’s Tama Art University Library was completed in 2007 and boasts a more modern approach with its choice in design and inclusion of technology.
Robertbaum CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tama Art University Library: Design
The modern approach to design boasts a complex architectural structure consisting of concrete arches, glass walls, minimalist furniture, and tidy rows of computers and technological devices.
japanese_craft_construction, Flickr
Tama Art University Library: Collection
The Tama Art University Library houses 100,000 books, and has a primary focus on art education and research. It’s collection also includes materials on design, architecture, film, photography, and various other studies.
Masashige MOTOE, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
George Peabody Library, Baltimore
The George Peabody Library is easily one of the most beautiful libraries in the U.S., with a spectacular design known for its impressive detail, and of course a massive collection to make it even better.
Payton Chung, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
George Peabody Library: Design
The building, established in 1878, features a Renaissance Revival style with a remarkable cathedral like-atrium, marble floors, and wrought-iron details throughout.
In fact, it’s a popular destination for wedding photos.
Patrick Gillespie, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
George Peabody Library: Collection
With a collection of over 300,000 volumes stacked in five decorative tiers, this library is a literature lovers dream.
George Peabody’s goal was to create a library “for the free use of all persons who desire to consult it.”
Galdoughnut, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tianjin Binhai Library, China
On the other end of design, the Tianjin Binhai Library in China offers a futuristic feel, which actually went viral when it opened in 2017, drawing in curious visitors from all over the globe.
Tianjin Binhai Library: Design
The building was designed by Dutch firm MVRDV, and features a huge luminous sphere (called 'The Eye') in the middle of an auditorium, cathedral-like vaulted arches, and cascading floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
Tianjin Binhai Library: Collection
The five-level building (363,000 sq ft) holds a whopping 1.2 million books and can accommodate 110 people comfortably in various reading nooks and lounges, computer rooms, offices and quiet spaces.
The Library of El Escorial, Spain
The dazzling Library of El Escorial in Spain is part of a UNESCO World Hertiage Site.
It was designed by the mathematical and architectural genius Juan de Herrera, and is notable for being the first library in Europe to break from the medieval dogmatic beliefs on architecture and decoration.
The Library of El Escorial: Design
Its design is said to have inspired the Vatican library in Rome, and is the first institution to display its books and manuscripts in shelving cases along the walls rather than in bays that were placed at right angles.
The library’s best feature is a series of seven frescoes that depict the liberal arts (music, rhetoric, astronomy, etc.).
The Library of El Escorial: Collection
The El Escorial’s collection includes over 40,000 books and manuscripts that cover everything from philosophy to politics to poetry, and are written in a multitude of different languages.
Starfield Library, South Korea
This beautiful library is in an intriguing location—a shopping mall. But amazingly enough, its outside means nothing once you enter this small city of books and discover all it has to offer.
LR0725, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Starfield Library: Design
The Starfield Library is known as one of the most unique libraries in the world. With 27,000 square feet of space, the interior offers an informal elegance with a natural wood design, ambient lighting, towering metal shelving, and plenty of open space.
Hyerimwon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Starfield Library: Collection
Its collection holds roughly 70,000 books and 600 magazines, and spans across a 45-foot-tall bookcase hidden in a 30,000 square foot atrium.
Royal Library of Denmark, Copenhagen
The Royal Library of Denmark was originally built in 1648 and renovated in 1999 to its current design. It’s been affectionately dubbed, “the black diamond,” due to its intriguing design.
It is also among the world’s largest libraries, and the largest in the Nordic countries.
Royal Library of Denmark: Design
The outer design of the building boasts glossy black metal flanking and a transparent glass center.
Inside, you’ll find the national photography museum, a café, a performance hall, and a stunning abstract fresco by Danish artist Per Kirkeby on the ceiling.
Royal Library of Denmark: Collection
As of 2017, the library’s rich collection includes over 36 million physical units and over 2 million electronic titles, and consists of books, journals, newspapers, pamphlets and corporate publications, manuscripts, maps, prints and photographs, music scores and more.
National Library of Finland, Helsinki
The National Library of Finland dates back to 1844, and is responsible for storing the Finnish cultural heritage. By Finnish law, it is a legal deposit library with copies of all printed matter.
Unknown Author, CC-BY-SA-3.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Library of Finland: Design
The National Library boasts a Classical temple architecture with a spectacular semi-circular annex and curved façade. The building boasts tall pillars throughout, natural brick walls, wooden floors and ceiling murals.
Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Library of Finland: Collection
The library holds a whopping 3 million books, with the bulk of its sensitive collection stored in an underground bunker drilled into solid rock, about 60 feet below the library.
Marit Henriksson, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Strahov Monastery Library, Prague
The Strahov Monastery Library in Prague was originally founded way back in 1143. It’s a top contender for the world’s most beautiful library for its breathtaking design.
Aside from design, it includes sacred rooms where visitors are not permitted to enter—adding to its wonderous allure.
Matěj Baťha, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Strahov Monastery Library: Design
A narrow passageway connects two large halls that make up the Strahov Library.
The Theological Hall in the Strahov Library is said to be the most beautiful reading room in existence with its enchanting design that includes an illuminated white ceiling decorated in figurative artwork, red and gold shelving, oak floors, and pastel murals.
Jorge Royan, CC-BY-SA-3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Strahov Monastery Library: Collection
The library’s massive, and old collection of over 200,000 books includes a “compilation wheel” that turns to rotate shelves in order to make them easier to find.
Bjørn Erik Pedersen, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Central Public Library Branch, Seattle
Another modern design that turns heads is the Central Public Library Branch in Seattle, which boasts an intriguing glass-and-steel exterior and stands 11 stories tall.
Because of its location on a hill, visitors can enter and exit on different floors.
Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Central Public Library Branch: Design
The building’s striking appearance includes several discrete “floating platforms” seemingly wrapped in a large steel net covered in small glass windows.
The interior is just as eye-catching with vivid green accents, a café, a gift shop, a teen center, and many other rooms.
Central Public Library Branch: Collection
The 362,987-square-foot building holds about one and a half million books and other materials. It also offers over 400 public computers.
Stuttgart City Library, Germany
Germany’s Stuttgart City Library isn’t your average library. Situated in a concrete cube, its main attraction is a room shaped like an upside-down pyramid.
Stuttgart City Library: Design
The 11-floor building includes two floors below ground and 9 above. It boasts a glass interior façade with stark white walls, floors and staircases giving it a modern-minimalist look.
A large central skylight fills the entire space with natural light, and roof-top terrace is available with quiet reading spaces under the clouds.
Pjt56, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Stuttgart City Library: Collection
The massive collection includes hundreds of thousands of books, including literature from any and all genre, and nearly all languages. This also includes rare books.
Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio de Janeiro
This one is often referred to as a “palace devoted to books,” rather than a library. With a stunning limestone exterior inspired by the famous Jerónimos Monastery in Libson, the interior is even more impressive.
Royal Portuguese Reading Room: Design
The interior follows the Neo-Manueliene style with wooden bookcases, a spectacular chandelier that lowers down from a large stained-glass skylight, filling the room with vibrant color.
There are several statues, medallions, monuments and murals throughout the building.
Donatas Dabravolskas, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Royal Portuguese Reading Room: Collection
The library’s collection includes over 350,000 items including numerous rare works. Each year, the library receives about 6,000 titles from Portugal.
Donatas Dabravolskas, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bodleian Library, Oxford, England
The Bodleian Library has been in use since the 1300s, and is said to be one of the oldest libraries in Europe and the second-largest in Britain.
Bodleian Library: Design
The library was built in the old Gothic style, with a stunning dome shaped exterior and three historic reading rooms inside.
With stunning, textured ceilings, dark wood and classically designed windows, this library was used as the filming location for the Hogwarts Library in the Harry Potter films.
annetgent, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bodleian Library: Collection
The Bodleian collection reaches over 12 million, which includes over a million Special Collections, as well as the rare and renowned items including The Bay Psalm Book—the most expensive printed book in the world.
Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico City
Mexico City has a more modern approach to their library. The Biblioteca Vasconcelos is truly remarkable with its massive collection stacked in hanging shelves from the ceiling above.
Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Biblioteca Vasconcelos: Design
The 820-foot building is made of concrete, steel and glass, and sits in the middle of a lush botanical garden.
The interior boasts details like see-through floors, a colossal white whale skeleton on display, and huge bookcases suspended from the ceiling.
ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Biblioteca Vasconcelos: Collection
The library’s extensive collection of over 470,000 books hangs from the ceiling in metal book case structures that can be accessed from staircases along the side of the building.
Nan Palmer, CC BY 2.0,Wikimedia Commons
State Library of South Australia, Adelaide
From the outside, the State Library of South Australia doesn’t look like anything all that impressive, but the ultramodern glass exterior hides a stunning historic interior that fits all your boarding school fantasies.
State Library of South Australia: Design
The outside of the building boasts a large glass cube entranceway that leads you to an unimaginable historic scene with a glow of ambient lighting that highlights the dark wood and wrought-iron details.
State Library of South Australia: Collection
The library includes an extensive collection of general reference materials, heritage works, research materials, children’s literature, and the largest rare collection in Australia.
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