10 Libraries You Must Visit in Your Lifetime

This list needs to be 2-3 times longer because there is not enough room for all of the world’s best libraries—but here’s our top ten absolute must-visits.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Located in Alexandria, Egypt, this modern library and cultural center commemorates the Great Library of Alexandria, one of the biggest and most important libraries of the ancient world. Its modern counterpart aims to recapture the spirit of the original library, gathering international support until it finally completed construction in October 2002.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is designed to hold up to eight million books and features collections in Arabic, English, and French. Its slanted, circular exterior houses a vast and spacious interior, with tiered floors sloping down like the sides of the Great Pyramid of Egypt itself.

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library, established in 1895, is one of the largest and most prestigious public libraries in the United States. As a whole, the New York Public Library’s collection holds a staggering 53 million items, from books to digitized maps and photographs.

Its main branch, AKA the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, was built in 1911 in the Beaux-Arts architectural style. It strikes quite a picture with its marble façade and two iconic lion sculptures flanking the main entrance. It’s not just the outside that’s impressive, either; the Rose Reading Room is one of the biggest in the world, with opulent gilder-plaster rosettes on the ceiling, high arched windows, and sparkling chandeliers.

Rampur Raza Library

This is a lot more than just a pretty building. The Rampur Raza Library holds one of the most important collections on Indo-Islamic culture in South Asia, and possibly the world. It’s been accumulating manuscripts, books, art objects, illustrations, and Islamic calligraphy since 1774. In 1957, the library relocated to its current home, a grand Indo-European structure.

The library was founded by Faizullah Khan, the first Nawab or deputy ruler of Rampur, and the Nawabs who came after him also did much to contribute to the library in the passing centuries. Nowadays, it’s a public institution manned by India’s Ministry of Culture.

Old Library of Trinity College Dublin

The Old Library of Trinity College Dublin is one of Ireland’s most significant cultural landmarks. It’s most famous for the Long Room, an open two-story hall housing 200,000 of the library’s oldest books. Marble busts of notable philosophers and writers line the room while intricate metalwork spiral staircases lead up to the second floor of shelves on either side. Plan out your visit after checking our detailed guide on this famous library.

Admont Monastery Library

If you’ve ever wanted to step into a real-life version of the library from Beauty and the Beast, visit the Admont Monastery Library, a masterpiece of 18th-century Baroque design and the inspiration for the library from the famous Disney movie. Also known as Admont Abbey Library, this is the largest monastic library in the world at 70 meters long and a ceiling of 11 meters high.

The abbey’s entire collection holds around 200,000 books, with 70,000 on display.

George Peabody Library

Head to Maryland, USA, to visit the George Peabody Library in Baltimore, a cultural institution founded by George Peabody in 1857. Here, you can see the library’s popular reading room firsthand, including its five tiers of ornamental cast-iron balconies rising to a skylight above.

Fun fact: the library was part of America’s first music conservatory and continues to be associated with the renowned Peabody Institute of Music. Today, it’s equal parts research space and a popular tourist spot.

Yusuhara Community Library

Yusuhara Community Library, known in Japanese as Kumo-no-Ue Toshokan or “Library above the clouds”, is a marvel of architectural design mimicking the natural world. Located in Yusuhara, a small town in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, the building’s interior resembles a forest, with tree-like pillars holding up the ceiling and branch-like extensions mimicking a flourishing canopy.

Biblioteca Vasconcelos / José Vasconcelos Library

While Yusuhara is king insofar as design evoking nature, the inside of Biblioteca Vasconcelos looks like an inverted city of steel bookshelves seemingly hanging in mid-air. Simply walking inside this Mexico City library is a trippy experience, with glass-floored catwalks, bridges, and floating staircases only reinforcing the feeling of walking through a sky-bound cubic city. Its open-air design also maximizes natural light and ventilation, making it eco-friendly as well.

Bibliothèque Nationale de France – Richelieu Louvois

This site is the historic heart of France’s national library, located in Paris and dating back to the 17th century. It was originally built as a palace, so it’s little wonder it has so many lavish, stunning spaces contained inside. It has had many extensions by architectural geniuses over the years, and as a result, it has many individual rooms and sections that are famous in their own right, such as the cathedral-like Labrouste Reading Room.

Starfield Libraries in Seoul and Suwon

This one is cheating a bit—but you are honestly asking too much if you want me to choose between South Korea’s two Starfield Libraries, located in Seoul and Suwon. While vastly different, both are creative masterpieces in their own respect. The Seoul library is practically an icon of South Korean literature at this point, most noted for its massive, tower-like bookshelves and sweeping seasonal displays.

Meanwhile, the Suwon Starfield Library is a galaxy of geometric designs filling a massive, four-story space in a busy mall. If you’re ever in South Korea, I’d highly encourage a visit to both places!