No more stuffy old libraries. Here are the libraries of the future! From camels to treehouses, these are some of the most unique libraries you’ll ever come across.
All over the world, libraries are fonts of knowledge. In some places, though, what constitutes a library is very different from what you might expect. You can find libraries in all sorts of locations; out in the desert, upon a camel’s back, out at sea…
Don’t believe it? Well, take a look at some of these weird, wonderful, and unique libraries!
The Book Tank, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dubbed ‘The Weapon of Mass Instruction’ this 1979 Ford Falcon tank was converted into a fully mobile library by artist Raul Lemesoff. The tank holds 900 books and was designed with the intent of ‘fighting the war on ignorance’. Drinks company 7UP recorded a short video about Rual’s project, which showed Rual driving the tank through the streets of Buenos Aires, delivering books to as many people as he could.
Beach Library, Albena, Bulgaria
Albena, a popular European beach resort, is now home to the very first beach library in the European Union. One of only a handful of its kind across the globe, the beach is near the Hotel Kaliopa and is stocked with over 2,500 books.
Split across 140 shelves, the Beach Library’s stock spans 10 languages and is designed for all readers, with romance novels, classics, thrillers, memoirs, and even local literature. The books are protected by vinyl and fastened with a zipper so that they are protected against the region’s intense sun and strong winds all year round.
Secret Subway Library, NYC, United States
It should come as no surprise that there is a secret library hidden on New York’s vast subway lines. After all, New York is a city of culture and, even more so, of surprises! The library is a branch of the New York Public Library called the Terence Cardinal-Cooke Cathedral branch and is tucked away just outside the turnstiles at the 51st Street 6 stop.
Regulars who know of its existence visit the library branch often enough to have become familiar not only with the librarians who manage the tiny library but with other guests. Hidden so well, the library is like a poorly kept secret, only found by those who have been told about it by others!
Tree Library, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
For fans of the fantastical, this tiny tree library is a must-visit. Tucked away in the city of Couer d’Alene, there is a little library nestled into the wood of a 110-year-old Blackwood tree. Built and managed by local Sharalee Armitage Howard, the library has a shingles roof, a lantern, and a beautiful glass door to protect the books.
Howard built the library as an alternative to cutting the tree down. In 2018, she established that the inner wood of the ancient Blackwood had completely rotted away, but didn’t want to cut down the beautiful piece of nature. She took inspiration from The Little Free Library Movement that started in 2009 and crafted herself the perfect Middle Earth-esque woodland library.
Phonebox Library, Westbury-sub-Mendip, England
Down in Somerset, England, there lives an incredibly creative community. In 2009, the village of Westbury-sub-Mendip lost its mobile library. Rather than mourn, though, the village instead decided to convert an iconic red telephone box into one of the smallest libraries you’ve ever seen!
Since then, telephone company BT set up an Adopt a Phonebox scheme, encouraging people to pay £1 in order to gain free use of the disused phoneboxes. Now, all these years later, there are at least 150 of these quaint little iconic libraries across the UK!
Qatar National Library, Doha, Qatar
Perhaps the most modern-looking library out there, the Qatar National Library is set across a huge building with over 480,000 square feet. The library is all white with subtle wooden elements and is home to more than a million books in a vast array of languages.
Biblioburros, Magdalena, Colombia
In Colombia, teachers like Luis Soriano have had to learn how to adapt what they have to provide their students with the best education possible. Soriano’s answer to this was the Biblioburro: adapted donkey saddle bags designed to hold books!
The first two Biblioburros in La Gloria were Soriano’s donkeys, Alfa and Beto. They began work in the 1990s, and, as of January 2013, Soriano and his Biblioburros are still going strong.
Il Bibliomotocarro, Basilicata, Italy
In Italy, a retired schoolteacher, Antonio La Cava, converted his three-wheeled van into a mobile library in order to reach remote villages like San Paolo Albanese. In these tiny villages, there are often as few as two children young enough to need elementary school education.
La Cava said that he was ‘strongly worried about growing old in a country of non-readers’ and that he hopes his colorful little van brings the message that culture is ‘made by and for everyone’.
Camel Library, Garissa and Wajir, Kenya
Just like the Biblioburro, in the Kenyan desert, The Camel Mobile Library Service is a savior to many young children who wish to read and learn. The service lends over 7,000 books to nomads and settlements in Kenya’s North East Province. Camels are pretty much the only means of crossing the area because of its extreme terrain, meaning that without this service, the children would be completely without reading material.
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Migz
Millie Ramm
Millie has been writing since she was a child, and has spent more time with her nose in books than anywhere else. She has been ghostwriting novels and editing for the past few years, and when not working she is curled up with her cats, looking for her next read.
