Some libraries are more than places to borrow books. They are architectural masterpieces, cultural landmarks, and living monuments to humanity’s pursuit of knowledge. Among these ten are two libraries that took top honors in the 2025 1000 Libraries Awards, recognizing the world’s most extraordinary literary destinations. If you only have time to visit a handful in your lifetime, start here.
The Old Library of Trinity College Dublin — Dublin, Ireland
.png)
Crowned the world’s most beautiful library in the 2025 1000 Libraries Awards, it took the top spot from a field of twenty nominees on more than 200,000 votes cast by book lovers worldwide. 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 built to house 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.
One thing worth knowing before you book: the Old Library is midway through a once-in-a-century conservation project, and those 200,000 books are no longer on their shelves. They have been cleaned, tagged and moved into climate-controlled storage, leaving a stranger and in some ways more arresting room, with Luke Jerram’s illuminated Earth sculpture Gaia hanging in the space they used to fill. The Book of Kells is still on display. The Long Room stays open until the end of 2027, after which the building closes for several years of structural work.
Address: Old Library, College Green, South-East Inner City, Dublin 2, D02 VR66, Ireland
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 9:30AM – 5PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 5PM
Admont Monastery Library — Admont, Austria
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 said to be the inspiration for the library from the famous Disney movie. Ranked fifth in the 2025 1000 Libraries Awards by our readers, and also known as Admont Abbey Library, this is the largest monastic library in the world at 70 meters long and a ceiling rising to around 13 meters at its highest.
The abbey’s entire collection holds around 200,000 books, with 60,000 to 70,000 on display in the hall itself, including more than 1,400 manuscripts dating from the 8th century onwards. Completed in 1776 by the architect Josef Hueber, the hall was built on an Enlightenment principle the abbey still quotes: light should fill the room as well as the mind. Hence the seven ceiling frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte, tracing human knowledge from thought and language through science to divine revelation at the center of the dome.
Address: Kirchplatz 1, 8911 Admont, Austria
Opening hours:
March 20 to May
– Wednesday to Sunday: 10:30AM to 3:30PM
– Monday and Tuesday: Closed
June to September
– Tuesday to Sunday: 10AM to 5PM
– Monday: Closed
October to December 13
– Wednesday to Sunday: 10:30AM to 3:30PM
– Monday and Tuesday: Closed
December 14 to January 1
– Closed. Reservations not possible.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Richelieu — Paris, France
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.
Two of them are among the great reading rooms of the world. Salle Ovale, at Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) Richelieu, is the one you can simply walk into, open to all, free of charge and with no age limit, with more than 20,000 books to consult and 160 study seats. Look up, and you’ll see why the room is famous: a central skylight ringed with gilded acanthus leaves, and sixteen glazed oculi set into the upper oval, surrounded by mosaics.
Salle Labrouste, on the other hand, is the room most readers will recognize: nine tiled cupolas floating on iron arches and sixteen slender cast-iron columns, built between 1861 and 1868 and listed as a historical monument since 1983. It stays reserved for pass-holding readers, so casual visitors admire it from the doorway.
Address: 5 Rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris, France
Opening hours:
Salle Ovale
– Tuesday: 10AM – 8PM
– Wednesday to Sunday: 10AM – 6PM
– Monday: Closed
Salle Labrouste (Authorized Readers Only)
Note: Hours apply to readers with a valid research pass. The Salle Labrouste reading room is not open for general public access.
– Tuesday to Friday: 9AM – 7:30PM
– Saturday: 9AM – 6:30 PM
– Monday: 2PM – 7:30PM
– Sunday: Closed
Bibliotheca Alexandrina — Alexandria, Egypt
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 was finally inaugurated 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 cascading down toward the Mediterranean.
Address: الأزاريطة والشاطبي، Bab Shar’, Alexandria Governorate 21526, Egypt
Opening hours:
– Monday to Thursday: 10AM – 6PM
– Saturday and Sunday: 10AM – 2PM
– Friday: Closed
New York Public Library — New York City, USA
.png)
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, opened 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 Main Reading Room, one of the world’s greatest reading rooms, is among the biggest anywhere, with opulent gilded-plaster rosettes on the ceiling, high arched windows, and sparkling chandeliers.
Address: 476 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018, United States
Opening hours:
– Monday and Thursday to Satuday: 10AM – 6PM
– Tuesday to Wednesday: 10AM – 8PM
– Sunday: Closed
George Peabody Library — Baltimore, USA
Head to Maryland, USA, to visit the George Peabody Library in Baltimore, a cultural institution founded by George Peabody in 1857, with its library building opening in 1878. Known as Baltimore’s “Cathedral of Books,” it lets you see the library’s popular reading room firsthand, including its five tiers of ornamental cast-iron balconies rising to a skylight 61 feet above the floor.
Fun fact: the library was part of one of America’s earliest music conservatories, and today it’s administered by Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries. It’s equal parts working research library and event space, open to the public with limited access, and it’s also one of the libraries where you can actually get married.
Address: 17 E Mt Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202, United States
Opening hours:
– Sunday to Thursday: 11AM – 5PM
– Friday and Saturday: Closed
Biblioteca Vasconcelos — Mexico City, Mexico
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 design also maximizes natural light and ventilation, making it eco-friendly as well.
Address: Eje 1 Nte. S/N, Buenavista, Cuauhtémoc, 06350 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Opening hours:
– Sunday to Thursday: 11AM – 5PM
– Friday and Saturday: Closed
Yusuhara Community Library — Yusuhara, Japan
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.
Address: 1212-2 Yusuhara, Takaoka District, Kochi 785-0610, Japan
Opening hours:
– Wednesday to Monday: 9AM – 8PM
– Tuesday: Closed
Starfield Libraries — Seoul and Suwon, South Korea
.png)
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, set in the atrium of COEX Mall in Gangnam, is practically an icon of the city at this point, most noted for its massive, tower-like bookshelves and sweeping seasonal displays.
Meanwhile, the Starfield Suwon 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!
Starfield Library (COEX) Address: South Korea, Seoul, Gangnam District, Yeongdong-daero, 513 스타필드 코엑스몰 B1
Opening hours:
– Monday to Sunday: 10:30AM – 10PM
Starfield Suwon Library Address: 175 Suseong-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Opening hours:
– Monday to Sunday: 10AM – 10PM
Rampur Raza Library — Rampur, India
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 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 an autonomous public institution funded by India’s Ministry of Culture.
Address: R26F+Q68, Hamid Manzil, behind Jama Masjid, Quilla, Rampur, Uttar Pradesh 244901, India
Opening hours:
– Monday to Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday: 10:30AM – 10PM
– Friday: 10:30AM – 12AM
