Ten Droolworthy Libraries: #Libraryporn
Who wants some more lovely, lovely libraries? Of course you do. This weekend is the round up of the last ten featured beautiful libraries and then it’s a whole fresh batch next time round. Yum.
They’re beautiful, these libraries. They are #LibraryPorn. Feast your eyes upon them. We will.
Uris Library at Cornell University — Ithaca, NY is a popular campus destination. The Olin and Uris Libraries collection is distributed across the two buildings. The study spaces in Uris are open 24 hours a day during most of the academic year and is also home to the Andrew Dickson White Library, which was built to hold the 30,000 books that formed the personal collection of Cornell’s first president, Andrew Dickson White, which he donated when the building opened in 1891.
Victor Hugo’s personal Library in his Hauteville House, Guernsey looks cosy as hell. For fourteen years, Hauteville House was home to famous French writer Victor Hugo, during his time in exile from France. Hugo spent his time there writing his masterpieces, as well as personally decorating the house. Keep the light son for this one.
University of Aberdeen New Library, Scotland was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain in 2012 which marked the official opening of the University of Aberdeen New Library in Scotland. The building, won in an architectural competition in 2005 by schmidt hammer lassen architects, is replacing the University’s former library from 1965 — the Queen Mother Library.
Library of Babel, in the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation museum, Osaka, Japan is dedicated to Shiba Ryotara, one of the best known historical novel writers in Japanese history. His researched work has been translated to a many languages and within Japan he is regarded as a hero. The museum is set around his house and the window from his studio, overlooking a wonderful garden, sets the pace for one of the most wonderful architectural experiences that Tadao Ando has ever created.
The Harper Memorial was founded by president of the University of Chicago, William Rainey Harper, who set the course for Special Collections in 1891. The library’s collections are located in six sites: the Joseph Regenstein Library, the John Crerar Library, the D’Angelo Law Library, the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, the Eckhart Library, and the School of Social Service Administration Library. Group library action — sexy.
The George Peabody Library, formerly known as the Library of the Peabody Institute, is the 19th-century focused research library of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In addition to its traditional use, the library has now become a premiere wedding and event. Mmmn, yeah.
Liepzig University Library, Germany was founded in 1542 by Caspar Borner, who persuaded Moritz, Duke of Saxony, to donate the property and buildings of the dissolved Dominican friary of St Paul in Leipzig to the university. The library began in one of the monastery buildings with 1,000 books and around 1,500 manuscripts from the stocks of four secularised Leipzig city monasteries and other dissolved monasteries.
Riggs Library was the main library of Georgetown University from 1891–1970, until being replaced by Lauinger Library. Riggs Library is one of the few extant cast iron libraries in the nation. The library still serves its original function of storing books despite its primary use as a formal event space. We want to get all up in its business.
Chetham’s Library, Manchester, UK — the oldest surviving library in Britain. It was founded at the bequest of Humphrey Chetham in 1653 and is housed in a sandstone building on Long Millgate dating back to 1421. Some books are still chained to the shelves as ordered by Chetham before he died in 1651. It is open to the public and is free but a £3 donation is suggested.
The Codrington Library is an academic library in the city of Oxford, England. It is the library of All Souls College open to members of Oxford University by application, and to bona fide researchers by appointment. The collections are particularly strong in law and history. Yum.
There are so many more delicious libraries to come in future #LibraryPorn features, all new ones next time; and if you know of any that deserve to be featured, please get in touch on info@theprose.com
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Originally published at blog.theprose.com on April 9, 2016.
