Reading Connects the World: My Top Four International Libraries
It’s no secret to anybody who has read my work before that, like the majority of bibliophiles, I adore libraries. Whilst visiting various cities and villages around the UK I have always taken the chance to visit their libraries, one of which I ended up working at. This desire to visit such public institutions hasn’t been limited to my time travelling around the UK and pre-pandemic I started planning trips abroad. Along with museums and art galleries, historical houses and theatres, libraries were present on my bucket list of things to see. Unfortunately, like many of you, my plans were derailed by the Coronavirus outbreak. Whilst my plans to visit such wonderful educational institutions have been put on hold, I’m choosing to remain optimistic about the next few years. Below I have listed the top five libraries that I would like to visit once we return to a new state of normal.
The Admont Library- Austria
Situated in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont Abbey is the world’s largest monastery library. Designed in 1764 and constructed by Josef Hueber (1715–1787), the building was completed in the late baroque style in 1776. It’s seven ceilings were painted by then 80-year-old Bartolomeo Altomonte (1694–1783) who specialised in large scale frescoes in 1775. These murals were painted to depict the close relationship between religion and the arts and sciences. Furthermore, Josef Stammel’s (1695–1765) limewood carvings ‘The Four Last Things’ situated at different points within the library mark a great distinction from the light an airy feel of the murals. In Christian theology they represent the last stages of a man’s life: death, judgement, heaven, and hell. Amongst all of this impressive architecture is the library collection itself which holds 70,000 manuscripts in the Abbey’s 200,000 strong collection.
Stuttgart Library- Germany
The futuristic feel of the Stuttgart Library stands in great contrast to the Admont Library. Built in 2011 by Korean architect Eun Young Yi, the space spans nine stories and is accessible from all four sides. Spread out over the large space is a children’s library, music library, study rooms and a café. There is also an accessible roof terrace which gives views of the city surrounding it. Whilst some may think that the design is perhaps too cold and sterile for a library, the use of artificial lighting is meant to be inviting and eye catching. Furthermore, it’s location in relation to the surrounding community is important. During the design process it was suggested that the building be given a unique position, in which it towers over the other buildings, to highlight it’s significant as a new cultural centre. At night the building lights, up in a lovely blue tone so that it can be seen for miles.
Bibliotheca Alexandria- Egypt
The idea behind the creation of this library was to commemorate The Great Library of Alexandria, one of the most famous libraries known in the ancient world. The Great Library of Alexandria was part of the Mouseion a research centre dedicated to the nine muses. The Bibliotheca Alexandria was created as an homage to this. Completed in 2002, the library aims to promote cross cultural understanding as well as become a leading institution in the digital age. I think its most impressive feature is the fact that it has space for about 8 million books! Aside from this it is home to six specialist libraries as well as four museums and four art galleries.
New York Public Library — New York, New York
The New York Public Library system is made up of a collection of locations around New York. The main branch of the library and most internationally recognised can be found in Bryant Park, Manhattan. It opened in 1911, following sixteen years of planning and development and was the largest marble structure in America at the time. Following this, the formation of one of the worlds largest library networks came about due to the ardent belief of a small group of people in the need for its public to have free access to books. Samuel Tilden (1814–1886) the 25th governor of New York donated 2.4 million dollars for the purpose of establishing a free library. Of course, you can’t have a library without books. Luckily, New York already had two established libraries. The first was the Lenox Library, named after philanthropist James Lenox (1800–1880) contained lots of rare books, sculptures and art. The second Astor Library was a scholarly reference collection created by merchant John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) and bibliographer Joseph Cogswell (1786–1871). Whilst it was a public institution, books had to remain on the premises and were not allowed to be freely circulated outside of the building. In 1895, the two-library merged with the Tilden trust, and thus created the collection for the New York public Library. However, the idea of circulating books freely in a city as populous as New York had still not been realised. Fortunately, the innovations of a small group of women who created The New York Free Circulating Library in 1879 meant that this would no longer be a problem. Joining the New York Public Library in their circulation department in 1901, the group ended up supporting the running of several library branches. Further funding was given by Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) so that the library could open more branches across New York. These came to form the basis of the New York Public Library system which holds over 51 million items today.
Conclusions
I tried to give a concise description of why these libraries interest me. However, some of their histories are simply too vast. Hopefully, my short introductions to each will encourage you to so some further research on these institutions as well as discover more of them.
