Beautiful Libraries

The 25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World
By Emily Temple on Jan 1, 2013 1:00pm

[Editor's note: In celebration of the holidays, we're counting down the top 12 Flavorwire features of 2012. This post, at #3, was originally published April 16.] We’re suckers for beautiful libraries here at Flavorpill, as you might have noticed from our lists of beautiful college libraries and beautiful private libraries from all over the world. But public libraries are probably even more important to the culture at large than either of these — they’re places where anyone can enter and partake of knowledge they offer, where anyone can engage with history, literature and culture. And while we know it’s the books that are important, everyone likes to read in a beautiful space, so we decided to take a look at the most beautiful public libraries in the world. We excluded some very beautiful libraries that may be open to the public as museums or tourist attractions but with limited function as actual libraries, like the Vatican library (which to use, you must prove your qualifications and research needs) and the library of Dutch Parliament, but we think there are enough public libraries proper to make up for their loss. Click through to see our choices for the twenty five most beautiful public libraries in the world, and let us know if we’ve missed your favorite in the comments.

Vennesla Library and Culture House, designed by Helen & Hard, Vennesla, Norway


Stuttgart City Library, Stuttgart, Germany


National Library, Site Richelieu, Paris, France


José Vasconcelos Library in México City, Mexico


Stockholm Public Library

Celtiberian wrote:If more public spaces were as aesthetically captivating as those libraries, people would have a renewed admiration for uncommodified social life.

I attribute the bland, utilitarian architecture which currently accounts for the majority of public buildings to be the result of late capitalist social relations stifling our individuality and creativity. With communism, I look forward to humanity once again creating "in accordance with the laws of beauty," to quote Marx.