BOOKS: Beautiful Libraries

Royal Library, El Escorial, Spain

The library as a “Temple of Literature,” a beautiful Temple that is… If you never have seen a beautiful library and many have not, Jacques Booser’s, The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World, is an inexpensive way to take a look inside 20 of the most magical places ever built to house books. Sumptuous in a word. These are not the ugly utilitarian libraries most of us know… Go in, slightly moldy smell, grumpy librarian, check out,…. metal shelves, stained carpet…let me out of here! Anyone remember the “lowest bidder” cinder block buildings of the 1960’s and 1970s that populate many a college campus. Yuck! Not in this book. The photos here are by Guillaume de Laubier one of France's foremost photographers of interior design. Coffee table book your thinking? No not really. There’s actually text here, readable and informative. Included in this collection are the are national, university, and religious libraries from 12 countries. The Library of the Institut de France, the Vatican Library, the Royal Library in El Escorial, Spain, the Abbey of Saint Gall the Library, New York Public Library, the Boston Athenaeum, and royal libraries from Vienna and Prague, to name a few. The emphasis in this book is the sheer beauty of these places. If you are not used to associating libraries with beauty you will be stunned. All of these places were built with beauty in mind and came from a mind set that saw the places were books were stored as Temples. All are architectural masterpieces and were built at times when architecture was meant to lift the spirit. These places were meant to be ,“cathedrals of knowledge,” to invite the reader into the fold of the many centuries of human experience. Hmm, well I know… don’t get too carried away, but what do you expect from a librarian. Enjoy some beauty and have a look at this book. Sadly it’s out of print, but used copies can be had. It’s worth it.