As the days grow shorter, one might feel a strong urge to find a warm place indoors and cozy up to a good book. As much as our world hurtles toward digitized information, physical books remain popular, useful, and revered items. We share, use, collect, and read billions of books every year, and we house our most treasured ones in libraries, in some of the most remarkable architecture around the world. And for those who cannot access these amazing buildings, there are volunteers who fill the need as they can, creating mobile libraries to bring books to people in remote places. Today, a visual feast—glimpses of libraries big and small, new and old, from across the globe.
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- Tourists look at the Long Room of the old library filled with 200,000 of Trinity College’s oldest books in Dublin, Ireland, September 14, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne – RC18E9AC27A0
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- A general view shows the Stiftsbibliothek, or Abbey Library, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Abbey of St. Gall in St. Gallen, Switzerland September 13, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann – RC18C8752BD0
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- TOKYO, JAPAN – APRIL 18 : A photo dated April 18, 2018 shows a person in the center of stacks of printed materials at the deepest underground floor of the Annex Building of the National Diet Library, within the ‘World Book Day’ in Tokyo, Japan. The National Diet Library (NDL) has first the mission to assist the activities of the Japan Parliament and is responsible for developing a comprehensive collection of publications issued in Japan. These are not only items published in the traditional paper form but also packaged digital publications (CDs,DVDs, etc..) and Internet resources (websites). As the sole national deposit library in Japan, its mission is to preserve them and ensure their usability in the long term, in addition to printed materials. (Photo by David Mareuil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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- A picture taken on December 15, 2016 shows the “Salle Ovale” of the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF) The Richelieu-Louvois Library before its renovation in Paris. / AFP / FRANCOIS GUILLOT (Photo credit should read FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A picture taken on November 14, 2014 shows the staircase in the renovated National University Library (Bibliotheque Nationale Universitaire or BNU in French) in Strasbourg, eastern France. The renovation works started in October 2010. AFP PHOTO/FREDERICK FLORIN (Photo credit should read FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)
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- QINHUANGDAO, CHINA – MAY 12: (CHINA OUT) General view of a public benefit library located at the north part of International Sandboarding Center in Beidaihe’s New District on May 13, 2015 in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province of China. A free library opened on May 1 (Workers’ Day) at the seaside of Beidaihe New District and has attracted visitors to read here thanks to its original designs and quiet atmosphere. The library is made from concrete and wood and deeply “rooted” in coastal beach. The boundless sea outside the library and the quiet space in the library make it China’s “Loneliest” library. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
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- A tourist takes pictures in the Long Room of the old library that houses 200,000 of Trinity College’s oldest books in Dublin, Ireland, September 14, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne – RC13BB8FF000
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- Picture taken at Brazil’s National Library in Rio de Janeiro on April 24, 2012. AFP PHOTO / Christophe Simon (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)
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- This picture taken on November 14, 2017 shows a general view of the Tianjin Binhai Library. A futuristic Chinese library has wowed book lovers around the world with its white, undulating shelves rising from floor to ceiling, but if you read between the lines you’ll spot one problem. Those rows upon rows of book spines are mostly images printed on the aluminium plates that make up the backs of shelves. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR / To go with AFP story China-library-architecture, FOCUS by Becky Davis (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)
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- In this picture taken on September 15, 2018, a woman looks out of a window at Liyuan Library on the outskirts of Beijing. – Deep in the heart of a valley surrounded by rocky hills, a wooden library sits just over a creek on the outskirts of Beijing, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Every weekend, hundreds of bookworms flock to Liyuan Library in Jiaojiehe Village, a book sanctuary surrounded by chestnut, walnut and peach trees whose branches were used to decorate the building. (Photo by Fred DUFOUR / AFP) / TO GO WITH China-architecture-library, PHOTOESSAY by Fred Dufour (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)
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- TOPSHOT – In this photograph taken on April 4, 2018, Afghan children read books in a mobile library bus in Kabul. – The door of the blue bus slides open and dozens of children excitedly bound up the steps, eager to get their hands on hard-to-find books in Kabul’s first mobile library. The library-on-wheels offers pupils and street kids free access to children’s books, which are in short supply at public schools and libraries. (Photo by Shah MARAI / AFP) / TO GO WITH Afghanistan-education, FEATURE by Emal HAIDARY (Photo credit should read SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
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- SUZHOU, CHINA – MARCH 01: Aerial view of Binglin Library at Suzhou University on March 1, 2017 in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. The 40-meter-high lotus-shaped library was ranked first among “50 most beautiful university libraries in China” in 2014. Binglin Library, with an area of over thirty thousand square metres, looks like a crystal lotus blooming in the Suzhou University. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
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- QINHUANGDAO, CHINA – MAY 12: (CHINA OUT) Inner view of a public benefit library located at the north part of International Sandboarding Center in Beidaihe’s New District on May 13, 2015 in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province of China. A free library opened on May 1 (Workers’ Day) at the seaside of Beidaihe New District and has attracted visitors to read here thanks to its original designs and quiet atmosphere. The library is made from concrete and wood and deeply “rooted” in coastal beach. The boundless sea outside the library and the quiet space in the library make it China’s “Loneliest” library. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
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- Seattle Public Library’s central branch, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas of OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture). Opened in 2004, Seattle Public Library has become a magnificent landmark in Downtown Seattle. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images)
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- TOPSHOT – Funmi Ilori (L) talks to the children from Bethel Nursery and Primary school about the importance of reading on January 30, 2018, in Lagos. The ‘mobile library’ project was launched, in 2013, by Funmi Ilori. Today, she has thirteen employees, 1,900 books and four vans. She visits four to six schools each day, and organizes reading workshops with volunteers on evenings and weekends in the slums for out-of-school children. / AFP PHOTO / STEFAN HEUNIS (Photo credit should read STEFAN HEUNIS/AFP/Getty Images)
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- This picture taken on March 30, 2016 shows Indonesian children sorting through books from a book shelf on Germanis as Ridwan Sururi (behind-in hat) compiles a list for his “moving library” in Serang, a quiet hamlet fringed by rice fields and a volcano on Indonesia’s main island of Java. Sururi, a 43-year-old professional horse groomer, devised a unique way to encourage reading in his district. For many there, this unique mobile library is their only link to books since there is no traditional library nearby — a problem for villages across the sprawling Indonesian archipelago. / AFP / ADEK BERRY / TO GO WITH Indonesia-education-culture,FEATURE by Nick Perry (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)
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- This picture taken on March 30, 2016 shows two Indonesian girls reading a book brought on a “moving library” by horse, run by Ridwan Sururi in Serang, a quiet hamlet fringed by rice fields and a volcano on Indonesia’s main island of Java. Sururi, a 43-year-old professional horse groomer, devised a unique way to encourage reading in his district. For many there, this unique mobile library is their only link to books since there is no traditional library nearby — a problem for villages across the sprawling Indonesian archipelago. / AFP / ADEK BERRY / TO GO WITH Indonesia-education-culture,FEATURE by Nick Perry (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Interior of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft as a 1963 gift from the Beinecke family, the windowless exterior walls are translucent Danby marble, which transmit subdued light to protect the books. The books are housed in an inner glass shell protecting the book stacks. A Gutenberg Bible is displayed in the glass case in foreground. The library building is considered an icon of mid-Century American architecture and modernism. (Photo by Nathan Benn/Corbis via Getty Images)
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- Local resident, Patsy Ari browses the books at a red telephone box turned into a book exchange library on Lewisham Way, in south London on October 21, 2017. Facing extinction due to ubiquitous mobile phones, Britain’s classic red telephone boxes are being saved from death row by ingenious conversions into all sorts of new uses. / AFP PHOTO / TOLGA AKMEN / TO GO WITH AFP STORY ‘Britain-heritage-business’ by Martine PAUWELS (Photo credit should read TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Branch libraries, 15 July 1953. North Hollywood;Sherry Arentz — 7 1/2 years;Steve Arentz — 3 years;Barbara Silman — 10 years;Mary Ann Johnson — 15 years.;Caption slip reads: ‘ Photographer: Rustan. Date: 07-15. Reporter: Parker. Assignment: Branch libraries. Sunday. At North Hollywood Branch — 85-86: Beverly Auerbach, 3, looks at picture books in library, with Sherry Arentz, 7 1/2, and brother Steve Arentz. 3, of Sherman Oaks. 35-36-88: Steve Arentz. 3, discoveres the glories of picture books in library. 5: Mother helps youngsters choose new books. 6, 79, l – r: Barbara Silman, 10, Donna Seal, 7, and Mrs Guy Seal at the ‘picture and easy’ book section for youngsters. 80: Mary Ann Johnson, 15, art student, looks over pix of birds in pic file for artists.’5211 Tujunga Avenue; North Hollywood; Los Angeles; California; USABranch libraries;Public libraries;Los Angeles Public Library. (Photo by Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
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- AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – APRIL 17: The Cuypers Library, the largest and oldest art historical library in the Netherlands is pictured four days after the Rijksmuseum Official Opening on April 17, 2013 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The 10-year renovation of the Rijksmuseum is one of the most significant ever undertaken by a museum. The entire building has been renewed – the historic 19th-century building has been transformed and new public facilities have been created including a spectacular new entrance hall, a new Asian pavilion and renovated gardens. The museum features over 8,000 works of art and artefacts telling the story of 800 years of Dutch art and history, from the Middle Ages to the present day. The world-famous collection, including masterpieces by artists such as Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn, have been presented in chronological sequence for the first time, creating an awareness of time and a sense of beauty. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
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- In this Tuesday, July 18, 2017, photo of library goers quietly work in Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library in New York. (AP Photo/Michael Noble Jr.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/10/a-photo-appreciation-of-libraries/573811/
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