The World’s 100 Best Libraries

A Baroque book hall in Vienna's Hofburg Palace, part of the national library. Visitors see dark wooden shelves over two levels, ceiling frescoes, and a long hall of historic books.

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Public city library in Bjørvika, Oslo, facing the Opera House across the street on the harbour front. Inside, several floors hold books in many languages, children's areas, workshops and reading nooks, with large windows over the fjord.

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A national library in Doha, designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA and opened in 2018. Inside, one continuous reading space has shelves that double as walls, with natural light and a Heritage Library of manuscripts, maps and old photographs.

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A modern public city library in a white cube on Mailänder Platz, designed by Korean architect Lee Eun-young. Inside, white staircases and balconies rise around an open central atrium across several floors.

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A modern public central library with a curved wooden facade and large glass walls, standing near Helsinki's central station. Inside, three floors hold books in many languages, workshops, music studios, a café and a rooftop terrace.

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A monastic library in St. Gallen, part of a UNESCO World Heritage abbey district, with a Baroque hall of manuscripts and old printed books. Visitors see carved wooden shelves, stucco, frescoed ceilings and an inlaid wooden floor.

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A Benedictine monastery library in the Austrian Alps, built as a Baroque hall in 1776, now shown within a wider abbey complex. Visitors see a white-and-gold hall with ceiling frescoes, shelves of old books and sculptures among the shelves.

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A public city library in Slottsparken, where an early 1900s castle-like building joins a modern glass extension. Inside, large reading halls, bright park-facing windows and open floors hold books in many languages.

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A public city library housed in a converted 19th-century noble palace on Reviczky Street, near Kálvin Square. Historic rooms have frescoed ceilings, chandeliers and period furniture, and modern study floors are used by students.

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Public central library in downtown Seattle, housed in a glass and steel building of ten floors. Inside, there are open reading areas, a continuous book ramp, and views across the city from the upper floors.

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National library in Paris, housed in the former palace of Cardinal Mazarin and reopened in 2022 after twelve years of renovation. Visitors see the Oval Room's glass dome and galleries of books, plus a museum, garden and café.

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A state library in central Melbourne on Swanston Street, in one of the city's well-known historic buildings. Visitors see the domed La Trobe Reading Room, long rows of desks, and rotating exhibitions on books and Victorian history.

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A municipal library on Copley Square, with the historic McKim Building and a modern annex. Visitors see grand reading rooms, murals, a courtyard, and the working lending areas.

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Royal Portuguese Reading Room is a historic library in downtown Rio de Janeiro, founded in 1837 by Portuguese immigrants. Visitors see a tall reading hall with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, iron balconies, a central glass roof and a monumental chandelier.

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Austin Central Library is a large public library in downtown Austin, housed in a six-floor modern building beside Town Lake. Its open stairs, varied floors, reading rooms and rooftop terrace offer city and river views.

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A public central library in downtown Calgary, designed by Snøhetta and DIALOG with timber and sweeping forms. Light from a large central atrium reaches open floors, and children's areas, reading spaces and a Calgary history section fill the building.

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A public library in Barcelona's Sant Martí district occupies a contemporary building with an award-winning timber structure. It has open floors around a central atrium, with natural light, reading areas, study tables and a few terraces.

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A prefectural public library on the outskirts of Kanazawa, designed by Mitsuru Senda and opened in 2022. Inside, a large circular space rises through several floors of open bookshelves, with tiered seating and varied chairs throughout.

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National library in Washington, D.C., housed in the Thomas Jefferson Building, completed in 1897. Visitors see marble columns, painted ceilings and mosaics in the Great Hall, and the domed reading room viewed from above.

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The modern library and cultural centre stands on Alexandria's seafront, near the site of the ancient Library of Alexandria. Inside, visitors see book halls, reading rooms and museum galleries.

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Central public library in downtown Salt Lake City, designed by Moshe Safdie and open since 2003. Inside, a five-story atrium holds small shops, reading floors and glass elevators, with mountain views from the upper levels.

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A public library in Dubai's Al Jadaf district, housed in a large open-book-shaped building. It has reading and study halls over seven floors, private cabins, a children's library and a café.

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The public city library occupies a modern civic center in Cerritos, California. The multi-level building has a large aquarium wall in the lobby and a children's area with a dinosaur skeleton.

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The Klementinum is a former Jesuit complex in Prague's Old Town that now houses the National Library of the Czech Republic. Visitors join guided tours that pass the Baroque library hall, meridian hall and astronomical tower.

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A public central library housed in a former post office on Neude square in Utrecht. The Amsterdam School building, designed by Joseph Crouwel Jr., keeps its Art Deco character, and inside are three book floors, study areas and a piano on the ground floor.

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A large public library in Mexico City, set in a modern, multi-level building. The building houses floating bookshelves, reading rooms, a children's area and gardens.

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The public city library occupies a former railway locomotive hall of 1932 behind Tilburg station. It has a large open hall with exposed steel roof trusses, cranes, study areas and a café.

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Public library in the former Dominican monastery in Mechelen, restored and converted into a city library. Visitors see a former church, wooden roof beams in the attic, and books across several floors.

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Neo-Gothic library in central Manchester, designed by Basil Champneys and built around 1900. Inside, vaulted stone ceilings, stained glass and shelves of old books surround the Historic Reading Room and exhibition cases.

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Stockholm City Library is a public library designed by Gunnar Asplund and completed in 1928, a modernist building in Sveavägen. Inside, a cylindrical hall is lined with books on several levels of circular shelving under a domed ceiling.

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Historic public library in Puebla, Mexico, founded in 1646 and housed in the Casa de la Cultura across from the cathedral. Visitors see a hall with carved cedar shelves on three levels, antique books, mostly in Latin, and an altar at the back.

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Baroque university library in the Paço das Escolas of the University of Coimbra, built between 1717 and 1728. Visitors see carved and gilded wooden shelves, painted ceilings and rooms of books, entered after a prison area on the lower level.

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A public central library in Centenary Square, housed in a modern building with open, bright interiors. Visitors see wrap-around bookshelves, reading and study spaces, and rooftop gardens with views over the city.

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Research library of Johns Hopkins University in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, built in the 1870s. Visitors see a large atrium with a skylight and five tiers of black cast-iron balconies lined with bookshelves.

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Trinity College Dublin's Old Library is a university library founded in 1592 and housed in a historic campus building. Visitors see the Book of Kells in a glass case and the Long Room, a long barrel-vaulted hall of wooden shelves.

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Central public library in downtown Nashville, housed in a historic building with modern renovations. The building has a children's floor with play areas and puppet shows, civil rights and women's suffrage exhibits, and a second-floor courtyard.

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A public town library in Yusuhara, Kochi, designed by Kengo Kuma and built mostly of local cedar. Inside, cedar planks hang from the ceiling and tiered bookshelves rise around a central space where visitors sit on the floor.

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A city public library in the Taoyuan Arts and Culture Zone, designed around a Tree of Life concept. Inside, a central light well brings daylight down through the floors past shelves, reading areas and a cinema-linked bookstore.

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A free public library inside COEX Mall in Samseong-dong, Gangnam, it is as much a photo spot as a reading room. Three 13-meter bookshelves rise toward a glass roof, with seating across two levels.

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A national library in a tall modern building on the Daugava riverbank, designed by Gunnar Birkerts. Inside, visitors see walls of illuminated bookshelves, small exhibitions on several floors and rooftop-level city views.

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Public central library in the Liverpool city centre, with a Victorian exterior and a modernised interior. Visitors see the glass-domed atrium, the domed Picton Reading Room and shelves across several floors.

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A large downtown public library in Chicago, housed in an orange-red brick postmodern building with nine floors. Inside, there are book stacks, study tables and a glass-roofed Winter Garden on the ninth floor.

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Daxian Library is a university library at National Chengchi University on the Zhinan Campus in Taipei, a concrete building with a lakeside setting. Inside, visitors see high ceilings, tiered bookshelves and floor-to-ceiling windows over the lake and mountain.

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Community library in the old 1886 railway station building beside the Rumia SKM station and bus stops. Inside, there are book shelves, audiobooks, board games, reading armchairs and computers, with separate children's and adult sections.

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Public library in downtown Vancouver, housed in a nine-floor building whose exterior is compared to the Colosseum in Rome. Inside, shelves of books and media sit alongside study desks on open floors, and a rooftop garden offers city views.

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Taipei Public Library's Beitou branch is a green-certified wooden public library in Beitou Park, built in 2006 and designed by Bio-Architecture Formosana. Large floor-to-ceiling windows, wooden tables and bookshelves, and balconies overlook the park and lotus pond.

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A historic city library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, housed in a white marble Beaux-Arts building opened in 1911. Inside, visitors walk through marble halls and see exhibitions of manuscripts and historic objects.

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The university library in Lund, founded in 1666, is housed in a building designed by Alfred Hellerström and covered in ivy. Inside, the interior is mostly modernised, with study places, reading rooms and some old exhibits.

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A modern national library in San Salvador, a relatively new building with seven floors. Inside, reading rooms, children's play areas, workshops and computer labs are organized by age group.

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A city public library in Kaohsiung spanning seven floors, with a rooftop park on the upper levels and a skybridge to a hotel. Inside, reading rooms and study spaces fill each floor, plus exhibitions, magazines in multiple languages and a picture book area.

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A technical university library in the University Palace in Copou, Iași, built in the 1890s to designs by Louis Pierre Blanc. Visitors see an eclectic hall with a decorated ceiling, wooden benches and original paintings.

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A state reference and research library on North Terrace in Adelaide, housed in several connected buildings. The historic Mortlock Wing, with its galleries and old books, sits alongside modern study areas and exhibitions.

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A municipal central library and multi-purpose complex beside Gifu City Hall, designed by Toyo Ito and opened in 2015. Inside, the second-floor library has a large wooden ceiling of domes and curved lattice, with reading and study seats beneath.

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The Library of Parliament is the research library of the Parliament of Canada, at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. It survived the 1916 fire that destroyed the rest of the building, and visitors see its wood panelling and largely original decor.

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The multimedia library of Le Havre occupies a building by Oscar Niemeyer, set in the city's post-war reconstruction. Inside, there is a round reading room, a large glass skylight, armchairs, enclosed study rooms and a cinema area.

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Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, a collection of historic buildings whose core dates from the 17th century. Visitors see the Divinity School vaulting, Duke Humfrey's Library and the Old Schools Quadrangle on guided tours.

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Public library in Den Helder, housed in a former school building whose old structure is still visible. The library has a large book collection, a reading café, quiet and noisy areas, and children's corners.

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The Royal Danish Library is the national library of Denmark, joining a historic building to the modern Black Diamond extension on the Copenhagen waterfront. Visitors see light-filled atria, wooden staircases, the old reading halls and canal views.

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A public library on the Aarhus harbour front, housed in a modern building that also houses citizen services. Inside, the library holds books in several languages, has large children's play areas and offers views over the water.

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A national library housed in a glass, diamond-shaped building in Minsk, beside Writers' Park and the Skaryna monument. Inside are reading rooms, a book museum, temporary exhibitions and a café, with an observation deck above.

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A modern library on the second floor of Iran Mall in Tehran, built in the style of European palace libraries with Iranian touches. Visitors see tall wooden shelves, a grand staircase, chandeliers and a wide carpet across the reading area.

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A historic research library in Weimar, housed in a building restored after a 2004 fire. Visitors see the three-storey Rococo Hall with its busts, shelves and books, while galleries and upper floors stay closed.

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A national library across from Helsinki Cathedral, housed in a neoclassical building by Carl Ludvig Engel from the 1840s. Visitors see a domed vestibule, a rotunda with multi-floor book galleries and a main hall with painted ceilings and marble columns.

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A public multimedia library in Limoges, holding books, magazines, comics, and music and films on CD and DVD. Large windows surround a winter garden with plants, and an inner garden with artworks, two exhibition halls and a youth area sit inside the building.

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The postmodern university building stands on the Vistula boulevards in central Warsaw. Its rooftop garden with bridges, glass domes and terraces is the part most people see, while the reading rooms are reserved for members.

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Historic university library on the University of Washington Seattle campus, anchoring Red Square in Collegiate Gothic style. Inside, visitors see vaulted timber ceilings, stained glass windows and long wooden tables in the Graduate Reading Room.

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A public multimedia library in Palazzo d'Accursio on Piazza del Nettuno, opened in 2001 in the former Sala Borsa. Visitors see a bright glass-roofed central hall with a glass floor over Roman ruins.

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National library in downtown Rio de Janeiro, the largest in Latin America, housed in an imposing neoclassical building. Visitors mainly see the entrance hall, the central staircase and balconies on the upper floors.

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A university library on the Akita International University campus, a semicircular wooden building designed by Mitsuru Senda and completed in 2008. Inside, a radial cedar roof rises over tiered bookshelves facing each other across an open reading space.

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A public central library in a former bank building in downtown Kansas City, with historic architecture and a large parking garage facade shaped like book spines. Inside, visitors see the old bank hall, a children's area designed like a storybook entrance, art exhibits, and a rooftop terrace with city views.

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A national library in Tallinn, close to Toompea, built in the late Soviet era and completed in the early 1990s. Inside, visitors see reading rooms, stained-glass windows, historical photographs and maps of Estonia.

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A public central branch library of the Indianapolis Public Library system, it joins an older historic building to a modern glass atrium downtown. The lobby has tall ceilings, six floors of books, and art exhibits.

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National library on Paseo de Recoletos in Madrid, housed in a Neoclassical building by Francisco Jareño completed in 1892. Visitors see a columned facade with statues of writers, a grand staircase, temporary exhibitions and the reading rooms from outside.

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A public city library in downtown Los Angeles, housed in a historic Spanish-style building dating from 1926. Inside, it has an atrium, murals and galleries, and many floors of books and study space.

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State Library of New South Wales is a heritage research and public library in central Sydney, near Martin Place and the Botanic Garden. Its sandstone Mitchell Wing and a newer glass-walled building joined by a bridge hold reading rooms and exhibition galleries.

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Public library in a newer central building in Deventer's city centre, with three floors, a basement and a café. Inside are study areas, a book collection, a children's play area and a grand piano that visitors may play.

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A modern national library in Kirchberg, Luxembourg, built with wood, lighting and a central void. Inside, there are study desks, bookable private rooms, a music room and multilingual book collections.

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A public library in Takeo, Saga Prefecture, combined with a Tsutaya bookstore and Starbucks café, renovated in 2013. Visitors see tall curved bookshelves, wooden ceilings and glass skylights across a two-storey atrium.

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Public library in Amsterdam's Oosterdok district, opened in 2007 to a design by Jo Coenen. Book floors, study areas, a children's floor and a top-floor restaurant with city views are on offer.

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The central public library of the Multnomah County system sits in downtown Portland, in a large historic building. It has several floors of stacks, reading rooms and vaulted interiors, plus computers, study rooms and a rare books collection.

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Public library and cultural venue on Helsingør's harbour front, beside the Maritime Museum on the route to Kronborg. Inside, a third-floor reading room overlooks the harbour, and the building holds a cafe, a children's area and events in its concert hall.

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A university library on Zhiben campus in Taitung, opened in 2014. Its green pyramid-shaped building sits on a lawn, and visitors mostly see the exterior, rooftop and nearby lake.

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A public city library in the TOYAMA Kirari complex, designed by Kengo Kuma and built with Toyama cedar and glass. Visitors see a wood-lined atrium, open floors and a glass art museum in the same building.

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A public city library in a renovated former shopping building, with a stylish, spacious and modern interior. High ceilings, wood-based design and mixed seating fill the two-storey main hall, with an attached cafe.

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Arnhem's public library sits in the Rozet cultural building in the city centre, which also houses a heritage centre and art spaces. Inside, the library offers books, study spaces, a wide staircase and a roof terrace with city views.

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A public city library housed in a former church and convent of San Giovanni Battista in Pesaro's historic centre. Two floors of high-ceilinged rooms hold books, magazines, CDs and a children's area.

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A national library in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, housed in an imposing Brutalist building designed by Clorindo Testa, Francisco Bullrich and Alicia Cazzaniga. Inside, visitors see exhibition floors with benches and views, while reading rooms are closed to them.

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The public city-centre library occupies a modern building joined to a historic colonial structure. It has five themed floors, including a children's level, youth study rooms, a ceiling painted with Western Australian animals and quiet reading spaces.

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Public library in a former church in Old Quebec City, converted into a cultural centre in 2015. Visitors see bright white interiors, tall church windows and vaulted ceilings, with reading tables, shelves, a theatre and a cafeteria.

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Public library in downtown Toledo, Ohio, housed in a historic building that was recently renovated. The library has a large children's area, shelves of books, movies and music, public computers, a cafe and a rooftop walking path.

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A modern public library in Almere city centre, overlooking the Stadhuisplein across several floors. It has book and magazine collections, study desks, a children's section, a café and a cinema.

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A national library in Palazzo Brera in Milan, established in 1770 under Austrian rule. Visitors see antique wooden bookcases, crystal chandeliers and frescoed ceilings in the reading halls.

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Providence Athenaeum is an independent membership library in Providence, set in an old building. Wall-to-wall books, creaky wooden floors, a main hall with a mezzanine and a downstairs reading room define the interior.

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A public library in central Jaffna, Sri Lanka, set in a white building in Indo-Saracenic style. Visitors see reading rooms, the periodicals section and a garden at the entrance, while many shelves stay closed to non-members.

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A public library inside the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, housed in a modern building. It has several floors of books in Arabic and English, a children's library, and quiet reading and study areas.

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A civic library in Cesena, Italy, combining a 15th-century humanist hall in a former Franciscan convent with a modern municipal library. Visitors see original wooden benches, books chained to the desks and manuscripts preserved in the historic room.

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A national library in Pristina, designed by Andrija Mutnjaković and opened in 1982, with a metal mesh facade and 99 domes. Inside, visitors see reading rooms, study areas and some exhibitions, though many rooms are closed to the public.

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A public library in Bilbao's Old Town, housed in a late 19th-century building by architect Severino de Achúcarro that was built as the headquarters of the El Sitio society. Visitors see a grand staircase, a reading room, and ornate ceilings and stained glass inside.

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Downtown Cleveland's main public library, a historic building dating to 1925 on Superior Avenue. Visitors see marble staircases, brass railings, painted ceilings, and changing exhibits such as a hanging floral installation.

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Guangzhou Library is a large ten-storey public library in Zhujiang New Town, east of Huacheng Square, completed in 2012 and designed by Nikken Sekkei with the Guangzhou Institute of Design. Inside, reading areas on each floor are divided by subject around a tall central atrium.

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