r/Libraries • u/ajsreading04 • 2d ago
Other Libraries to Visit - Ultimate checklist
When I was in grad school, my family made me a "Library Passport" to collect stamps from various libraries I have visited. Since then, I have collected stamps (and other paraphernalia) from over 40 different libraries both in the United States and abroad. In doing this, I've also created a list of my "Top Libraries to visit"
To start I have:
Library of Congress, Washington DC
New York Public Library - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Brooklyn Public Library - Central Branch
Parkway Central Library - Philadelphia
Wilmington Public Library - Wilmington DE
Boston Athenaeum - Boston
Iowa State Law Library - Des Moines, IA
Geisel Library - La Jolla CA
What libraries would you put on this list?
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u/Routine_Rock_7429 MLIS student 2d ago
Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland It's beautiful.
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u/ajsreading04 2d ago
I REALLY want to go there. The next time I cross the pond I'm gonna go!
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u/Routine_Rock_7429 MLIS student 2d ago
I went last year and it was gorgeous! I have a few on my list now and am following this list to add to mine!
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u/maraculous 2d ago
I was there 2 weeks ago, they’ve removed a bunch of books for conservation, so the long room is still open atm, but if I remember correctly they may be closing it soon for something like 5 years while they do work on it 😬
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u/bookfaery02 2d ago
Seattle Public Library
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u/boxtylad 2d ago
If in Seattle, also check out the Suzzallo Library at UW - like a cathedral for books!
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u/Karm0112 2d ago
Harold Washington Library, Chicago, IL
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u/emilycecilia 2d ago
And the Newberry while you're here!
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u/DaphneAruba 2d ago
The Chicago Cultural Center too as it was the original location of the main branch!
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u/makinghomemadejam Library staff 2d ago edited 2d ago
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u/Obvious-Courage6421 Public librarian 2d ago
University of Washington Suzzallo library. Most beautiful library I’ve ever seen.
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u/Various_Hope_9038 2d ago
Downtown San Diego public library, specifically the rooftop. UC San Diego library for the Brutalist architecture.
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u/TheFredrckConnection 2d ago
Biblioteca Vasconcelos - Mexico City
Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada - Mexico City
Chicago public Library - Barrack Obama Presidential Center
Library of Alexandria - Alexandria, Egypt
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u/Jealous-Hour5843 2d ago
The main branch of the Detroit Public Library, right across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA)! Cast No. 3 of The Thinker sits outside.
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u/tm16scud 2d ago
Nashville Public Library! Beautiful building and amazing civil rights history museum.
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u/ReStitchSmitch 2d ago
Main Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh PA - Bonus points to see dinosaur fossils there!
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u/MedievalGirl 1d ago
Another vote for St Louis Public Library Central branch. Amazing architecture. Even looking at the outside is super cool. If you are in St Louis anyway take a look at the new Clark Family Branch in St Louis County. It is sleek and modern and manages to serve a million purposes. The children's area is super cute.
Vancouver BC Central Library. Modern architecture with classical details. Because it is in Vancouver its been in a bunch of TV shows and movies.
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u/deadungeonkillasnake 2d ago
Huntington Beach Central Library is a 70s modernist style. beautiful library
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u/2wrtjbdsgj 2d ago
British library - has a copy of every book published in the uk
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u/ajsreading04 2d ago
I just went in September! It was a highlight of my trip!
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u/2wrtjbdsgj 2d ago
Oh well done! It's a lovely place. I'll send you a book slip from my library if you dm your address 😊
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u/samui_penguin 2d ago
Pasadena Public Library is where they shot some scenes from Legally Blonde! They’re currently closed for seismic retrofitting but do add it to your list!
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u/ajsreading04 1d ago
I didn't know that! I think I could make a separate list of TV/Movie famous libraries to visit
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u/Sad_Independence1776 2d ago
Harold Washington library in Chicago, esp. the Winter Garden on the top floor, with its awesome skylight.
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u/unevolved_panda 2d ago
The Harold Washington Library (Chicago Public Library's main/central branch) has owls on the building corners! And a Winter Garden on the 9th floor, which I did not know was there the last time I was in Chicago and so did not visit, but wish that I had.
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u/ajsreading04 1d ago
I've been to Chicago, but not this branch, that sounds so neat! Ill be sure to look for the owls
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u/ShinyFang657 2d ago
Seattle Public Library Central Branch
Milwaukee Public Library Central Branch
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u/a-suitcase 2d ago
Bibliotheca Thysiana in Leiden, The Netherlands
Bibliotheek Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lifvraria Ets Haim in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Maughan Library in London, UK
John Rylands Library, Manchester, UK
Starfield Library in Seoul, South Korea
I saw that Dublin was mentioned already.
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u/IvyLestrange 2d ago
Not sure what you are counting as a library but the Wisconsin Historical Society has a beautiful library and reading room
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u/ajsreading04 1d ago
I love the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Madison library system in general. Its very cool!
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u/shnoop87 2d ago
The Austrian National Library in Vienna
In Prague there a three great libraries: Klementinum, Strahov Monasteries, and their Metropolitan library has that book infinity tower. I think I’m missing one there.
Lord Humphrey’s Library at Oxford (from Harry Potter)
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u/DaphneAruba 2d ago edited 2d ago
The Civic Center branch of the Marin County Free Library: it's in a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed government complex.
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u/PickleweedAbutilon 15h ago
Also nearby Mill Valley Library.
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u/DaphneAruba 14h ago
Yes! Absolutely beautiful branch: I spent many afternoons in its reading room when I was studying for the GRE. Bonus: it's near Avatar's, one of my fave lunch spots in the North Bay.
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u/DocTeeBee 2d ago
Someone else mentioned Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington. The graduate reading room is legendary. Adjoining Suzzallo is the newer Allen Library, opened in 1990. The atrium in Allen Library has an installation called Raven Brings Light to This House of Stories. Because I am originally from the PNW and Alaska, and because ravens were my mom's favorite birds in Alaska, I found this installation deeply moving. As a building--or, really, three buildings--Suzzallo/Allen is an amazing place. I miss it.
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u/artiststape 2d ago
The current World's Best New Public Library is in Mesa, AZ! It's really gorgeous and highly recommend stopping by (hopefully sometime between November - April when it's not 100+ outside haha).
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u/NP4VET 2d ago
What do you mean "collect stamps"? Do you have a booklet or something and is it an ink stamp?
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u/ajsreading04 1d ago
Its a book, and its mostly ink stamps, but I have collected some other things (address labels, barcodes, etc) if the library I've visited doesn't have (or cant find) a stamp
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u/ladylibrarian8 2d ago
Braddock Carnegie Library is the first ever Carnegie Library. They just went through a big renovation too, so even nicer.
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u/Horror_Menu_4353 2d ago
The Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino, CA
The library at the American Academy in Rome
The library in the Palazzo Farnese, French Academy in Rome
Capitoline Library in Rome
Any library in Rome!
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u/crystaltitmouse 2d ago
If you can, take a trip from boston to Providence RI and see their athenaeum, its tiny and very cool to visit!! And if the librarians aren't busy they'll chat about their library 😊
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u/Eridanis 1d ago
The Big Four private libraries in the US:
Folger Shakespeare Library (DC)
Newberry Library (Chicago)
Morgan Library (NYC)
Huntington Library (LA)
As well as the Beinieke in New Haven.
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u/alienwebmaster 1d ago
I don’t know if they have anything you could collect for your “passport” project , but the Marin County Library, Civic Center branch, in San Rafael, California, is an amazing place to visit. It’s north of San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge. The building is the last building that Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed. He didn’t even finish designing it, the design was completed by an apprentice after he passed away. I work at a different library in Marin County, but we’re in the same consortium network.
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u/vantine 1d ago
Helsinki Central Library Oodi
Most amazing public library I’ve been to.
https://oodihelsinki.fi/
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u/vantine 1d ago
The Stockholm Public Library has amazing architecture and curved stacks.
https://biblioteket.stockholm.se/about-the-stockholm-public-library-by-gunnar-asplund
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u/HeatherJMD 1d ago
Handley Regional Library in Winchester Virginia is interesting architecturally. It’s the only Beaux Arts building in town and the wings are meant to be the covers of a book extending from the spine which is topped with a copper dome. Under the metal dome is a second dome of stained glass in the interior. The circulation desks have glass floors above them with wrought iron spiral staircases
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u/Then-Lime-3384 23h ago
The Library of Congress, Los Angeles Public Library and Seattle Public Library have been mentioned.
I was recently at the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, IN which has one of the three largest family history research collections in the United States.
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u/ur_sine_nomine 18h ago
The Lit & Phil in Newcastle on Tyne, NE England. (An extraordinary, obscure building, just about to undergo a huge upgrade).
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u/TechnologyChance1341 15h ago
Milwaukee Public Library is one of my favorites, along with St. Louis Central. Although I've never gotten to visit it, Stinson Memorial Library in Anna, IL is a Prairie-style wonder.
There are some stunning Carnegie buildings in the Midwest, including: Lincoln, IL; Kewanee, IL; Peoria's Lincoln branch library; Sycamore, IL; and Wyoming, IL.
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u/Animuthrowawayplz 2d ago
Any Carnegie library. I work in one now and it is so beautiful and different than the modern libraries I grew up in.