10 libraries every bookworm should visit at least once in their lifetime

Some people collect sneakers. Others chase the perfect cup of coffee. Me? I collect libraries.

Not in the literal sense, but in the sense that I make pilgrimages to the kinds of libraries that make you stop, blink twice, and think, Oh… so this is what book heaven feels like.

The best ones aren’t just places to store books—they’re like a cross between a cathedral and a time machine. They smell faintly of paper and dust, echo with the low murmur of pages turning, and hold the kind of magic you can’t buy on Amazon.

If you're into books and anything book-adjacent, here are ten libraries worth adding to your lifetime itinerary.

1. The New York Public Library, New York City, USA

If you’ve ever seen Ghostbusters or just about any New York rom-com, you’ve seen the marble lions—Patience and Fortitude—guarding the entrance.

They’re more than decorative mascots; they’ve been standing watch since 1911, weathering snowstorms, parades, and the occasional tourist selfie frenzy.

Inside, the Rose Main Reading Room stretches nearly the length of a city block. Sunlight streams through tall arched windows, falling across rows of oak tables with brass lamps that give off a warm, golden glow.

The ceiling? Painted with soft clouds that make you feel like you’ve stepped into a daydream.

If you want to avoid the crowds, slip in on a weekday morning. You’ll hear the satisfying scratch of pencils, the muffled click of laptop keys, and that soft shush of a turned page—a soundtrack that might just be the city’s most underrated white noise.

And if you wander far enough, you’ll find tucked-away corners with exhibits on everything from rare maps to vintage photography.

2. The Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Walking into Trinity College’s Long Room is like walking into the set of a fantasy film—except this is the real deal.

The barrel-vaulted ceiling arches overhead, and rows of dark wooden shelves hold over 200,000 of the library’s oldest books. The air has a faint, intoxicating mix of leather, parchment, and history.

Busts of great philosophers and writers—Aristotle, Swift, Shakespeare—stand guard at the ends of the aisles. Each one seems to be silently judging whether you’re worthy of pulling a book from the shelf.

The crown jewel here is the Book of Kells, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript so detailed you half expect the ink to still be wet. Seeing it in person is humbling—it’s a reminder that our obsession with beautiful books is nothing new.

And yes, if you squint, you can almost imagine Dumbledore strolling past. But Trinity’s magic runs deeper than pop culture: it’s in the hush that falls over you when you realize you’re in the presence of hundreds of years of human thought, preserved in ink and paper.

3. The British Library, London, England

The British Library isn’t just a library—it’s a vault of civilization.

You could lose hours exploring its collection of over 170 million items, from ancient manuscripts to the latest magazines.

And yes, there’s something oddly thrilling about realizing you’re in the same building as Shakespeare’s First Folio and handwritten Beatles lyrics.

The centerpiece is the King’s Library Tower, a six-story glass structure right in the middle of the building. It houses more than 65,000 volumes collected by King George III, and it feels a little like stepping into a sci-fi time capsule where the past is preserved behind temperature-controlled glass.

Beyond the showpieces, there’s the quiet satisfaction of settling into one of the reading rooms, where scholars and everyday readers alike dive into research.

Whether you’re paging through a medieval atlas or flipping through old newspapers, the experience reminds you that history isn’t abstract—it’s tactile. You can hold it in your hands.

4. The Bodleian Library, Oxford, England

If you’re picturing a quaint college library, think again. The Bodleian is more like a sprawling kingdom of books—it’s actually a group of buildings, each with its own flavor of history and architecture.

The Divinity School, with its ornate fan-vaulted ceiling, looks like something straight out of a fantasy film (and, yes, served as the Hogwarts infirmary in the Harry Potter movies).

But beyond the film trivia, the Bodleian has been a working library since the early 1600s, serving scholars and students from all over the world.

Here’s the twist: you can’t just grab a seat and start reading. You need a reader’s card, and you have to agree to a centuries-old oath not to remove books from the premises. Even so, guided tours let you glimpse treasures like ancient maps, rare manuscripts, and reading rooms that hum with quiet concentration.

Standing there, you get the feeling that this isn’t just a place to read—it’s a place to inherit a tradition. Every whisper of turning pages feels like it’s been echoing for centuries.

5. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, France

The first time I saw Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, I thought I’d stumbled onto a film set.

Wrought-iron arches stretch overhead, green reading lamps glow softly, and tall windows flood the space with Parisian light. It’s exactly the kind of library that makes you want to wear a turtleneck and scribble in a leather notebook.

Built in the mid-1800s, it was a design revolution at the time—combining industrial materials with an open, airy feel. Even now, it still feels fresh, like a perfect blend of history and modern function.

What I love most is how accessible it feels. Students mingle with tourists, locals flip through newspapers, and the hum of quiet industry fills the air. If libraries are temples of learning, this one is a temple that welcomes everyone.

6. The Stuttgart City Library, Stuttgart, Germany

The Stuttgart City Library looks like something a minimalist architect dreamed up on a whiteboard—then actually built.

From the outside, it’s a perfect cube of glass and concrete. Inside, it’s a maze of stark white walls, clean lines, and open staircases that seem to float between floors.

From above, it’s like looking at a living M.C. Escher print—layers of symmetry that somehow still feel calm. Every sound seems to soften here, as if the design itself absorbs noise.

While it may lack the old-world ornamentation of other libraries, there’s something meditative about its simplicity. The focus here is on space and light, letting the books become the bursts of color in an otherwise monochrome dreamscape.

If you’re the type of reader who loves clean, modern spaces where you can get lost in your own head, this might be your paradise.

7. The Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

If the Stuttgart library is minimalist, the Royal Portuguese Reading Room is maximalist in the best possible way.

Imagine ornate carved wood from floor to ceiling, stained glass windows in jewel tones, and a skylight that pours light onto shelves crammed with more than 350,000 works.

It’s the kind of place that makes you instinctively lower your voice, not because anyone asked you to, but because it feels like you’ve stepped into a sacred space.

The collection focuses heavily on Portuguese literature, and it’s one of the most important outside of Portugal itself.

Every corner here is photogenic, but the real joy is in just sitting for a moment, letting your eyes wander up the towering shelves, and realizing how much human creativity surrounds you.

8. Seattle Central Library, Seattle, USA

Seattle’s Central Library is the rebel of this list. Designed by Rem Koolhaas, it’s a glass-and-steel structure that looks like a stack of boxes that’s been shifted slightly off-kilter.

Inside, you’ll find the famous “book spiral,” a continuous ramp that lets you browse the entire nonfiction collection without ever hitting a staircase. There are bright pops of color—red walls, chartreuse chairs—offset by massive windows that frame views of the city.

It’s a library that invites exploration. You might come for a specific book and end up wandering the art installations or sitting in a corner watching rain bead on the glass.

In true Seattle fashion, it feels both modern and cozy, a public space that encourages you to linger.

9. The Library of Congress, Washington D.C., USA

The Library of Congress isn’t just big—it’s the biggest, holding over 170 million items. But it’s also one of the most beautiful public buildings in the country.

The Main Reading Room is a dome of marble, murals, and golden light, the kind of space that makes you want to straighten your posture and maybe speak in hushed tones.

Beyond the grandeur, the library’s exhibitions are a treasure trove: maps that chart the edges of the known world centuries ago, early photographs, and even original comic book art.

Spending a day here is like walking through a curated museum of human thought, where every object has a story. And unlike many museums, the stories here aren’t behind glass—you can sit down, request a book, and hold a piece of history in your hands.

10. The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

The La Trobe Reading Room is the State Library’s showstopper: a hexagonal chamber with tiered galleries of books climbing the walls under a vast white dome. From the center, the symmetry is almost hypnotic.

But there’s more here than just one room. The library hosts exhibitions, events, and even chessboards set up for anyone to use. It’s as much a community space as it is a research center.

Spend an afternoon here and you’ll see high school students studying, retirees flipping through newspapers, and travelers like you soaking in the architecture. It’s a reminder that a great library isn’t just a place to read—it’s a living part of its city.

Final words

Visiting libraries like these isn’t just about Instagram-worthy ceilings or rare manuscripts—it’s about stepping into spaces built entirely around the idea that knowledge matters.

They’re reminders that curiosity has no admission fee. That you can walk into a building in a city you’ve never been to before, sit down, and be connected to centuries of human thought.

So maybe your next trip includes a library stop. You might not leave with a tote bag or a snow globe, but you’ll leave with something better: a spark, a story, maybe even a new way of seeing the world.