11 of the Most Beautiful Museum Libraries in the World

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We’ve shown you many beautiful libraries from around the world, and we’ve shown you some of the most fantastic museums, as well — so what about gorgeous museum libraries? Well, because many museum libraries are strictly utilitarian, meant for easy browsing and not necessarily planned to be easy on the eyes. That said, some standouts manage to be both, and since we’re always on the lookout for lovely architecture, preferably lovely architecture that incorporates books, we thought we’d round a few of them up for you here. After the jump, check out 11 of the most beautiful museum libraries from around the world, and as ever, let us know if we missed your favorite in the comments.

Photo Credit: Amit Geron

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Library, designed by Preston Scott Cohen, Tel Aviv, Israel

Photo Credit: Junho Jung

National Art Library, at Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Photo Credit: Alex Roman

The Library at the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Museum, designed by Tadao Ando, Osaka, Japan

Photo Credit: Eneas

The Reading Room of the British Museum Library, London, England

Photo Credit: A View on Cities

The Plantin-Moretus Museum Library, Antwerp, Belgium

Photo Credit: Daniel Schwabe

The Vatican Museum Library, Vatican City

Photo Credit: Kimbell Art Museum / Parker

Kimbell Art Museum Library, Fort Worth, Texas

Photo Credit: Roland Halbe

Joanneum Museum Library extension, designed by Nieto Sobejano and eep architekten, Styria, Austria

Iwaki Museum of Picture Books for Children, designed by Tadao Ando, Fukushima, Japan (sort of cheating, but can you blame us?)

Photo Credit: Gypsy Girl’s Guide

The Library in the Charles Dickens Museum, London, England

Photo Credit: Pietro Savorelli

The library in the Historical Museum of Resistance, Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Italy