Bookyard, built by Massimo Bartolini for the Belgian art festival TRACK: A Contemporary City Conversation in Ghent. Visitors may browse and choose whatever book they like for a small donation. [Photos via]
Photo Credit: James D. Morgan / Rex Features
As part of its 30th anniversary celebration in 2010, IKEA created a giant outdoor library on Sydney’s Bondi Beach and invited beachgoers to trade in one of their own books or pick a new favorite for a donation. Though the shelves were only up for a single day (the most pop-up of pop-ups), it sure looks idyllic. [Photos via and via]
This free outdoor library in Yekaterinburg, Russia opens in the city center every summer. Those comfy-looking sack-chairs are a seriously good idea. [Photos via]
An adorable library kiosk in a park in Santiago, Chile. [Photo via]
The Levinski Garden Library, in Tel Aviv’s Levinski Park, was created by Yoav Meiri Architects in collaboration with Arteam as a “social-artistic urban community project.” It boasts some 3,500 books in 14 languages. [Photos via]
A tiny outdoor library in a park in Überlingen, Germany. [Photo via]
The Honesty Bookshop in the legendary bookshop town of Hay-on-Wye, in Wales. [Photos via and via]
Here’s another from Ham-on-Wye — this time with castle included. Apparently, the town is brimming with them. [Photo via]
An outdoor library in Linz, Austria. [Photo via]
The beautiful outdoor section of Boston’s Brattle Book Shop. [Photo via and via]
Then, of course, there’s Bart’s Books, the largest independently owned and operated outdoor bookstore in the US, located in Ojai, California. [Photos via and via]
An outdoor bookstore in Havana, Cuba. [Photo via]
A lovely little outdoor bookstore in Seoul, South Korea. [Photo via]
An open-air library in Magdeburg, Germany, built with prefabricated pieces from a demolished building by members of the community. Designed by KARO* with Architektur+Netzwerk. [Photos via]
An outdoor used bookshop in Tokyo. [Photo via]
An amazing bookstore in Leiden, South Holland. [Photos via and via]
One of the famous Mumbai Bookstalls. [Photo via]
And of course, les bouquinistes — bookstalls along the Seine in Paris, which line more than three miles of the riverbank. [Photos via and via]
An outdoor bookstore in Madrid. [Photo via]
This one is neither a public library nor a bookstore but a “garden working studio” in Hackney, UK, designed by Office Sian Architecture. Still, it’s too good not to include. [Photos via]