If you read this space with any frequency, you’ll know that Flavorwire is perhaps unnaturally fond of the beautiful library. Recently, Book Riot mused over which Doctor Who library is the best — or perhaps the most beautiful. But why stop at the Doctor Who universe? Countless gorgeous libraries have appeared on screens large and small (if only there were set designers in all of our homes), whether old and dusty, shiny and modern, underground, filled with water, or, um, animated. After the jump, 20 of the most beautiful libraries on film and television. If you don’t see your favorite here, be sure to add it to the list in the comments.
The library from The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
The library in paradise in What Dreams May Come.
The gorgeous home library in High Society.
The roof of the library in The Color of Pomegranates.
The Beast’s library, from Beauty and the Beast.
The Library of Congress as it appeared in All the President’s Men.
But of course — the library at Hogwarts, from the Harry Potter series — filmed in Duke Humfrey’s Library at Bodleian Library, above.
The Library, a planet-sized library from the Doctor Who universe.
Another Doctor Who library.
The famed Library of Alexandria, as recreated in Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.
The Sunnydale High library, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hey, how many of your high school libraries were this nice?
The scriptorium and the library-labyrinth in The Name of the Rose.
Henry Higgins’s lovely two-level library in My Fair Lady. That spiral staircase!
The Library of Alexandria as portrayed in Agora.
The lovely library (and librarian) in The Music Man.
William Parrish’s library in Meet Joe Black.
Another impossibly attractive high school library, from The Breakfast Club.
The shiny modern library invaded by angels in Wings of Desire.
The gorgeous New York Public Library has made appearances in many films and TV shows — this representation, from The Day After Tomorrow may be one of the most dire, but it’s also one of the most distinctive.
Margot Tenenbaum’s personal collection.