[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we're revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published December 13, 2011.] The college library, whether ornate or modern, digital or dusty, is in many ways the epicenter of the college experience — at least for some students. It is at once a shining emblem of vast, acquirable knowledge, a place for deep discussions and meetings of the mind, and of course, a big building full of books, which, as far as we’re concerned, is exciting enough. Colleges and universities are understandably quite proud of their libraries, which can be a selling point for prospective students and donating alumni alike, and they often become the most well-designed and beautifully adorned buildings on campus. To that end, and perhaps to inspire your studies a bit, we’ve collected a few of the most beautiful college and university libraries in the world, from Portugal to France to Boston. Did your alma mater’s library make the list? Or did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments.
Recently we shared our picks for the 25 most beautiful college libraries in the world, asking our readers to comment with their own favorites if they hadn’t made the list. And comment you did, dear readers! We therefore feel compelled to offer this follow-up post made up entirely of libraries suggested by you, in your infinite wisdom. We do have a few caveats: many of your suggestions, great libraries as they were, were not college or university libraries, and so were disqualified. Others we couldn’t find photos of. In addition, though many of you commented asking (not always entirely nicely) for more foreign submissions, the overwhelming number of actual suggestions were for American and British universities, so go figure. We’ve tried to represent a mix here. Click through to check out 20 more of the most beautiful college libraries from around the world — chosen by you — and bask just a little more in the beauty of learning.
We have a thing for libraries here at Flavorpill. We like to sing about them, gawk at the most beautiful ones, and tour the personal libraries of our favorite writers. But even we might be afraid to enter the compound above — Kosovo’s central library, which looks more like a supervillain’s hideout or the headquarters of a top-secret national security project. Although we do thrill at the thought of how many books it must hold. [via BoingBoing]
Amid all the confusion about what’s going on with Occupy Wall Street now that a judge has upheld the city’s right to keep protesters’ tents and sleeping bags out of Zuccotti Park, we’ve been following the equally perplexing story of the OWS Library. Yesterday, we reported that occupiers saw NYPD officers destroying their 5,554 books as they loaded them into dump trucks. But then, a tweeted photo from @NYCMayorsOffice seemed to show that everything was intact and being held, along with other confiscated items from Zuccotti, at a Department of Sanitation garage on 57th Street.
But the story doesn’t end there. Today, the People’s Library published a new blog post quoting a staffer who has been to 57th Street and claims that many of the library’s books and other equipment are still missing: “There are only about 25 boxes of books; many of the books are destroyed. Laptops here but destroyed. Can’t find tent or shelves.” A very long, preliminary list of items the librarians can’t find includes four or five laptops, 2,000-4,000 books, quite a bit of furniture, and “personal belongings of librarians.” Of course, considering that police are now prohibiting protesters from bringing backpacks, food, or musical instruments into Liberty Square (and here we thought the eviction was all about making sure New Yorkers could enjoy the park), it’s also unclear where the OWS Library will be reconstructed.
Is this the cutest little library you’ve ever seen or what? Residents of north Brooklyn will likely recognize the tiny structure from the corner of Leonard and Withers; known as the Corner Library, it’s part of a project dreamed up by artist Colin McMullan of the Kindness and Imagination Development Society (KIDS) back in 2007, when he installed his first “micro-library” in downtown New Haven. Permanent branches are already being planned for multiple locations around New York City, including Chelsea, Prospect Heights, and Crown Heights, with KIDS’ ultimate goal to take the idea worldwide.
The rules of the Corner Libraries are simple: lending is done on the honor system, and each location has a volunteer “librarian” who oversees the collection — a mixture of donated books, DVDs, CDs, graphic novels, zines, and pamphlets. Interested patrons contact the location’s librarian to get a library card and the code to for door’s lock.
“These libraries are meant to encourage local exchange and to help neighbors meet, know, and help one another in physical space with issues and interests that matter to them daily, right here and now,” McMullan recently told Poets and Writers. “The Internet is an incredible information tool, but it doesn’t satisfy a need we have for real-space interchange among people.” What do you think of the idea? Is it something that you can imagine taking off in your own neighborhood? [via Nylon]
As people who love to read more than pretty much anything, we think Room to Read, a charity founded by ex-Microsoft marketing director John Wood that builds libraries and donates books to children all over the world, is pretty much the best idea we’ve ever heard of. As the New York Times points out, legendary philanthropist Andrew Carnegie has been much celebrated for his construction of over 2,500 libraries worldwide, but Room to Read has opened more than five times that number, though many of them are simple rooms with one distinguishing factor: books where there were none before. Not only that, but Room to Read is opening new branches at the insane speed of six a day, which we admit we can’t quite fathom.
Not only is Room to Read creating libraries for children who otherwise would have no way to get their hands on books, they’ve also become publishers, creating books specifically for children in countries where the children’s book industry doesn’t exist. So far, the charity has published 591 titles in many languages including Khmer, Nepalese, Zulu, Lao, Xhosa, Chhattisgarhi, Tharu, Tsonga, Garhwali and Bundeli. “In 20 years,” Wood told the Times, “I’d like to have 100,000 libraries, reaching 50 million kids. Our 50-year goal is to reverse the notion that any child can be told ‘you were born in the wrong place at the wrong time and so you will not get educated.’ That idea belongs on the scrapheap of human history.” Bravo.
In 1971, prior to the opening of Troy, Michigan’s first public library, children’s librarian Marguerite Hart began a letter writing campaign asking notable individuals to share their memories of reading and illustrate the importance of libraries. She hoped these notes would inspire the city’s youth. Hart received 97 letters in return, from celebrities, politicians, and authors, including Dr. Seuss, Neil Armstrong, E.B. White, Pearl Buck, Ronald Reagan, and Douglas Fairbanks. The notes are eloquent, touching and thoughtful — Michigan State University President Clifton Wharton rhapsodizes on the responsibility of knowledge while Isaac Asimov writes that a library is “a friend that will amuse you and console you.” After the jump are some of our favorite letters to Troy’s children — to see all 97, head to the Troy Public Library website.
Today is officially Save Our Libraries Day in the UK. Some 400 libraries around the nation have been threatened with closure and severe budget cuts by local authorities, and book-lovers, including Philip Pulllman and many authors like him, are rising up in protest. There will be something like 80 protests and demonstrations throughout the day today, including sit-ins and readings by beloved authors, “Shhh-in”s, and in Milborne Port in Somerset, a “book snatcher” that will grab books from children and replace them with signs that say things like “illiteracy,” “poor life chances,” and “social isolation.” Goodness. The Guardian is ambitiously offering live coverage of the national event, and in a jam, you can even “find your nearest protest” on an interactive map. We can only hope that we show the same fervor for our libraries in this country when the time comes.
Architectural firm Concrete has won the 2010 Lensvelt de Architect Interieur Prize for its new library in Almere, the Netherlands; according to the judges, “This project is not only spatially convincing, but also exhibits great workmanship and makes an overwhelming impression on the visitor.” We think it looks like an extremely attractive bookstore. Click through to get a better look at the undulating shelves.
The American Library Association has just released its list of most frequently challenged books of 2009. Lauren Myracle’s ttyl, which is written instant message format, topped the list for its supposed “unsuitability to age group” claim. Suddenly we found ourselves wondering about the books that made the list before emoticons lost their novelty — or even existed, for that matter. Check out a roundup of some of the most surprisingly “controversial” books from the original list, which debuted 20 years ago, after the jump.
