le bibliotheq...

the homestretch. four years in the making. next week will be the last official week of attending classes. this weekend i am focusing on what seems to be frivolous studying and homeworking and when a friend asked me to meet her at the library, it diverted my thoughts and efforts. my reply was "i don't do libraries"and while that's entirely true (i hardly ever found myself in a library during my college tenure) i wondered why. i think they're drab and boring and instead of studying, i seem to focus on others and their study habits. i then realized that in order for me to be attracted to a library it would have to have something else. i think back to the library in Beauty and the Beast and felt intrigued - maybe it needs to seem magical. this in turn, lead to some research and below are some of the most beautiful and enchanting libraries in the world.

Beauty and the Beast (the inspiration)
from here

The rest are my favorites from this lovely website:

George Peabody Library in Baltimore


Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-Generaal Den Haag, Netherlands


Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
*sidenote: this is absolutely incredible


Trinity College Library in Dublin


Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont in Austria

Austrian National Library in Vienna

although these beautiful book-buildings would attract me, in the end i think my inner disney princess would emerge and there would be little time for studying. my imagination would run wild in such places.