Top Ten Tuesday: Libraries I’ve Always Wanted to Visit

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

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Is there a book lover who doesn’t love libraries? The smell alone gets me every time. My husband jokes that we should find a way to bottle that old book smell. He’s a very good sport about my book obsession!

I know that my fascination with libraries around the world started with a visit to The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford nearly 20 years ago. This list was easy to compile and I had a hard time narrowing it down to my top ten.

1. Library of Congress – Did you know that they quit Twitter in January? Specifically, they quit archiving public Tweets. Too bad this didn’t become a trend in D.C.
2. Hearst Castle Gothic Library – Everything about the Hearst family fascinates me including the books in their library.
3. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library – They house many of Margaret Atwood’s original transcripts along with Shakespeare’s first folio.
4. George Peabody Library – It’s a gorgeous free public library and a music conservatory. Two of my favorite things: books and music.
5. Boston Public Library – The first free public library in the U.S.
6. Library bar at Electric House in Notting Hill – a bar and books? Yes, please. One of my favorite things to do is relax with a book and a nice bourbon.
7. Morgan Library & Museum – I planned on visiting when I was there for work but unfortunately the weather was terrible. One day…
8. New York Public Library – Obviously.
9. Old British Reading Room, British Museum – another beautiful library that I would hardly call a “room”.
10. Seattle Central Library – I can’t believe I haven’t made it to this library considering how many times I’ve visited Seattle. Next time for sure.

Lastly, it would be very remiss if I didn’t mention my local library. It may not have the same beauty or architecture as the others on this list but I still love it and the contribution it makes to our community.

Do you have a favorite library that you have visited?