Libraries – Thomas Guignard photography

Large, modern library interior with tall white columns, rows of bookshelves filled with books, high ceilings, and large windows letting in natural light. Several people are sitting and reading or browsing books.

Töölö Library, Helsinki

A nice example of Finnish modernism, this library was originally part of a larger urban project by architect Aarne Ervi.

Bibliothèque du Jardin botanique de Genève

The home of one of the world's foremost botanical collections, this library is also a landmark of Swiss modernist architecture.

A spacious library with wooden floors, rows of bookshelves filled with books, study tables with chairs, a ladder by the shelves, and a ceiling decorated with a baroque fresco.

Bibliothek der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

For over 150 years, the library that saw the birth of higher education in Vienna laid all but forgotten, ending up as a table tennis court for policemen. A spectacular renovation brought it back to life.

Exterior of a postmodern building, comprised of curved sections fanning out towards a grass meadow. Two people are walking on a path to the left.

Archives cantonales vaudoises

The visual complexity of the Vaud cantonal archives building reflects its internal organization.

A person walks through a brick-arched library with bookshelves filled with books on both sides and another section visible through an arched doorway.

Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati di Siena

The Intronati library combines a modern public library with a priceless historical collection inside the former home of one of Europe's oldest universities.

Interior of a church converted to a library. A glass enclosure containing the library is at the back, only occupying part of the church, which can be seen around the library.

Bibliothèque Félicité-Angers, Neuville

This little town in Quebec found an original way to preserve rare religious artifacts while updating the little-used church that protects them.

A two-story modern building with large windows and a gray roof, surrounded by landscaped gardens and bushes. The text "l'ISDC" is written on the building.

Bibliothèque de l’Institut Suisse de Droit Comparé

A modest pavillon on the university of Lausanne campus hosts a renowned law collection.

A large historic building with arched windows and columns stands on a snowy street. Leafless trees line the sidewalk, and blue banners hang from the facade. Snow covers the ground and parts of the building.

Former Toronto Reference Library

When it opened in 1908, the Central Reference Library was among Toronto's first purpose-built library buildings.

A red sports car is parked in front of a symmetrical brick building with columns and arched architectural details on a cloudy day. The street and surrounding area are quiet.

Former Preston Carnegie Library, Cambridge ON

Now a private property, this former library is a fine example of rural Carnegie libraries of the early 20th century.

The entrance to a white building labeled Kantonsbibliothek with a wooden door under a portico. Bicycles are parked on either side of the entrance.

Kantonsbibliothek Thurgau

From classrooms to reading rooms: since 1912, the cantonal library in Frauenfeld occupies the former high school.

Exterior of a Modernist university campus showing a four-story rectangular building with a facade of alternating bands of windows and green metal panels. The building is topped with a two-story structure covered with a concrete openwork screen. The same screen is repeated in front of a low building to the right of the main structure, and on either side of its porte cochère, on which the words "Faculté de médecine" can be read. The word "Bibliothèque" is stencilled one letter at a time on the top windows. Students are show exiting the building on a paved plaza in front.

Bibliothèque de santé, Université de Strasbourg

The campus of the Strasbourg faculty of medicine signalled the postwar renaissance of a storied institution.

A symmetrical courtyard with a central statue and fountain, surrounded by neatly trimmed trees, leads to a yellow two-story building with arched windows, a clock, and a gabled roof under a partly cloudy sky.

Biblioteca dell’Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio

Thanks to a generous donor, this palace once welcomed the sick and the poor and now hosts a major research library.