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  • Blog & other things

Stadtbibliothek | Stuttgart, Germany.

Robarts Library, University of Toronto | Toronto, Canada.

Joe and Rika Mansueto Library | Chicago, IL

Bibliothéque de l'Hôtel de Ville | Paris, France

Doe Memorial Library, UC Berkeley | Berkeley, CA

BME Library | Budapest, Hungary

Grimm Zentrum, Humboldt University | Berlin, Germany.

Long-exposure photo showing the side of the library illuminated at dusk, with a parking lot in the foreground.

Bibliothèque Monique-Corriveau | Québec City, Canada

Zentralbibliothek | Zürich, Switzerland

Scott Library, York University | Toronto, Canada.

Biblioteca Vasconcelos | Mexico City

Image of the Cook Library, a neogothic reading room with a decorated ceiling and chandeliers.

Cook Legal Research Library | Ann Arbor, MI

Wüttembergische Landesbibliothek | Stuttgart, Germany.

UOIT/Durham College Library | Oshawa, Canada

Supreme Court Library | Lausanne, Switzerland

George Peabody Library | Baltimore MD

City of Toronto Archives | Toronto, Canada

Sheridan College Library | Oakville, Canada

Rolex Learning Centre | Lausanne, Switzerland

Osgoode Hall Great Library | Toronto, Canada

Fisher Library | Toronto, Canada

Image of empty library shelves at the EPFL library.

EPFL central library | Lausanne, Switzerland.

Image of the Bata Library, a brutalist building reflected in a river.

Bata Library, Trent University | Peterborough, Canada.

Robarts InForum | Toronto, Canada

OISE Library | Toronto, Canada

Bibliothèque Publique d'Information | Paris, France

Image of the Haydon Burns Library, a modernist building with a green tiled facade and vertical fins.

Haydon Burns Library, Jacksonville FL

University of Basel Library | Basel, Switzerland

Library of Parliament | Budapest, Hungary

Panoramic image of the Québec National Library in Montréal.

Grande Bibliothèque, BAnQ | Montréal, Canada

Libraries

My interest in library architecture started as I was involved in the planning for a new library building. Looking for inspiration, I started researching and then visiting other libraries that were moving into new spaces or undergoing a revitalization. I often photographed details that struck my interest, and gradually became fascinated with the unique visuals offered by all libraries, big and small.

To this day, I make a point of visiting as many libraries as I can when traveling, and often plan my trips around buildings I’m interested in visiting and photographing.

Latest posts

To date, I have visited more than 300 libraries for this project. I have started collecting some of my favourite examples of library architecture on these pages. Many more can be found on my Flickr and Instagram feeds.

This is a work in progress, and I will keep updating this site as I learn more about the libraries I have visited. A selection of recently updated posts can be seen below, or you can view the whole list here. I also have a page dedicated to adaptive reuse library projects.

Happy exploring!

Bibliothèque Claire-Martin, Québec

To replace the original St. Matthew's Chapel that was destroyed by fire in 1845, stonemason John Cliff was tasked with ...
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Burgundy School of Business Learning Center, Dijon, France

During the last 30 years of the 19th century, Europe's vineyards were devastated by Phylloxera, an insect unwittingly imported from ...
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Graduate Institute Library, Maison de la Paix, Geneva

As I'm posting this, the Russian military invasion of Ukraine is still ongoing and my preoccupations around architectural innovation for ...
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Interior of the Henri-Bourassa library. A service desk is in the front. The left wall is whitewashed brick with curved openings. A row of shelves topped by a mezzanine is at the right.

Bibliothèque Henri-Bourassa, Montréal

Québec has a long and proud history of electricity production. In 1884, the Dufferin Terrase in Québec City was lit ...
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Universitätsbibliothek der WU Wien

The Vienna University of Economics and Business was originally founded in 1898 as the "Exportakademie" of the Royal and Imperial ...
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Rear view of the Monique-Corriveau library in winter.

Bibliothèque Monique-Corriveau

The end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965 spurred a wide-ranging renewal of the Catholic Church. One aspect of ...
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More…

Bucket list

The map below is my attempt to keep track of all the libraries I’ve been to (green and blue markers) and the ones I would like to visit one day (red markers). It is very unlikely.

If you know a library that should be on this list, let me know!

Test your knowledge

If you like the GeoGuessr game, try out my maps!

  • Library Interiors – Guess the library from interior shots only!
  • Concrete Libraries – How well do you know your Brutalist libraries?
  • Toronto Public Library branches – Can you find all 100 of them?
  • Swiss libraries – Old and new, big and small, in cities and on mountaintops.

Find me on Instagram

All photos are CC-BY-SA Thomas Guignard, unless noted otherwise. If you use them, please credit them and link back to this site.