Adaptive Reuse – Thomas Guignard photography

Interior of a library in a converted chapel, wide-angle image of a reading room and librarian's workspace, with low metal shelves and cabinets, tables, and card catalogues. The vaulted ceiling is white with golden details.

Bibliothèque historique du Séminaire de Québec

Spanning four centuries of learning inside a former 19th century chapel, the library of the Québec Seminary is the keeper of a rich encyclopedic collection as old as the city itself.

Exterior of a 1930s post office transformed into a library. It is a four-story structure with a hipped roof and a square clock tower. The words "pestalozzi bibliothek" are written in red script on the main facade. There is a street with tram tracks in front and people milling about.

Pestalozzi-Bibliothek Oerlikon

At the heart of a bustling transit hub, the early modern Oerlikon post office now serves as a location for the Zürich public library.

Interior of a library in a converted Neoclassical chapel. It is a pastel-coloured barrel-vaulted hall filled with small cubicles. An organ fills a gallery at the end of the room. Cross-shaped chandeliers hang from the ceiling.

Dawson College Library, Montréal

Among the first examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada, the former Notre-Dame Congregation chapel in Montréal is now the Dawson college library.

Interior of a large neoclassical chapel. The main part of the room is used as a meeting space, with movable chairs, while the front is closed off by a glass wall and contains a library.

Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, Montréal

Long hidden behind drab ceiling tiles, the unveiling of the former chapel at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montréal in 2004 also marked the renaissance of one of the oldest libraries on the continent.

Biblioteca universitaria USI Lugano

This former hospice for the elderly witnessed the early years of artificial intelligence research before welcoming the library of a brand new university.

Interior of a contemporary library, showing a thin steel and glass breezeway crossing a space with high bookshelves on either sides.

Biblioteca de México “Ciudadela”

From instrument of colonialism to citadel of knowledge, this massive library in the heart of Mexico City is a joyful labyrinth where to get lost in a good book.

Exterior of a former mall movie multiplex converted into a library. It is a symmetrical brick Postmodern building. A blue sign with the words "Woodlawn Public Library" stands above the entrance. Cars are parked at the front. There is snow on the ground.

Woodlawn Public Library, Dartmouth NS

A former multiplex cinema in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, now serves as library branch and central technical processing for the Halifax Public Libraries.

Interior of a modern library, with a service counter at the back with the words "Retour" and "Prêt". To the left is a set of stairs leading to an elevated area with bookshelves. The words "Espace biblio" are written on a partition wall. To the right, an art print representing flowers hangs from a wall. The back wall is structured in a zigzag pattern, with T-shaped windows in each fold.

Bibliothèque la Mosaïque de la Pocatière

Opened for the 1967 Canadian Centennial, this Modernist theatre in a small Québec town now serves as the local public library.

Exterior of a traditional French bastide house in a lush green park, with trees in the foreground.

Bibliothèque les Deux-Ormes – Aix-en-Provence

Near Cézanne's childhood home west of Aix-en-Provence, this former bastide serves as neighbourhood library since 1993.

Interior of a library in a stone vaulted space with white modern bookshelves on wheels. A fresco showing a bathing scene is on the back wall.

Bibliothèque Méjanes – Halle aux Grains, Aix-en-Provence

From granary to post office to public library, the stone vaults of the Halle aux Grains in Aix-en-Provence still offer a welcome oasis of calm next to the busy market square.

Interior of an industrial space converted into a library with a multistory roof lit by clerestory windows supported on iron beams and poles. A mezzanine crosses the space with stairs on either side. We see bookshelves at the back and a service counter with two people interacting at the front.

Bibliothèque Méjanes – Allumettes, Aix-en-Provence

A former safety match factory has been home to the Aix en Provence public library since 1989. Soon to be renovated, this space is a beautiful example of adaptive reuse of industrial spaces.

Exterior of an old house converted to a library. The original building to the left is a three-story house with green shutters and a wrought iron pergola. The modern wing of the library to the right has a curved wall and window to accommodate a large mature tree growing in front of the house. A person on a bicycle moves through the scene.

Médiathèque Pierre-Bottero, Pélissanne

A careful intervention turned this 17th century patrician house into a lovely library.