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.

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

UNAM Library | Mexico City

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

Image of the Library of Parliament in Canada, a neogothic building with tall wooden bookshelves.

Library of Parliament | Ottawa, 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.

Happy exploring!

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!

Libraries

Latest posts

Universitätsbibliothek Basel

Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire de Neuchâtel

Berkeley Law Library

Uni-/PH-Gebäude Luzern

C.V. Starr East Asian Library, UC Berkeley

Fachbibliothek Germanistik, Basel

Bucket list

Follow @concretelibraries on Instagram