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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.

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!

Universitätsbibliothek Basel

The first library of the university of Basel was inaugurated in 1559 in the Brabeuterium, a chapel-like building precariously overhanging ...
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Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire de Neuchâtel

The town of Neuchâtel in western Switzerland owes much to its most generous denizen, David de Pury, who might have ...
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Berkeley Law Library

The UC Berkeley law school started its existence as the University of California Department of Jurisprudence in 1894. The new ...
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Uni-/PH-Gebäude Luzern

The fire that devastated the Luzern (Lucerne) railway station in 1971 left the city in shock. The destruction of the ...
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C.V. Starr East Asian Library, UC Berkeley

In 1896, the University of California in Berkeley convinced the eminent British sinologist and lexicographer John Fryer to leave Shanghai ...
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Fachbibliothek Germanistik, Basel

The University of Basel's German language department (Deutsches Seminar) is situated in a beautiful 14th century house in Basel's old ...
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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?

Follow @concretelibraries 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.