The most beautiful libraries around the world
Libraries hold a romanticised role in society, valued as rich sources of information and loved as avenues for entertainment and escapism.
As Vincent Phan, the Melbourne-based founder and chief executive of online community 1000 Libraries, says: “Books themselves are everyday miracles. Open one and you’re inside the mind of someone who may have died centuries ago.”
Founded in 2020, 1000 Libraries claims to be the world’s largest online community of book lovers, with more than 1.5 million readers and 1.2 million Instagram followers. It presents the world’s most beautiful libraries, bookstores, book cafes, book towns and book-inspired destinations.
“The simple act of reading – of writing – might be our most astonishing human skill,” he tells The Straits Times in an e-mail interview.
A beautifully designed library adds another dimension to the functional role of libraries – it embodies the magic of an enthralling book.
In homage to these havens that keep the written word alive, Phan, 36, launched the 1000 Libraries Awards in 2023, inviting people around the world to vote for the world’s most beautiful libraries.
The 1000 Libraries platform, he says, is intended to champion libraries and bookstores on social media. “In an age of screens, it felt vital to spotlight the places that keep the written word alive,” he says.
Some 20,000 people voted for the inaugural awards, naming the Library of Trinity College Dublin in Ireland as their top pick for that first edition.
The awards have grown to include sister lists that rank the world’s most beautiful bookstores and book cafes.
The 2025 edition, for which the winners were announced earlier in August, raked in more than 200,000 votes during the 60-day voting window.
Voters – who included readers, librarians and travellers – chose their top 10 from 20 libraries shortlisted by the 1000 Libraries team.
These were nominated based on a combination of metrics from social media engagement, online reviews and architectural beauty, says Phan.
The Library of Trinity College Dublin came in first place again in the ballot. In second position was the State Library of South Australia (Mortlock Wing) in Adelaide, and ranking third was the Abbey Library of St Gall in Switzerland.
All three are old libraries. The Library of Trinity College Dublin, built in 1592, is the oldest. The original State Library of South Australia, now known as its Mortlock Wing, opened in 1884, while the Abbey Library of St Gall – a World Heritage Site – was constructed in the 1760s.
“Old libraries have a way of stopping time. They feel plucked from a Harry Potter scene and tug at our nostalgia for a pre-digital world,” says Phan.
Indeed, most of the top 10 take their defining design forms from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Though the Trinity College Dublin library was built in the late 16th century, its distinctive Long Room “was raised and vaulted in the 1800s”, he notes.
“Across the set, there’s a clear pull towards Baroque and Rococo exuberance, and Victorian historicist revivals. These rooms are laid out like processions, with long sight-lines and strong symmetry,” he adds.
“Tiered galleries and balustrades draw the eye upwards. Ceilings – barrel vaults, domes or iron arches – act as a crown. Soft daylight filters through skylights and clerestories, flattering wood, marble and ironwork.”
In such a setting, the books themselves become architecture, says Phan. “The result feels both temple and tool: grand enough to awe, legible enough to read in.”
If there is any criticism to be levied against the top 10 list, it might be the lack of representation of Asian locales. Is the continent lacking in splendid libraries?
“It isn’t a deficit of beauty. It’s nostalgia, familiarity and the mental map of ‘literary tourism’ working together,” says Phan.
“Much of our audience grew up with European-coded library imagery – think Hogwarts from the Harry Potter films (2001 to 2011) or Belle’s library from Beauty And The Beast (1991) – so Baroque and Victorian interiors feel instantly ‘library-iconic’.”
He highlights that the 20 libraries in the shortlist included the Starfield Library in Suwon, South Korea – the sole Asian entry.
“We suspect familiarity tipped the scales in the final ranking. Many Asian standouts are newer, less mythologised in Western media and simply haven’t had the same global circulation yet. We expect that to change quickly,” says Phan.
Future contenders could include Tianjin Binhai Library in China and the aforementioned Starfield Libraries of South Korea, which are popular on social media for their eye-catching interiors.
“Asia’s libraries are pushing the library architectural norm in thrillingly contemporary, futuristic directions,” he notes.
The Straits Times takes a visual tour of some winning book havens from around the world, and suggests a few gorgeous and noteworthy locations from the Asian continent.
The Library of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
“Our 2023 and 2025 winner, and by a wide margin,” says Phan. “The Long Room’s sweeping barrel-vaulted ceiling, oak stacks and avenue of marble busts create a procession worthy of a bibliophile’s pilgrimage. It’s a cathedral to the printed word, where every step echoes with the weight of knowledge.”
State Library of South Australia (Mortlock Wing), Australia
Phan says the Mortlock Wing’s iron-lace galleries, soaring glass roof and 19th-century ambience gathered “a staggering number of votes”.
“Its gallery clock made in 1887 by E. Dent & Co. of London – the makers of the clock of Big Ben in London – was purchased in London by Sir Charles Todd, and still presides over the room like a metronome for memory,” he adds.
Abbey Library of St Gall, Switzerland
“Stucco swirls, carved wood and globe-dotted cases give this monastic library the serenity of a museum and the warmth of a study,” says Phan, describing it as a “Rococo jewel box”. “It’s the kind of room that makes you lower your voice without being asked.”
Duke Humfrey’s Library (University of Oxford), England
You may recognise this library from the Harry Potter film franchise, where it doubled as the library of the wizarding school of Hogwarts. In reality, it is just one part of the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the institution’s main research library.
Admont Abbey Library, Austria
The Admont Abbey Library, located in the southern Austrian state of Styria, is said to be the oldest monastic library in the world. Housed within the Admont Abbey compound, it was built from 1774 to 1776.
Its Baroque architecture includes seven vaulted domes adorned with intricate ceiling frescos.
Rijksmuseum Research Library, The Netherlands
Also known as the Cuypers Library, this art history research facility and archive was opened in 1885. It is four storeys high and incorporates Gothic and Renaissance architectural details, such as its hand-forged, wrought-iron staircases and railings.
State Library Victoria, Australia
Originally known as the Melbourne Public Library, this is Australia’s oldest public library. It also claims to be one of the world’s busiest, having welcomed 2.65 million visitors in the 2023 to 2024 period.
Its neo-classical, Victorian-inspired design showcases high ceilings and tall columns. These details allow lots of natural light to flood into the space, which is complemented by the liberal use of white marble and Tasmanian freestone across the facade.
The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, Brazil
This building in downtown Rio de Janeiro was constructed in the 1880s in the revival architectural style known as Neo-Manueline. This is seen mostly in Portugal and its former colonies, such as Brazil.
Hallmarks of the library include intricately carved bookshelves and rich jewel tones such as gold and teal.
Wiblingen Abbey Library, Germany
The Wiblingen Abbey Library near the southern German city of Ulm is an opulent example of Baroque and Rococo architecture, known for the maximalist use of pastel shades and curved forms.
Built in 1744, it is located inside a former Benedictine monastery. In the present day, the library is an attraction open to the public.
Sainte-Genevieve Library, France
Paris has no shortage of beautiful architecture, and the Sainte-Genevieve Library is another spot to add to any design bucket list, alongside the Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum.
Originally a monastic library built in 1838, it is now a university library. Its Neo-Greco architecture draws from the Roman style, as seen in its use of stone and arched windows.
But modern elements also abound, such as the lace iron structures that reinforce its curved roofs.
Bonus: Starfield Library Coex Mall, South Korea
This mall-based library in Seoul is among the most Instagrammed libraries in the world, with its towering 13m-tall wall of books and the escalator that skirts it.
About 70,000 books are reportedly housed in this atrium space, which is open to members of the public looking for a quiet space to read, work or study.
Bonus: Dujiangyan Zhongshuge Bookstore, China
Technically, Dujiangyan Zhongshuge is a bookstore – but, as a visually compelling book sanctuary, it gives the world’s most beautiful libraries a run for their money.
Having opened in Chengdu in 2020, its futuristic and mind-bending architecture uses mirrored ceilings and lighting to make visitors feel like they have escaped into a dream world.
Bonus: Rotunda Library & Archive, Singapore
Singapore’s very own National Gallery in St Andrew’s Road is home to the stunning Rotunda Library & Archive, an archival site for South-east Asian art journals and other material from the 19th to 21st centuries. Its circular columns and round structure are complemented by curved teak and glass bookcases on the mezzanine level. Fanlight casement windows let in plenty of natural light to illuminate the serene space.
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