Librophiliac Love Letter: United States Edition

Editors Note: A version of this article was originally published by myself (Dylan) on Curious Expeditions. Due to some long overdue and much needed maintainence on Curious Expeditions the original post is no longer available. We decided to redo it here, in multiple parts, updated with yet even more amazing libraries. Since the last time it was mostly European libraries we are starting this Librophiliac Love Letter series with a US Edition. Enjoy!

PART I: BEAUTIFUL LIBRARIES OF THE UNITED STATES

Everyone has some kind of place that makes them feel transported to a magical realm. For some people it’s castles with their noble history and crumbling towers. For others it’s abandoned factories, ivy choked, a sense of foreboding around every corner. For us at Atlas Obscura, there has always been something about libraries. Row after row, shelf after shelf, there is nothing more magical than a beautiful old library.

We begin our survey of these repositories of knowledge in the United States. From Los Angeles, California to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, this impressive selection of libraries include some of the oldest on the continent. We hope you enjoy this trip through the United States beautiful libraries as much as we do. 

North Reading Room, University of California Berkeley (Terrific reader suggestion)
Berkeley, California, USA (photograph by Sharada Prasad CS)

Harper Library at University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA (photograph by Rick Siedel)


Law Library of the Iowa State Legislature
Des Moines, Iowa, USA (photograph by Dave Parker)

 

Beinecke Rare Book and manuscript Library, Yale University
New Haven Connecticut, USA (photograph by Laura Manning)


Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University  (The rest of Sterling Library is incredible, as well, but we particularly enjoy that wonderful library specialty: the card catalog) New Haven, Connecticut, USA (photograph by Sage Ross)

Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination
Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA (photograph by Aaron Tang)


George Peabody Library
Baltimore, Maryland, USA (photograph by Matthew Petroff)


Boston Athenaeum
Boston, MA, USA (photograph by Curious Expeditions)


Boston Copley Public Library
Boston, Massachusetts, USA (photograph by Scatoulaki)


Thomas Crane Library
Quincy, Massachusetts, USA (photograph by Thomas S. Tullis)

Great Reading Room, University of Oklahoma Library
Norman, Oklahoma, USA (photograph by by and by)

Mt. Holyoke College reading room
South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA (photograph by Michael Klein)


Woburn Public Library
Woburn, Massachusetts, USA (photograph by Andrea Schwartz)


University of Michigan (Old) Law Library
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (photograph by CaptPiper)


St. Louis Public Library
St. Louis, Missouri, USA (photograph by Chris Yunker)


Chancellor Green Library at Princeton University,
Princeton, New Jersey, USA (photograph by Marissa Smith)


Library of the Brooklyn Historical Society
Brooklyn, New York, USA (photograph by Leigh Ann)


A.D. White Library at Cornell University
Ithica, New York, USA (photograph by olinlibref)


Cornell Law School Library
Ithica, New York, USA (photograph by Claude-Étienne Armingaud)


Pierpont Morgan Library
New York, New York, USA (photograph by Rob Shenk)


New York Public Library
New York, New York, USA (photograph by Mike)


Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library at Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (photograph by Jim Mills)


Amelia S. Givin Library
Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, USA (photograph by Curious Expeditions)


Fisher Fine Arts Library at University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pensylvania, USA (photograph by Daderot)


Linderman Library at Lehigh University
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (photograph by Matt Casey)


Suzzallo Library at University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, USA (photograph by B. Gallatin)


Library of the United States Congress
Washington, D.C., USA (photograph by Gabriel Rodriguez)


Riggs Library at Georgetown University
Washington, D.C., USA (photograph by Rudi Riet)


Folger Shakespeare Library
Washington, D.C., USA (photograph by dctourism)

We hope you enjoyed this! We know we can’t get enough. If any particularly beautiful library has been overlooked let us know!