this tweet inspired me to do some fun nerd stuff on here. so nerds, what’s your favorite library? i have two, both very personal: the first is uchicago’s harper library (now a reading room) and the second is the nashville public library, which is a stunner. - ThreadSky

vox-magica.bsky.social • 20 days ago

this tweet inspired me to do some fun nerd stuff on here. so nerds, what’s your favorite library?

i have two, both very personal: the first is uchicago’s harper library (now a reading room) and the second is the nashville public library, which is a stunner.

Reposted from Thomas Lecaque

I'm sitting in the @mhs1791.bsky.social reading room on a lovely February morning and I just love this place so much.

Comments

vicvaughan.bsky.social•19 days ago

The opera section of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France is housed in the cupola of the Paris Opera House. Needless to say, it’s amazing up there.

muaddibatreideez.bsky.social•20 days ago

Hoose Library of Philosophy and the Library of Congress Reading Room for me.

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

one of my biggest regrets from living in DC is that i never went to the LoC.

muaddibatreideez.bsky.social•20 days ago

Uuuuggggghhhhh oh my gosh the LoC is sacred ground to me, I love it. Without getting too specific since I'm a Dune shitposting account, I did thesis work in their special collections for a week which only endeared it to me more. An actual national treasure (that I hope we can keep).

allthebeset.bsky.social•20 days ago

now this is a disclaimer:
"Without getting too specific since I'm a Dune shitposting account"

muaddibatreideez.bsky.social•20 days ago

I know what the people want and it's not my tragic backstory no matter how enthralling it may be

agaland2dogs.bsky.social•20 days ago

London Library, hands down. Did much of the research for my 2nd kids' book there. It was heavenly.

makeboluo.bsky.social•19 days ago

The Doe Library at UC Berkeley is truly magnificent. I don't know about the books, it's not my subject, but it is a nice and bright place to work!

vox-magica.bsky.social•19 days ago

they’d have had to kick me out!!

fidelioscabinet.bsky.social•20 days ago

The firm that designed the Nashville main library also did the one in Bangor, ME.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3vZY62LxrtL7aoLr8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

richardho.bsky.social•20 days ago

Multnomah County Library in downtown Portland, OR. When I was 11 years old I would bribe my little brother with promises to buy him a hot soft pretzel outside the library, so I would have company to ride the bus downtown. Bless libraries and bless librarians.

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

okay, i'm in love. 😍

lizgloyn.bsky.social•20 days ago

Oh, I *loved* working in the New York Public Library in the last days of the PhD dissertation. Magic.

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

ahhh, i’ve never been but i bet it was wonderful!

cantavest.bsky.social•19 days ago

The @warburginstitute.bsky.social's, which belongs in the School of Advanced Study of the University of London. Theirs is a unique library, on Classic and Medieval cultural traditions. It's organized in a different format, by subjects. I became a cultural history scholar there. Forever grateful.

davidrafferty.bsky.social•20 days ago

It no longer exists, but the basement of the ERC library at Melbourne Uni. During my undergrad, it had all the less-used stuff: various Historia Einzelschriften, the English Calendar of State Papers etc etc. So much gold. And it had the dusty, abandoned, 70s feel you want in a uni library.

kbneal.bsky.social•20 days ago

Yes! That place was awesome. A treasure trove.

jeybecques.bsky.social•20 days ago

Too many to name, but I’m currently missing Pikes Peak Library District’s East Library, in Colorado Springs. Spent many hours in the squashy chairs in their reading area, alternating between a book and the wonderful panoramic windows over the mountains

vox-magica.bsky.social•19 days ago

colorado is so pretty no matter the view, and this view is spectacular. 😍

veryvalentina.bsky.social•19 days ago

Library of Birmingham! An amazing collection of printed music for a public library 🧡

lutzgolsch.bsky.social•20 days ago

Oodi Public Library in Helsinki https://oodihelsinki.fi/

keirharper-thorpe.bsky.social•19 days ago

Now moved, but I enjoyed the British Newspaper Library at Colindale. There was a quietness and traditional atmosphere about it that I found very conducive for research:

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

I loved Harper, although I usually ended up at the Reg for studying as that's where the books I needed were.
I have so many favorites ~ here are a few:

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

The downtown Buffalo and Erie County Public Library ~ the first library I did serious research in as a teen. The Crane branch, where I [aged 4] got my first library card of my own. Other branches, too: North Park [closest], Kenmore [on the way to both grandmothers].
@buffalolibrary.bsky.social

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

Crane branch ~ went back to Buffalo for my 40th h.s. reunion and just had to stop by to see the recent renovations.

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

The Norway Memorial Library, in a small town in western Maine, so central/vital to the community. The Belfast Free Library, on the other side of the state in a wonderful coastal town. Also a huge part of local life ~ and the director took a chance on a recent MLS grad & gave me my first library job.

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

The National Library of Scotland @natlibscot.bsky.social, the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, the central Edinburgh Library, and the Orkney @orkneylibrary.bsky.social and Shetland @shetlandlibrary.bluesky.social libraries. All so very welcoming to this traveling researcher!

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

Sentimental favorite: Edinburgh's Leith branch, where my grandparents [as children] borrowed books 125 years before middle-aged me did. 😜

Ditto to the Danvers MA library, where my mother went as a child and where I've spent quality research time in their excellent local history archive.

killearnan.bsky.social•20 days ago

Specialized libraries: NEHGS/Americanancestors in Boston , DAR and Library of Congress in DC, and FamilySearch in Salt Lake City.

ndiscenza1.bsky.social•20 days ago

Where to start! Can't pick just one!
I grew up with Detroit Public Libraries: Chaney Branch. Even worked there.
I will always love U Mich's Grad Library, and I have a special fondness for the weird levels like sub1A and sub1B. I want to go back!
I love the Bodleian: Duke Humfrey's, Radcliffe Camera

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

the umich law library is jaw-droppingly gorgeous from what i remember, but i have never been to the grad library. i'm going to start a list of libraries to visit; we all need something to look forward to!

ndiscenza1.bsky.social•20 days ago

The grad library has a wonderful reading room that I used a lot—as an undergrad; they had no limitations. I went into the law library once and felt weird and didn't try to find out what parts I could use.
The stacks in GradLi are AMAZING—not attractive but dark, tiny, mysteries, even scary.

ndiscenza1.bsky.social•20 days ago

I've shared this story many times, but once at the end of term, I was in one of the sub levels, which are not below ground but subdivided floors so that they could fit in more books.
I heard screams. I tried to find the screamer. I found someone else also looking. We couldn't locate the sound!

ndiscenza1.bsky.social•20 days ago

The screaming stopped, and we gave up a few minutes later with nervous jokes about finals stress.
I never saw any news stories about anything terrible, but I'll always wonder!

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

i'm calling it: that library is haunted. and i want to check it out, but only in daytime. 🤣

numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net•20 days ago

Well, there’s a rare books collection at a college outside Boston . . . but I did like the Bodleian. Once was working from that handy modern reprint of an early printed glossed Bible, and one of the OT volumes was missing from the reading room shelf. 1/

numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net•20 days ago

I reported it, but no clue when it might be back. Sitting back down, I turned to the modern introduction and noted that the principal MS source for the printed book was itself in Duke Humfrey’s. Filled out a slip, went to lunch, & came back to be grateful for Maureen Boulton’s paleography class! 2/2

ndiscenza1.bsky.social•20 days ago

I love this!

nowondvd.bsky.social•19 days ago

Seattle Public Library and the Minneapolis Central Library are both great. I’ll also always have a soft spot for the Middleton Public Library just outside Madison, WI cause I worked there for 5 years :)

nowondvd.bsky.social•19 days ago

Also the UW-Madison Law Library, which has a stunning mural in its reference room: https://publicart.wisc.edu/john-steuart-curry-freeing-of-the-slaves/

rumpolebayou.bsky.social•20 days ago

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver has converted its old law library into a courtroom

I argued a case in it a few years ago; it’s really beautiful & unusual

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

oh my, i think i need to go to law school. 😍

amfisher.bsky.social•20 days ago

I hate to see a good law library go to waste, but that's at least a nice end for it (I fear the day they close down our incredible law library).

rumpolebayou.bsky.social•20 days ago

They have a newer law library

nicole3791.bsky.social•19 days ago

It used to be Alte Münze at my Alma mater, University of Osnabrück, Germany. I got most of my books there and I participated in something called "Long night of postponed essays". However, I got my B.A. in 2017 so I don't know if it's still as nice

missoularedhead.bsky.social•20 days ago

The downtown Nashville library? Oh yes.

renatafrom.bsky.social•19 days ago

The La Trobe Reading Room at State Library Victoria. I used to volunteer there and I loved starting my shift at the World of the Book exhibition on Lvl 4 on a grey wintry day, when I could look down at the silent, deserted panopticon with the green lamps glowing softly.

janenx01.bsky.social•20 days ago

The Centralia, WA public library where I learned to read as a kid and is in my mind the platonic ideal of libraries. The interior is much more updated now (no more gorgeous wooden bookcases), but it's still perfect on the outside! We love a Carnegie Library!

ullamr.bsky.social•19 days ago

Cambridge University Library at Cambridge. Not as grand as the @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social at @ox.ac.uk but it feels you are a true scholar when looking for the books in the stacks and seeing all that scholarship!

horationelson.bsky.social•20 days ago

i don't want to dox myself so i won't be specific, but my hometown library in kentucky meant so much to me growing up. i found out literally in researching for this post that it had been condemned and closed to the public since late 2022 :(

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

this makes me very sad; the library saved my life as a kid, in so many ways.

horationelson.bsky.social•20 days ago

me too. luckily there's a new library (in a different location), but that one basically raised me

bhartoft.bsky.social•20 days ago

The Royal Library in Copenhagen. The old part makes me nostalgic for my student years. The new part, The Black Diamond, is a great place for lectures, concerts, etc. And the municipal library in Birkerød. My favourite local library, well stocked, airy and welcoming.

xtallokitty808.bsky.social•19 days ago

@nickiclarkson.bsky.social a thread for you!

xtallokitty808.bsky.social•19 days ago

Birmingham City library in the UK. They've made a stunning building, that truly belongs to the citizens of that city, in the very heart of the city.

Also very excited by the potential of OER Commons.

artinsiderla.bsky.social•20 days ago

The Getty Library. So relaxing and tranquil. As a bonus one can occasionally glimpse the ocean. Usually museum libraries are….ummmm……not so well appointed.

knittedpixel.bsky.social•16 days ago

My favourite has to be Edinburgh Central Library 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. Such a beautiful grande dame of a building. It houses the Art & Design library where I spent many happy hours, including time spent researching my Master of Arts postgrad. Also home to so much Scottish literature and there’s even a music library!

carlyasilver.bsky.social•19 days ago

https://westportlibrary.org/

joseph-m-davis.bsky.social•20 days ago

The Providence Athenaeum

ddmgembala.bsky.social•20 days ago

Ooh! I have two as well - University of Washington Suzzallo library and Multnomah County Central library.

mcnaughty.bsky.social•20 days ago

I've been thinking about going back downtown to do some reading just because the library is so beautiful and I think of you every time I go

fidelioscabinet.bsky.social•20 days ago

The same firm designed the main library in Bangor, ME.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3vZY62LxrtL7aoLr8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

edwardmills.bsky.social•19 days ago

The MMLL Library (or ‘MML Library, as it was then) at @mmll-cambridge.bsky.social. Wrote many an essay in there, comforted by its unique plasticky smell (which a librarian later confirmed to me was due to a former policy of wrapping new acquisitions).

salvagemediasf.bsky.social•19 days ago

One of my favorites: The Salaborsa Library in Bologna: https://www.bologna-experience.eu/the-salaborsa-library-and-its-incredible-uses-over-the-time/

jenniecoughlin.bsky.social•20 days ago

My hometown library, which has a claim as the first public library (1790) and has a lovely building with parts that date to 1904. https://www.franklinma.gov/238/Library-History

jkeskiah.bsky.social•19 days ago

The National Library of Finland! There are libraries with collections more relevant to my work, but this one is close, and a beautiful building! My other favourite is the library of the Ecole française de Rome, where I get to work all too seldom.

vox-magica.bsky.social•19 days ago

i want to shoot one of those davinci code movies there. not because the movies are good, but because that library looks like it'd house all sorts of historical secrets. what a stunner!

rhigarthjones.bsky.social•20 days ago

Ahhhhhh in general fancy libraries stress me out - plus obviously the library I grew up with/in still holds my heart (shout out to Burnley Central Library).

But the main Copenhagen library has amazing views of the water so I am willing to tolerate its fanciness occasionally ;)

stamfordlola.bsky.social•19 days ago

The Oodi Central Library in Helsinki is simply magical.

nananemone.bsky.social•20 days ago

John V. L. Pruyn Library in Albany, NY. My childhood refuge and happy place. Built in 1901, torn down in 1970 to build an interstate highway.

etoiline.bsky.social•20 days ago

The East Asian Library at WashU. I spent a lot of time studying there during my undergrad years, because I wouldn't be tempted to read anything since I sadly don't speak Chinese, but the atmosphere was so peaceful.

vox-magica.bsky.social•20 days ago

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

sophisteuein.bsky.social•20 days ago

True story: the stacks in this glorious library are surrounded by some gorgeous old offices, and for a very long time, those offices were occupied by the Classicists. That’s right, not by the faculty who actually could’ve read the books in the stacks.

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