# Pictures of your city's main library......



## Guest (Nov 13, 2003)

Please post pics (outside---and inside, if possible) of your city's central library


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2003)

Hong Kong Central Library


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## RafflesCity (Sep 11, 2002)

This is going to be Singapore's new National Library. u/c now.


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## Prestonian (Sep 11, 2002)

Here is my city's main library, its also the county library for Lancahire:





Not as swanky as the other libraries shown but a very beautiful building and when originally built it was the 2nd biggest in the UK.


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## waterloo (Aug 9, 2003)

Seoul's main library ±¹¸³Áß¾Óµµ?°ü

















It is really huge inside but i couldnt find any pics inside...sorry


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## tonio92 (Nov 6, 2003)

Here are some pics of the National Library of Paris ( called Bibliotheque National de France), near where I am living :


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## 3tmk (Nov 23, 2002)

NYPL:








couldn't find a decent photo


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## Behrens (Dec 29, 2002)

Buenos Aires : Biblioteca Nacional (1962) finished in 1992


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2003)

Madrid's main library (National Library of Spain):


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## Fabian (Sep 11, 2002)

In Sydney, the main library is the State Library of NSW, but cannot borrow from it.

It contains several libraries within it including the reference library, mitchell library and dixon library


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## Guest (Nov 28, 2003)

*Los Angeles, CA
Central Library*


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## Guest (Nov 30, 2003)

Vancouver City Public Library


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## terryaki (Feb 9, 2003)

*Salt Lake City Main Library*


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## kiku99 (Sep 17, 2002)

*Bangkok*

Our library is pretty old. Thai Tranditional Style building.


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## Rigadon (Mar 3, 2003)

> _Originally posted by_* waterloo *
> 
> Seoul's main library ±¹¸³Áß¾Óµµ?°ü
> 
> ...


when was this built?

It looks like a brighter less brutal version of Birmingham's


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## Logos (Nov 27, 2003)

*National Library of Greece*

*National Library of Greece* 



















Srry...couldn't find to many pics..:rant:


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

Old building of polish National Library:



















New building:


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## ClubaLibre (Nov 11, 2003)

This on is in Boston..the second picture seems to be older than me, I guess I'll have to make some better, recent ones myself


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## AtlanticaC5 (Mar 14, 2003)

In Borlänge:


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## Jo (Jul 6, 2003)

So many awesome libraries!

I think Bangkok needs a new state of the art library.. and more of them throughout the city, it's something I missed.


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## Singidunum (Jul 25, 2004)

In Belgrade, currently there is huge ongoing renovation of all libraries. There are 3 big libraries - State, City and University.

Library of Serbia is located next to the park and temple of Saint Sava.









Library of the city of Belgrade is located in Knez Mihailova street and is very small.









University Library-Svetozar Markovic is Carnegie Library.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2004)

*Irvine Library, built in 1964*

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2121469&size=lg 


Sorry I'm new here, I don't know how to upload photos directly...can someone assist please?


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## elsonic (Aug 21, 2003)

now :









soon :










still under construction (thanks to LacasseS) :


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## Orfeo (Oct 26, 2003)

Brisbane - State Library of Queensland.

currently undergoing an upgrade to this -


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## waccamatt (Mar 7, 2004)

*Columbia, SC Main Library*

Here are some pictures of the Richland County Main Library in Columbia, S.C. USA. It was named the National Library of the Year in 2001.


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## Trisuno (Dec 29, 2002)

Lyon's main library (Bibliothèque municipale de la Part-Dieu)
Inaugurated in 1972, it is the biggest municipal library in France (27 300m²)


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Anyone got pics of Vienna's Library, it's meant to be the most beautiful in the world?

There's also the King's Library in the British Museum, Lenin Library in Moscow, an amazing mix of renaissance inspired Soviet architecture, and the new Berlin library - I think it's now beaten the British Library as the biggest single library (the Washington one is housed in different locations and buildings).


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## LibertyTwo (Feb 22, 2004)

Main Library of Philadelphia, next to another building of exact design, the Family Courthouse, I believe they were modelled after two Parisian Buildings, anyone know which ones?

They are also near the Rodin Museum


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## Imperial (Aug 22, 2004)

Warsaw Library:


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## Philip Cronin (Nov 7, 2003)

LibertyTwo said:


> Main Library of Philadelphia, next to another building of exact design, the Family Courthouse, I believe they were modelled after two Parisian Buildings, anyone know which ones?
> 
> They are also near the Rodin Museum


Looks like its the two on the North side of the Place de la Concorde. They are 18th century. One of them is Hotel de Crillon, which is one of the finest in the World, and I believe the other is the Automobile Club.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

the spliff fairy said:


> Anyone got pics of Vienna's Library, it's meant to be the most beautiful in the world?


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## Paolo (Jul 16, 2004)

@Kampflamm
Is there museum now or is this still used as public library?


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## pricemazda (Feb 14, 2004)

and


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2004)

Trisuno said:


> Lyon's main library (Bibliothèque municipale de la Part-Dieu)
> Inaugurated in 1972, it is the biggest municipal library in France (27 300m²)


Are you sure ? 
(Ok, may be, I didn't read "municipal", sorry)

The previous main library in Grenoble :



















The "Bibliotheque Nationale de France - Site Francois Mitterand" :










The "Bibliotheque Nationale de France - Site Richelieu" in Paris :


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## machinehead11 (Oct 13, 2004)

*San Antonio library*

San Antonio Public Library, aka 'The Enchilada Library'














































the pictures aren't showing up. can anyone help me?


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## gruber (Jun 11, 2004)

the most important in Milano:









http://www.ambrosiana.it/eng/index.htm

History of the Library 

Founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, this great Library is situated in Lombardy and was one of the first to be opened to the public, thanks to the gesture of its famous patron (1609). Borromeo had conceived it as a centre for study and culture: it was in fact his wish that other institutions, such as the College of Doctors, the Fine Arts Academy and the Gallery, should flourish side by side.

The Cardinal collected for his Library, which was named Ambrosiana after the patron saint of Milan, a large number of codices in Greek, Latin, Vulgar Latin and various Oriental languages. These manuscripts represent precious collections that come from religious institutions, such as the Benedictine Monastery at Bobbio, the Augustinian Convent of Santa Maria Incoronata and the library of the Capitolo Metropolitano of Milan, and also from such important private collections as those of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli, Francesco Ciceri and Cesare Rovida, all illustrious scholars and bibliophiles of the 16th century. Among the innumerable benefactors that contributed to enriching the Ambrosiana, are to be noted the names of Federico Fagnani, Pietro Custodi and Giacomo Mellerio, who, in the 19th century, bequeathed their extraordinary collections of books to the Library.

The vastness of the collections, the number and value of the codices all make the Ambrosiana undoubtedly one of the most important libraries in Italy and in the world. It has had many famous librarians such as the Milanese historian Giuseppe Ripamonti, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Giuseppe Antonio Sassi, Cardinal Angelo Mai, Antonio Maria Ceriani, Cardinal Giovanni Mercati and Achille Ratti, who became Pope as Pius XI.

The Library has an historical, literary, religious and particularly retrospective classical nature, that is to say, it is dedicated to the study of the past. The Library is sustained by two Colleges, one of the Doctors - presided over by the Prefect - which superintends its cultural activity, and the Conservatori, which is in charge of its administration. Among the extremely rich collections of the Ambrosiana Library are the Arab and Oriental collections, which are exceptionally important. The glottological-dialectological library of Carlo Salvioni and the heraldic collection of Eugenio Casanovav are notable as well. Various palimpsests (with items of very great value, such as the only surviving fragments of the Vidularia by Plautus which date to the 5th century, and a part of the Gothic version of the Gospel compiled by the Arian bishop Ulfila) are to be found together with many splendidly illustrated manuscripts like the Libro d'ore Borromeo executed by Cristoforo De Predis, or the Gellio decorated and signed by Guglielmo Giraldi.

The most outstanding manuscripts are the Ilias picta of the 5th century, the famous Virgil with notes in the margin by Francesco Petrarca and illustrated by Simone Martini; the Giuseppe Flavio, in the Latin version, on papyrus; the Irish Codex; and the Provençal Codex. There are also various handwritten codices such as the De prospectiva pingendi by Piero della Francesca, the Aristotele with a commentary transcribed by Boccaccio, the Life of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro by Pietro Bembo and the handwritten texts by S. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Tasso, Galileo, not to mention the entire collections of Parini and Cesare Beccaria.

Of great worth are many of the incunabula (including the rare edition of the Decameron by Cristoforo Valdarfer, Venice 1471) and the numerous editiones principes.
The Library also posseses many valuable bindings of both manuscripts and prints, one of which is actually in human skin. Among the notworthy special collections are those of the statutes and of editions by Aldo Manuzio, Giuseppe Comino and G.B. Bodoni, as well as the abundant collection of engravings and prints of about 10,000 items.

History of the Gallery (Pinacoteca)

The Gallery was first conceived in 1607, and came into being in 1618. In accordance with the intentions of its founder, Federico Borromeo, the Gallery was created to support and serve as a model for an art Academy aimed at the formation and education of aesthetic tastes, in conformity with the dictates of the Council of Trent.

The Academy was founded in 1621, and its first chairman was the painter Giovan Battista Crespi known as Cerano. This new institution flourished at the beginning, attracting such illustrious architects, painters and sculptors, as Biffi, Mangone, Morazzone, Daniele Crespi and Nebbia. Later, the art academy faltered, finally closing in 1776.

What did remain, however, and continued to develop, was the Quadreria (Picture Gallery), which Cardinal Federico described in his volume, the Musaeum of 1625. At that time, the Quadreria already included works by Raphael Leonardo, Luini, Titian, Caravaggio, and Brueghel, which formed the nucleus of the present-day collection. At the time of the donation in 1618, there were 250 paintings, including originals and about 30 copies. Now there are more than 1500 works on panel, canvas and copper. The following are part of this collection: the Resta Gallery, or portable gallery, so-called because it is bound in a very large volume of various masters headed by Raphael, the Codex Atlanticus by Leonardo with 1750 drawings of a technical-scientific nature, and the great cartoon by Raphael depicting the School of Athens (m. 7,48 x 2,74). Purchased by Cardinal Federico for the Academy, Raphael’s cartoon presents some small variation with respect to the fresco in the Vatican in the Stanza della Segnatura.

Of the most famous paintings in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana are the Portrait of a Musician by Leonardo, the Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio, Portrait of a Lady by Ambrogio de Predis, the Madonna of the Pavilion by Botticelli, the Presepe by Barocci, the Adoration of the Mag i, by Titian, the Holy Family by Luini, and Fire and Water by Brueghel.

Adjoining the Gallery is the Museo Settala, one of the first in Italy, founded by Canon Manfredo Settala (1600-1680) who entered the Ambrosiana in 1751. It is a kind of museum of the history of science with many curios from various periods.
In the course of the 19th century the Gallery underwent a series of reconstructions due mainly to the extension of the building and the damage caused by Allied bombing in 1943. Work carried out in 1905-6, under the auspices of Luca Beltrami, Antonio Grandi and Luigi Cavenaghi is to be noted as well as the reorganization carried out in 1963 by the architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni ending with the reconstruction undertaken between 1990 and 1997.


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2004)

LibertyTwo said:


> Main Library of Philadelphia, next to another building of exact design, the Family Courthouse, I believe they were modelled after two Parisian Buildings, anyone know which ones?
> 
> They are also near the Rodin Museum



Like says Philip Cronin, are you speaking about these 2 buildings ?








On the left "Hotel de Crillon" (Palace) AND the Automobile Club de France.
On the right "Hotel de la Marine" (headquarters of the French Navy).

PS : the USA embassy is just on the left of the Hotel de Crillon.


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## nazrey (Sep 12, 2003)

*Malaysia National Library, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia*




















pictures taken 1994

View to slanted roof and main entrance 










Stairway to main entrance 










Corner of stepped pyramid roof 










View to main entrace 










Interior, main lobby 










Interior, stairwell and skylight 










Interior, library stack area 










Glasswall around stairwell 










Landscaped court 










Outdoor benches and landscaping


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## grzaniec z galicji (Dec 4, 2004)

This is the Jagiellonian Library (University Library) in Krakow.


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## kafarek (Jun 2, 2004)

warsaw librAry


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## Filter (Apr 9, 2005)

The image of what the National Library of Peru will look like, the building is almost finished. After its done it will be one of the most modern libraries of the region.


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## spyguy (Apr 16, 2005)

Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago:


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## jford_1983 (Apr 22, 2005)

This is a picture of the Central Library in Memphis










and this is a picture of the Main Library in Nashville


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## Ringil (Jul 28, 2004)

Carolina Rediviva, biggest in Scandinavia, but dont let the picture fool ya  the building got about 9 floors, 5 underground


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## lil_pc (Apr 14, 2005)

*Milwaukee Central Library*

Milwaukee Central Library photos:

www.rocket99.com/zoom/5598.html

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/images/articles/librarylobby.jpg

http://www.uihlein-wilson.com/media/centlib.jpg


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## Be_Happy (Aug 21, 2004)

Glasgow's Mitchell Library:

Europe's largest public reference library has over one million volumes, including Celtic literature, the history of the city and probably the world's largest Robert Burns collection.

http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/


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## Ashok (Jul 17, 2004)

pics on Montreal's newly opened Library: The National Library of Quebec


















Its Interior:


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## lianlianbibi (Sep 8, 2015)

good good


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## ThatOneGuy (Jan 13, 2012)

Toronto Public Library (1977)


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## Thomas Byrne (Sep 18, 2015)

bel posto:cheers:


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## nothatso (Oct 26, 2013)

Detroit Public Library
(though I live outside of the city proper)

Detroit Michigan ~ Detroit Main Public Library ~ Historic by Onasill ~ Bill Badzo, on Flickr

DPL - V by Wade Bryant, on Flickr

Detroit Public Library Murals by Chris Smith, on Flickr

Detroit Public Library Main Branch by DavidRennalls, on Flickr

Library11 by Scott Shields, on Flickr


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