Here Are 11 Public Libraries That Have Been Invaluable To World History

Oldest.org: 11 Public Libraries Invaluable to World History

Libraries around the world have long been revered as temples of human knowledge. They’ve been a part of monasteries, royal palaces, museums, universities and even hospitals. Some boast an incredibly romantic past while others, like the Library of Alexandria, were destroyed in war or purposely purged when rulers were replaced and governments fell. Many of these libraries have survived the trials of history and are home to some of the rarest collections that document cultures through the ages.

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WNU Editor: I would have put the Vatican Library on this list.

Moscow's Libraries Are Having A Revival

Moscow's Fyodor Dostoevsky Library was renovated in 2013 and now sees some 500 visitors a day, up from just a dozen or so per day in earlier years. The library hosts language clubs, readings, lectures and concerts. Lucian Kim/NPR

NPR: Once Centers Of Soviet Propaganda, Moscow's Libraries Are Having A 'Loud' Revival

The Chistye Prudy neighborhood is one of Moscow's liveliest, with restaurants and cafes clustered along a boulevard with a tram line and grand old apartment buildings.

Before the bars fill up in the evenings, the neighborhood's most popular hangout is the Fyodor Dostoevsky Library, named for the 19th century Russian writer. While young people huddle over laptops as city traffic growls past the large windows in the main reading hall, a theater group is rehearsing a play in another room. A constant stream of visitors comes through the entrance, with the front door banging behind them.

"It's one of the best libraries here in Moscow just because it has changed so much," says Alsu Gorbatyuk, 40, an English teacher who popped in after a visit to a skating rink. "I suppose that right now, Moscow is one of the centers of library culture."

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WNU Editor: It is always good to see a library flourishing.

A Great Resource On The History Of Libraries

Bookyards Editor: For those who are interested in the history of ancient libraries, here is a great website .... History of Libraries .

The Secret Libraries Of History

The Vatican Secret Archives includes Pope Leo X’s 1521 decree excommunicating Martin Luther (Credit: Capitoline Museums, Rome)

BBC: The Secret Libraries Of History

After news emerged about an underground reading room in Damascus, Fiona Macdonald discovers the places where writing has been hidden for centuries.

Beneath the streets of a suburb of Damascus, rows of shelves hold books that have been rescued from bombed-out buildings. Over the past four years, during the siege of Darayya, volunteers have collected 14,000 books from shell-damaged homes. They are held in a location kept secret amid fears that it would be targeted by government and pro-Assad forces, and visitors have to dodge shells and bullets to reach the underground reading space.

It’s been called Syria’s secret library, and many view it as a vital resource. “In a sense the library gave me back my life,” one regular user, Abdulbaset Alahmar, told the BBC. “I would say that just like the body needs food, the soul needs books.”

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Bookyards editor: One must wonder if there are more libraries out there that have yet to be discovered.

Here Is A Great Resource On Ancient Libraries

Editor: For those who are interested in the history of ancient libraries, here is a great website (link here).

Life On A Beach ....

Home Library Ideas

10 Gorgeous Home Libraries for Nature Lovers

Bookbub: 10 Gorgeous Home Libraries for Nature Lovers

If you love nature and books, why not combine the two? Let us wow you with this list of beautiful libraries that integrate all the wonder of a room full of books with the peace and tranquility of the great outdoors. Hunkering down with a favorite book in any of these spaces would be pure bliss!

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Bookyards Editor: There are some gorgeous home libraries in the above post.

The New York Public Library Has A Human Google

From YouTube: At the New York Public Library, you can call a librarian who will answer any researchable question you might have. The help-line has been around for over 40 years, and to this day it receives more than 30,000 calls a year. Need to know the color of an arctic fox's eyes? Ever wonder if there are full moons every night in Acapulco? Well, if Google isn't your thing, these librarians have got your answer

Tianjin Binhai Library in China

Tianjin Binhai Library in China

Inside The New York Public Library

From YouTube: Discover the story behind one of New York City's most iconic buildings, the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Located at 42nd St and 5th Avenue, the landmark building is the center point of the NYPL system which includes 88 neighborhood branches and four scholarly research centers across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

This Is One Cool Library

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

A Documentary On The Library Of Alexandria

20 Awesome Private Libraries

American entrepreneur Jay Walker’s private library — so important (and massive) that his house was designed and built around it.

Flavor Wire: 20 Beautiful Private and Personal Libraries

Here at Flavorpill, we can’t really get enough of gazing lovingly at photographs of books. We know it’s what’s inside that counts, but one simple fact just can’t be avoided: books are beautiful, and they sure do warm up a room — or, in some cases, an entire building. Plus, at the risk of being totally sentimental, we think that the best books are often the most beautiful: even if their spines are shabby, the exude a kind of well-loved glow, beautiful from the inside out. We’ve taken a look at gorgeous bookstores and amazing college libraries, so we thought it was time to bring you a little inspiration for the home library — though we admit, not too many of these designs would fit in our own NYC apartments. Click through to check out our collection of beautiful private and personal libraries from all over the world, and let us know if you think your own collection should be on this list in the comments!

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Bookyards Editor: Nice!!!

10 Legendary And Mysterious Libraries Of The Ancient World

Bookyards Editor: The sad part is that these libraries no longer exist.

Five Libraries Around The World That Are Open Despite The Odds

Kabul Public Library. Photograph: Carol Mitchell

The Guardian: Five libraries around the world that are open despite the odds

On World Book Day, a look at libraries from Egypt to Dominica that have remained open despite death threats, extreme weather and terrorism

The Vanished Library in Cairo, Egypt

A converted villa in an affluent district of south Cairo is home to the Bardo Clubhouse, a buzzing cultural hub with a library on its ground floor. Founded by passionate book lover Omar Amin, who left his job in marketing in November to dedicate himself to the library full time, the multilingual collection is made up of donations, including a first edition Harry Potter and a 1927 edition of Kafka’s Amerika which Amin found while rummaging through the Egyptian capital’s book markets.

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Bookyards editor: It is a miracle that these libraries are still open.

Chrystie Hill - Libraries Present and Future

Libraries Of The Future

Bookyards Editor: A discussion on how libraries of the present and future have been influenced by those of the past?

Some Interesting Facts About Libraires

Daily Mail: The secret life of libraries... Where did Harry Potter study for his exams? Who ran up a $300k fine for a late book? What’s hidden in the Vatican’s ‘inferno’? A fascinating volume reveals our libraries’ buried treasures

SILENCE ON SET PLEASE...

Where did Harry Potter learn his magic tricks, or the X-Men hone their superpowers? Oxford’s Bodleian Library stood in as Hogwarts Library in the Harry Potter films and it has frequently been used as a film set, appearing in X-Men: First Class (2011) and The Madness Of King George (1994).

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Bookyards Editor: A lot of gems in this article on libraries.