A bit of a nerd alert here ... the following post deals with a place many of us haven't visited since grade school - so feel free to fast-forward if you are not a fan of the literary arts. The rest of us will geek out at places like Bibliotheek Amsterdam - an architectural and bibliotheq-lical wonder located about five minutes walk from Amstedam's Centraal Station.
It's part of what might be called the "new" Amsterdam. "Old" Amsterdam buildings are the homes, bridges, and cobblestone streets from the past several centuries - beautiful, quaint, happily cramped, and the stuff that most of us see on postcards. What is less often seen is the really cool and modern interior/exterior design that also permeates the city.
Overlooking the water and the entire city to the south, the main central library cost 80 million Euros to build and is easily the coolest library you've ever seen, seemingly intended as much for the tourist as for the student.
The lighting and layout - seven floors in total - evokes an Apple store-ish feel, with several hundred Mac displays and hundreds of quiet corners to read or study.
Occasionally, you'll be able to catch a concert here, with a piano player or singer belting out tunes on a given afternoon, in addition to cultural events like art openings. If you're handy with it, you can simply sit down at the piano on the main floor and tickle the ivories.
Any time of day, you can head to the affordable chicness of Vapiano attached to the front of the building, or head to La Place on the 7th floor for all meals (tip: get the Thai stir-fry for lunch) or a dessert and a coffee, with sweet views and photo ops of the entire city.

www.oba.nl
Oosterdokskade 143, 1011 DL Amsterdam
+31(0)20 523 0800
Google map: bit.ly/qXStAK

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This building is quite imposing both inside and outside. Worth popping in to see the impressive interior. Free tours at 11am and 2pm daily

455 5th Ave, New York
+1(212) 237-8225
www.nypl.org
Google map: bit.ly/mB4EdU

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Part of the Liverpool Cultural quarter,
William Brown Street is the only UK street to consist of only museums, galleries and libraries. The road consists of great neo-classical buildings and leads to the Steble fountain and Wellington Column. It also hosts World Museum Liverpool, the Walker Art Gallery and Liverpool Central Library.

William Brown Street, Liverpool. Nearest station - Liverpool Lime Street.

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It's a really nice university town with some great coffee places, like the Java House and the Prairie Lights Bookshop which also has a small Java House, perfect for working on your laptop. The centre has a funny fountain which keeps children sweet for hours. There are some decent Indian place (like always, they are run by Sri Lankans) where you can have a lunch or dinner. The university library is huge, and you can easily spend days in it. It's always open, I think. I spent many nights there. America being a very Christian country, there are a lot of churches. I went a few times to First Mennonite Church of Iowa City and experienced a very warm atmosphere. When a good friend of mine died, they helped me to go through it. They are great.

Iowa City's airport is the one from Cedars Rapids. You can also take a Greyhound to Iowa City, f.i. from Chicago.

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Much, much more than a library, and open to everyone. There's something for everyone: exhibitions, an auditorium for film showings and lectures, educational activities, tours behind the scenes, shop, Pen Dinas restaurant, and fantastic views over Aberystwyth and Cardigan Bay.

Penglais, Aberystwyth.
www.llgc.org.uk
01972 632000
Railway station in Aberystwyth

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Supremely nostalgic look back at Boston's most famous son. Worth it for the views over Boston harbour and the massive flag in the foyer - take it all with a pinch of salt though.

www.jfklibrary.org

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Fantastic acoustics in this glass globe room.

www.marybakereddylibrary.org/exhibits/mapparium.jhtml

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Manchester Central Library is not only architecturally impressive with its neoclassical style (shaped like a pantheon), it also houses a huge collection of publications on various media.

The shape of the building is circular so, when you are on one of the upper floors and you walk along, before you know it, you find yourself where you started without realising you're going round in a circle.

The building also houses the Library Theatre which regularly hosts high profile productions.

St Peter Square (tram stops there too) next to the town hall. www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries/central/index.htm

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This might seem like an odd idea but the Alcazar library is honestly an interesting thing to visit in Marseille for those seeking to understand the life of the city.

An old music hall and theatre, which welcomed Jacques Brel, Charlie Chaplin and Georges Brassens before closing, the Alcazar has only been open to the public as a library since 2004. It is part of a scheme to invest in the Belsunce area of the city which, like most of the centre of Marseille, has an overwhelmingly working class and immigrant population.

It is a vast, modern and beautiful building, clean and filled with light and people during its typically Mediterranean 11am until 7pm opening hours.

The contrast is incredible between the cool, tranquil space of the library and the noisy, dirty and sunbaked road outside, where a tram line is currently being built and hundreds of people go in and out of shops and cafes selling Muslim wedding clothes, north African pastries, mint tea, halal meat, and CDs and videos of Moroccan pop stars.

There are constantly changing exhibitions, a press area and frequent film screenings.

Bibliothèque l'Alcazar
58 Cours Belsunce
13001 Marseille
www.bmvr.marseille.fr
Map: tinyurl.com/2rwy9j

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Open to the public, this is the largest independent library outside of London and a real gem.

Housed in a magnificent Grade II listed building, just how a library should be with balconies, clanking radiators, statues and spiral staircases.

Best of all it offers the perfect sanctuary to escape from the hustle of the city to while away a few hours poking around the book shelves stuffed full of fascinating reads, drinking coffee or catching recitals.

The Lit & Phil
23 Westgate Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
www.litandphil.org.uk
Tel 0191 232 0192

Nearest Rail & Metro Stations: Central Station

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The Central Library has a beautiful main reading room and free internet access. A good place to read, study and reflect. It's possible to take a tour of the building. The haunted yarn given by the librarians sounds like they've seen the opening scenes in Ghostbusters one too many times.

College Green, BS1 5TL;
tel: 0117 903 7200;
www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Libraries/central-library.en

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The State Library is worth a visit for the catalogue and the architecture. The La Trobe Reading Room is breathtaking.

From their website: The State Library of Victoria is on the corner of Swanston and La Trobe Streets at the northern edge of Melbourne's central business district; www.slv.vic.gov.au

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Architect Sir John Soane's house, museum and library. Soane designed this house to live in, but also as a setting for his collections of antiquities and works of art. The museum was opened for the benefit of students when Soane was made Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in 1806 and on his death in 1837 a trust was established to maintain the Museum, 'as nearly as circumstances will admit' in the state in which it was left. Both the collections and the house itself are fantastic and admission is free.

13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, +44 (0) 20 7440 4263 www.soane.org/ nearest tube - Holborn

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The Bibliotheque Nationale is France's national library. It was designed to resemble four open books, each facing another. It is one of the most imposing features along the banks of the River Seine. The archives are in each of the glass towers and the library is underground.

It's a bit of a hike to get to but well worth a visit if you're tired of seeing more obvious sites like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur etc.

Quai François-Mauriac
75706 Paris

Tel: 01 53 79 59 59
URL: www.bnf.fr
Closest Metro: Quai de la Gare

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The public libraries in Helsinki offer free internet usage (asking that users only stay on for a maximum of 30 minutes).

It is possible to find free net consoles in some shopping centres. But the keyboard and interface is fiddly and a pain if you have to stand the whole time!

Various libraries in the capital

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This ugly building next to the Central Station is actually quite vibrant. There is a gallery, library, cafe, theatre and shops. My favourite area is the Lava Lounge where you can go to relax and enjoy whatever event has
been arranged.

www.kulturhuset.stockholm.se

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