Thursday 14 June 2012

Most Beautiful Libraries


   As a kid I loved to watch Beauty and the Beast. Maybe normal little girls would watch and wish that they had Belle's beautiful dresses, or a handsome prince to sweep them off their feet. Not me, I would wait eagerly until my favourite part came. Beast would open the door and lead Belle into the giant library, and I would watch with wide eyes, wishing and praying that someday I would have a library just like that!

   But just like other little girls grow up and realize that prince charming is really just a guy who sits on the couch in his tighty-whities and drinks beer and farts a lot, I realized that I was probably not ever going to have that library. What I can do though, is go through pictures on the internet and torture myself with libraries I'm probably never going to be able to afford to have in my lifetime. Admit it, you do it too...

   I was searching Beauty and the Beast library and found THIS:


    Thankfully the drool didn't short out my keyboard. This is someone's personal library. I couldn't find the name of the person who owns this, but I wonder if they spent their childhood pausing the tape at the part where Belle walks into the library. Probably. 


    Of course, a library doesn't have to be decorated like a frosted wedding cake. I love the old fashioned libraries the best. All done in burnished oak or dark cherry wood. I want a library where you walk in and imagine that Tolkien and Lewis may have just been sitting there in the old arm chairs by the fire, pipe smoke curling up to the ceiling.


      This lovely library is the personal library of Steampunk Couture seamstress, Kato. I frequent her facebook fan page to drool over the amazing steampunk clothing she makes, and then I found this and went into fits of jealousy. 


    Speaking of fits of jealousy: Here is the personal library of Jay Walker (inventor and entrepreneur).  It looks like some glorious mash up of mad scientist lab/library.


    This drool-worthy beauty is owned by none other than George Lucas. It's the library at Skywalker Ranch, where all the Star Wars bigwigs get together. I wonder if they play dress up and have epic light saber battles on the balcony. I would.


    This one is mainly coveted because it belongs to one of my all time favourite authors: Neil Gaiman. I can just imagine him in there, creating the magic, making up fantastical stories. Hiding from the hordes of rabid fans on his doorstep. Neil is famous for having crazed fans who think of him as a sort of literary rock star. Not me though, I'm not crazed. Nope.


    And then there's this one. It's no beauty and the beast library, but it has funny hats and spooky pictures, ticking clocks and dripping candles and best of all: My favourite books all in one place. Do you have a library, or a coveted picture of a library you plan to make your own one day? Or do you just watch Beauty and the Beast over and over until the VHS starts to wear out?

Edited to add: The second picture is not in fact a personal library, but the Admont Abbey library in Austria.

19 comments:

  1. What gorgeous libraries! This was one of my favorite parts of the movie, too!

    I do have a lot of shelves filled with books... Although I imagine when it comes time to move them all to a new residence, I may regret having to carry them all!

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    1. I recently moved, and I will admit, it's a bit of a nightmare hauling around huge boxes of heavy books!It definitely makes you decide which are your favourites you want to keep and which ones will make it into the thrift store pile! lol

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  2. Erin - if you ever get to the scenic US northeast, check out the town libraries in the state of Connecticut. Little bite-sized bits of the Gilded Age, they are.

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    1. My sister and I are planning a "world library tour". We're going to go to all the best libraries and take pictures. Should make a great coffee table book. lol. I'll have to take a look at the ones you mention ;)

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  3. I've got major library envy now! Hopefully when I stay in one place I will move from only e-books to creating a library of my favorites :) Until then public libraries will be my friend - I just found out the public one in Cardiff (where I study) is incredible and I haven't been! Too much time spend in the university libraries. Will definitely spend some quality time there though :)

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    1. I absolutely love public libraries too! I pretty much grew up in one, lol. I brought back armfulls of books that were so heavy I could barely carry them every week. We just moved and I'm lucky they have an awesome library. Multi-level with a bit fire place and squishy arm chairs. Yay public libraries! lol

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  4. Wow. What's a Monday without some library lust??? I want them all.

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    1. Monday does seem like a good day for library lust, doesn't it? Haha, seems sort of dull otherwise. And maybe you can just build a house out of libraries and then you CAN have them all. lol

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  5. Love the pictures!

    I applied to and was accepted by my alma mater (college) sight unseen, mostly because I hated the application process and they gave me a scholarship.

    When I first visited campus, what cinched the deal? The gorgeous old stone library beautiful archways and huge stained-glass windows.

    My husband and I do own a fair amount of books--and when we move, they go with us! As teachers and me being a writer, we feel justified in hoarding. It's worth moving all the boxes. Before we got married, I let myself be talked out of some books--and now I regret it.

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    1. You should take a picture of the college library and put it on your blog! Pretty please? lol, I want to see it!

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  6. Oh my God. I'm not the only one who was staring at the library in Beauty and the Beast? I thought I was...

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    1. No way! lol, I swear I watched it so many times the tape has worn out in that spot! haha

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  7. Great post! I looove libraries! They are my sanctuary. Kato's library is insane! I covet!!

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  8. Yay! I'm not the only library lover:) . I do have a dream library featuring a minifridge stacked with my favourite snacks, a small fireplace for winter and an air condition unit for summer, comfy leather couches where i can just relax and read...and maybe take a nap...then wake up and read some more, lol

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  9. love the library in beauty and the beast too! and the library you find, like the 2nd picture on your post, is admont abbey library in austria :) its open for visits by the way ;) google it!

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  10. I stumbled across this page after I promised my fiance I would build her a library like the one in Beauty and the Beast some day. It sounds tough, but I love having a "monument to my love" to work on - it gets me through the work day when I remember why I do what I do. It may take me a decade or two to finish, but I hope someone will always enjoy it, even when we're long gone.

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  11. I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to let you know, in case you never found out, that first "Beauty and the Beast" library is not a "private" library in the sense that it is in someone's house It's the Admont Abbey library in Austria. :-)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admont_Abbey

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