A World of Books

Europe

England

The Kennel Club Library in London, England has thousands if books about dogs and is the largest such library in Europe. The books include every Kennel Club-recognized dog breed. The topics covered include health of dogs, veterinary care, breeding and dogs in art and literature. In the rare book section the oldest book dates back to the 16th century and has to do with forest laws and what kinds of dogs could be kept in the forest, For breeders there are scrapbooks, notebooks, and dog memorabilia, Besides club yearbooks and newsletters there are also many different national and international magazines and dog periodicals. The library is by appointment only and they also have the largest dog art gallery in Europe.

The National Art Library is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington West, London, England. It is a reference library open to the public and is the curatorial department for the design, craft, and art of books. This library specializes in information about the fine and decorative arts from many different countries and periods. It is a lovely library with over a million items and their collection keeps growing. Visitors will fine prints, drawings, paintings and photos, furniture, and woodwork and a whole lot more.

France

The catacombs are found lying deep beneath the "City of Light" Paris, France. They have become a popular tourist attractions. Visitors wear miners' helmets since there is no electricity to pierce the deep darkness. No one know what they might find down below and apparently the souls of the dead wander here.

Most of the catacombs have been illegal to enter since 1955. Adventurous explorer known as cataphiles have made a world of their own in the catacombs where they sculpt, paint, and create other forms of art. They have built trapdoors, false walls, and secret chutes so that they won't be discovered. In one of their secret chamber they have set up the La Librarie, filled with books on hand-carved shelves. Books can be borrowed for reading as long as you find a cataphile to show you the way.

The Bibliotheque Nationale de France is a large library in Paris, France with one of the largest and most diverse collections of printed material in the world, This library is also called the Francois-Mitterrand Library, The origins of it date back to 1368 at which time it was founded by Charles V. Until the late 1800s it ws the largest library in the world. When the library ran out of space a new library was built along the Seine River designed by Dominique Perrault. The building consists of four L-shaped skyscrapers around an open square and has each is 22 stories tall. There are over ten million book on topics like the arts, law, economics, languages and literature, science and technology, humanities, philosophy and a whole lot more.

An impressive collection from antiquity has over 5,000 Greek manuscripts and an extensive collection of antique coins. There is also an extensive collection of maps, drawings, paintings, sheet music, phonograph records, medals and antiques. Visitors enjoy seeing the Louis XIV globes that are on display.

The Biblioteque National de France has the honor of acquiring a copy of every publication that is printed in France and published the Bibliographie de la France.

The Netherlands

The Cuypers Library is the oldest and largest art history library in the Netherlands. The library is housed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It has a lovely and impressive reading room There are thousands of book along the walls and a spiral staircase takes readers through the different levels. This is a research library and visitors often stop to look at the reading room. The library dates back to the 19th century and has been collecting books since 1885. You can find history books, journals, periodicals, as well as catalogs about art auctions, exhibitions, trades, and collections. The reading room is open to all visitors.

Germany

The Stuttgart Municipal Library in Stuttgart, Germany is located in a 9-story building that looks like a large crystalline cube sitting on a grassy area at Mailander Plaza. The library has access from all four sides. The entry level features a central space called the "Heart" it represents the spatial and meditative focal point of the whole building. Above this four-story core space rises the five-story pyramid-shaped reading room.

The reading room is surrounded by study rooms along a facade with a glass ceiling. There are also individual areas like the Children's Library, the Music Library, the Study Rooms, Graphoteque, administration and cafe. The accessible roof offers amazing view of the city.

Portugal

The Mafra National Palace Library is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, At one time it was a Royal Convent built in the Baroque style and is located near the capital Lisbon. Portugal. The library is the largest monument in the country. The palace has 1200 room and more than 4,700 windows and doors.

Visitors can see the worldwide famous Six Pipe Organs in the Basilica that have been crated to play at the same time, These organs hold the world record for the largest historic Carillons, a series of 98 bells that are all in tune with one another.

The Convent Library dates from 1771 and has a collection of over 16,000 leather-bound volumes as well as rare manuscripts. There are many rows of wooden bookshelves in the Rococo style that are situated on the sidewalls in two rows that are separated by a balcony with a wooden railing.

These books have been specially preserved. The library has a bat colony kept in boxes during the daytime and let out at night when they go hunting for insects and eating them so these insects cannot damage the expensive books, The library is open to researchers, historians, and scholars.

South America

Brazil

The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading is located in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was founded on May 14, 1837. The library was built in the neo-Manuelino architectural style and designed by architect Rafael da Silva e Castro. The facade of the building was inspired by the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal and built with limestone rock from Lisbon, Portugal, At the entrance are statues and medallions depicting distinguished Portuguese. The library dates back to 1887 and has a large collection of Portuguese books, Its collection is now at 350,000 books and is known for having the largest collection of Portuguese literary works outside of Portugal, Around 6000 new books are received per year. Visitors can also see impressive paintings.