10 Most Beautiful Libraries In The US

These are our picks for the top ten most beautiful libraries in the US.

Every time I watch Beauty And The Beast, I cry for Maurice, love to hate on Gaston, and sing along to Be Our Guest. But I pause only once – at Belle’s Library. Thick titles crammed into high walls. Curved staircases swirl past spines. A room so filled with books, my heart feels full.

My dream library looks a lot like Belle’s. But it’s also a Pinterest board mix of bucket list libraries around the US that I’ve come to love (and make every excuse to visit). 

Here are the most beautiful libraries in the US. 

Armstrong-Browning Library

When I first visited Waco five years ago (has it been five years already?), I expected Magnolia Market to be the highlight of my trip. But the moment I stepped into Baylor’s Armstrong-Browning Library, I knew this space was the showstopper. 

Without a doubt, the Armstrong-Browning Library is one of the most beautiful libraries in the US. It’s dramatically dark. In shadowy rooms, light slants across thick classics and thin volumes of poetry. 

Armstrong-Browning Library’s design is a stir of European influences. Its relief-graved bronze doors mimic those from a 15th-century baptistry in Florence. The McLean Foyer’s open layout opts for a spirited recreation of the Leighton House in England. The Treasure Room’s floors follow Marie Antoinette’s design for the Palace Of Versailles. 

But the little details – stained-glass interpretations of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems, artistic renditions of their words, and on-wall quotes – turn a chaotic hodgepodge of ideas into a curated book-lovers haven. 

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Beinecke looks out of place on Yale’s campus. While the rest of the square is old, grand, bricked, and squat, Beinecke Library resembles a giant storage container. From a distance, you might mistake it for an oversized IKEA purchase. 

But on the other side of the cube-punched walls is an altar of books – rare books. Rare books washed in a soft orange glow. Rare books that sit under the illusion of impossibly tall shelves.

Beinecke is an impersonal experience. Over the years, it has evolved into a New Haven museum, with popular displays like a Gutenberg edition Bible and Audobon’s Birds Of America. 

But it’s still beautiful on the inside. And the library teaches an important lesson: don’t judge a book (ahem, library) by its cover.  

Boston Public Library

The 176-year-old Boston Public Library has many faces. It was a backdrop in Pink Panther 2. It boasts murals by Edwin Abbey and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. It provides a home for over 23 million books and manuscripts and maps and letters, making it the second-largest public library in the United States. 

And although the New York Public Library is better known (we blame the screen time), the Boston Public Library rivals it in every way. The Bates Hall lifts it to the status of legendary. Barrel-vaulted ceilings. English oak shelves.

The Boston Public Library is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful libraries in the US.  

George Peabody Library

Finding parking near the George Peabody Library is tough. I tried to visit one day during my time in Philly and finding solid parking took all of two hours. 

But as a book nerd, it was worth it. Situated in Baltimore, Maryland, The George Peabody Library, part of the expansive John Hopkins campus, has earned the moniker “Cathedral Of Books.” 

Peabody looks a bit like a chapel. It also looks like a vault. The skylight casts an amber glow on packed shelves. The iron balconies hold up a fairytale scene.

As I explored Edmund G. Lind’s book-towered heaven, Hallelujah crescendoed in my head. 

“There’s a blaze of light in every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard.”

Iowa Law Library

Iowa’s Law Library resembles Belle’s library the most. But the only way to visit is via a Saturday-only guided tour. 

If you’re a book-lover, it’s worth rearranging a schedule for. The stairs are perfect ringlets, like wound-up coils of curls. It’s visually stunning in every sense of the word. 

Library Of Congress

The Library Of Congress was one of my favorite libraries to visit growing up.

It’s a lot to take in at once – statues, window art, colored walls, marbled columns, muraled ceilings, and books upon books upon books. If you took every shelf in the Library Of Congress and lined them up, it would reach from the outskirts of Paris to the border of Czechia. How crazy is that?

Beneath the Library Of Congress is a series of tunnels that members of Congress use to access the archives quickly. Over 120 million artifacts are here, from books to ancient Chinese woodblock prints.

New York Public Library

My mum and I always took the subway down to the New York Public Library when she lived in NYC. And I loved every visit.

The iconic Rose Reading Room wows. It’s a stunning space – 52-foot tall ceilings and gilded skyscapes. Chandeliers halfway stooped to a runway floor.

San Antonio Library

The San Antonio Public Library is one of the most unique libraries in the US. It resembles Muralla Roja, Ricardo Bofill’s postmodern Spanish apartment complex, but the architect here is Ricardo Legorreta. And his vision plays on shapes, textures, and tones.

This downtown library feels like a middle-grade novel come to life. It’s wrapped in the same suspend-your-disbelief imagination and ignite-the-senses colors.

Seattle Public Library

The eleven-story Seattle Central Library is built to impress. Expect text on floorboards and text on walls, a viewpoint from level ten, diamond paneling, and neon-lit halls and rooms.

The unorthodox architecture looks alien. But somehow, it works.

University Of Michigan Law Library

You don’t have to study law to visit the University Of Michigan’s Law Library. But you’ll want to bring a book to savor while taking in the views.

UOM’s library is one of the quietest areas on campus. It’s also one of the prettiest.

Look up when you first enter—the ceilings are grand and opulent. Then grab a coffee (despite the old-school appearance, there’s a Starbucks on campus), find a place to sit, and read.

Did you enjoy this guide to the most beautiful libraries in the US? What are your favorite libraries in the US? Let me know in the comments below!