Beautiful Libraries of the Western World

Found this from -ben.

I love going to libraries. The joy of being surrounded by shelves of books, of various genres, and modifying Forrest's quote: "Life is like a box of chocolates library of books; you never know what you gonna get". The surprise and exhilaration of randomly picking up one which you like; thumbing your fingers through each and every page, savoring the words in your mind as one would to a glass of vintage wine as they bring you to another world...

One could spend a lifetime in these hallowed halls. -ben
Indeed!

I love Georgetown's Rigg library. I did a double take when I visited the campus during one spring break, literally gawking through the door window.

Riggs of Georgetown

My favorite is the Library of Congress though.

Don't you find the smell of musty books, erm, orgasmic?

*

Imagine a cold wintry night on campus - the ground outside is frozen stiff and you can hear the wind howling and pounding at the glass windows. Here you are sitting snugly next to the electric heater with a cup of warm cocoa in one hand and your favorite book on the other. There are other students around you, but the place is quiet. Everyone is engrossed in his/her book.
- My idea of how I would spend my winter months in college. (When I was in my first year.)

The reality was of course, quite different since I took a brutal undergrad courseload. Reading (outside of class work) was a luxury I could not afford.