by Tom Bastek
Last updated: 6:00 AM ET, Wed October 29, 2014
Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Public Library
If you are looking for a little light reading while you are working your way around the country, why not hit up a library and actually do something from days gone by - read a real book! Here are a few of the coolest libraries across the country.
Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, MO
I have to include the Kansas City Public Library because look at that parking deck pictured above! They call it the Community Bookshelf and each book stands about 25' tall and about eight feet wide. The titles were chosen by the community and library board trustees. The library itself was established in 1873 and contains more than one million items.
The library at KC has outgrown its space multiple times in its 150-year history, resulting in a fully dedicated, built from scratch, $50 million new public library that opened in 2004. The library offers, "state-of-the-art technology, improved and increased services, meeting rooms, a screening room, a coffee shop and much more."
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons
The Boston Public Library was founded in 1848 and was the very first municipal library in the United States. It has over 24 million items in its collection which is third only in size to the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress.
The library is made up of two buildings, the Johnson Building which houses the main circulating collection and the McKim Building which holds the library's research materials. The library holds public programs, has free Wi-Fi for members and offers digital services to include database access from several providers.
New York Public Library, New York City, New York
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons
Established in 1895, the New York Public Library has over 53 million items within its collection and originally grew out of the Lenox and Astor Libraries. The library that you see in the photo above was built on Fifth Avenue from 1902-1911 and unlike the previous libraries which charged visitors to tour but not to have access to the collection inside, the New York Public Library was free to one and all.
If you think that it has a familiar look to it, it may because you saw it in Ghostbusters as well as many other movies, television shows, literature and poetry. You can even see a replica of the building in Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Florida.
Mansueto Library, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Photo courtesy of The University of Chicago
This is the only library on this list that technically isn't public. You can access it with a legitimate research project or various other reasons, but see if you can get a campus tour. I have included it for two reasons. One: the dome that was designed by Helmut Jahn is a great place for students to study under and just looks cool. Two: it is the only library in the United States that has a larger automated storage and retrieval system. Totally cool and all below ground. Like a Batcave for books!
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
James Madison gets the credit for the idea of the first congressional library and President John Adams signed an act of congress to make way for a small apartment at the capitol in Washington for 740 books to be used by congress. Suffice it to say, the collection has grown quite nicely since those day to now hold over 158 million items in its collection. The library is open to anyone with a reader identification card, however items are not to be removed from any of the buildings.
Where is your favorite library? Tell me in the comments below.
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