“Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.” -Ray Bradbury

For centuries, books have housed the collective knowledge of the world and formed the foundations of educational institutions. Given that these objects contain such value, it only makes sense that throughout history people have constructed beautiful buildings to house them.

We put together a list of some of the most beautiful libraries as captured by Instagrammers around the world. For more photos from these architectural wonders, check out their linked location pages below.

• Stuttgart City Library, Stuttgart, Germany
• Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland
• Library of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
• Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, Rio de Janiero, Brazil
• The Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen, Denmark
• George Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• Kanazawa Umimirai Library, Kanazawa City, Japan
• New York Public Library, New York City, NY