These Libraries Are Gorgeous Enough To Turn Anyone Into A Bookworm

The British Library

RK Dhawan

With over 200,000 catalogued items (and three million more added per year!), the British Library is the second largest in the world. The British Library Act of 1972 established the library as an independent organization from the British Museum, where it was previously housed. The facility’s basement contains the equivalent of eight stories of climate-controlled storage and archival space. One of the library’s departments is the King George Library Tower, which contains King George III’s personal collection of books. Today, the library hosts events such as “Harry Potter: A History of Magic,” where staff showcases “rare books, manuscripts and magical objects from the British Library’s collection, capturing the traditions of folklore and magic which are at the heart of the Harry Potter stories.”