World Book Day, celebrated on 23 April by UNESCO, marks the anniversaries of the deaths of William Shakespeare and the author Miguel de Cervantes. First observed in 1995, the date has been marked as a celebration of books and the cultural wealth reading provides. In celebration of the day, here are some of the most beautiful libraries in the world, both modern and ancient, from a tiny library covered in firewood to an all-white building inspired by the Pantheon of ancient Rome.
Admont Library, in Admost Monastery in Austria, is the largest monastery library in the worldJorge Royan
The founding of Trinity College Library, Dublin, began with the establishment of Trinity College in 1592Getty
The round Stockholm Public Library was designed by Swedish architect Gunnar AsplundGetty
The Radcliffe Camera at Oxford University was built between in 1737 and 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science LibraryGetty
The only colour in the cube-shaped Stuttgart City Library, Germany, comes from the books themselvesGetty
Liyuan Library at Jiaojiehe village of Huairou district, BeijingReuters
Alexandria Library, Egypt. The original library of Alexandria was established in the third century BCGetty
New York Public Library, New York City, was developed in the 19th centuryGetty
The structure and fittings of the Malatestiana Library in Cesena, Italy, have been preserved for more than 550 yearsSailko
Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris inherited the collection of the Abbey of St GenevieveMarie-Lan Nguyen
