Libraries of the rich and famous.

I'm reading in the Rutherford Humanities library a lot these days, and while it's not an amazing library, it does get the job done. The well-stocked shelves are the main attraction.
That said, There's something about the physical space of a really great library that adds immensely to the experience. It would be amazing if I could do all of my reading in One of these libraries.

One of many, but what an example!

I've been in the Bodelian, but sadly the actual reading rooms open for students aren't quite as nice as the one in the picture these folks got; that's some kind of special museum room now. They frown at you when you walk in and look around.
It'd be a lot of fun to study the way the regional attitude toward reading and words and preservation of such things has effected certain kinds of library architecture; I know there's a travel and research grant out there somewhere just waiting to take me to see libraries and touch books...

I have to go back to studying now. Perhaps it's best that I don't have access to one of those libraries; as I'd spend as much time with the architecture as I would with the books.
Waugh.

(Thanks, e, for the link!)