You might not immediately think that Baltimore, Maryland would have a building with one of the most beautiful interiors in the world, but there it is: The George Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University. The skylight-lit, cast-iron-stacked, black-and-white-marbled, neo-Greco beauty was built in 1866 and is open to the public.
Today’s college students can do just about any and all research they need from the confines of their unmade beds and messy dorm rooms. The internet, for better or for worse, has seen to that. Yet when due dates approach or all-nighters become necessary, pupils all across the country head to that most hallowed of educational buildings — the college library.
The United States has had something of a love affair with beautiful college campuses, and the libraries, in particular. Ultra wealthy philanthropists donated books, money, and more to help educate America, especially in the late 19th century. The resulting libraries often stand out as the most impressive structures on college and university campuses, resembling pantheons, cathedrals, and even palaces. So no matter how unnecessary physical manuscripts or old print editions or microfilms and fiches become, people will still go to the library. After all, they were built to inspire. Of all the gorgeous college libraries in the country, these are a handful of our favorites.