A library is a collection of information and resources in print or in other forms that is organized and made accessible for reading or study. The word derives from the Latin liber ("book"). The origin of libraries lies in the keeping of written records. The first libraries as repositories of books were those of the Greek temples.

Before the development of the modern printing devices, the libraries had a limited number of books. They were used also as the storage places for precious manuscripts, maps and other important documents.

The luxury libraries were built by the Royalty, the Church, or by important Colleges. Many of them were housed in palaces or monasteries.

In Part One of this presentation, the following libraries were presented:Wiblingen-Germany, Angelica-Italy, Di Bella Arti-Italy, St. Genevieve France, Richelieu-France, Senate-France, Picton-England, St. Florian Austria, St. Gallen-Switzerland, Prague-Czech Republic, Trinity-Dublin, Metten-Germany and Waldassen-Germany.

This Part Two presentation selected a few more of these luxury libraries. There are many others remarkable constructions; however the space was limited.

Melk Abbey is an Austrian Benedictine abbey. It is located above the town of Melk on a rocky outcrop overlooking the river Danube in lower Austria. A school was founded in the 12th century and its monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. The impressive Baroque abbey was rebuilt between 1702 and 1736.

Melk Abbey Library

The Mafra National Palace is a monumental palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal. Its dimensions are so huge that it dwarfs the city. The palace-monastery is said to be Portugal's attempt to rival the Spanish palace at Escorial outside Madrid.

The library is truly the highlight of the Mafra palace. It is 88m long, 9.5m wide and 13m high. The magnificent floor is covered with tiles of red, grey and white marble.

In the Mafra Library, there are natural techniques for conservation of the books, such as the lack of space between the wall and the books (so it doesn't create humidity).There are also a few bats that inhabit this building, eating any insect that could destroy the invaluable treasure of the old books.

Admont Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the townof Admont in Austria. It contains the largest monastic library in the world.

The Admont library hall was built in 1776 and is 70 metres long. It contains 70,000 volumes of the monastery's entire holdings of 200,000 volumes. The ceiling consists of seven cupolas, showing the development of human knowledge.

Another area of the Admont Library.

The Széchényi Library is in Budapest and it is the national library of Hungary.It was founded in 1802 by the Count Ferenc Széchényi. In 1985 it was moved to its new home, in the Buda Castle Palace.

The National Széchényi Library's main task is to collect, process and preserve all the written heritage of Hungary and all documents pertaining to it. Made by trees from the Bakony Hills, the carved and inlay-decorated furnishings are especially noteworthy.

The Joanina Library is the Baroque library of the University of Coimbra, built in the 18th century. It is located in upper Coimbra, Portugal.

The Joanina library contains about 250,000 volumes, namely works of medicine, geography, history, humanistic studies, science, philosophy and theology.

Over the doors, the Joanina Library exhibits the national coat of arms.

At the Joanina Library, the painted ceilings blend harmoniously with the rest of the decorations.

The Austrian National Library has 7.4 million items in its collections. It is located in the Hofburg Palace and also in the Mollard-Clary Palace, both in Vienna.

The fresco in the central dome at the Austrian Library represents Emperor Karl VI. Around him, all kinds of allegorical figures are met in a complicated theme, which try to symbolize the virtues of the Habsburg's royal family.

El Escorial is an immense palace, monastery, museum, and library complex located at San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a town 45 kilometers northwest of Madrid, Spain.

The vault of the El Escorial library's ceiling is decorated with frescoes depicting the seven liberal arts: Rhetoric, Dialectic, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astronomy.

A famous armillary sphere is located in the library at El Escorial. It was constructed in 1582 by Antonio Santucci.

An armillary sphere is a celestial sphere with a model of the Earth of the Sun, placed in the center. It was useful as a teaching tool for solving various astronomical problems.

The buildings at the Strahov monastery were constructed mainly in the 17th and 18th century. The most interesting parts of the monastery are the libraries, located in the Theological Hall and Philosophical Hall.

The Strahov's Theological Hall was built between 1671 and 1679. The frescoes on the ceiling took four years to complete and they depict the profession of the librarian. In the hall are several 17th century geographical and astronomical globes.

The Strahov's Philosophical Hall was built between 1782 and 1784. The ceiling's frescoes depict the history of mankind.

Oxford University has a rich and diverse library sector comprising of over one hundred individual libraries. There are major research libraries, libraries attached to the faculties, departments and other institutions of the University, and college libraries.

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford.

Radcliffe Library was taken over by the Bodleian and renamed the Radcliffe Camera (the word camera means room in Latin).

One of the halls of the Bodleian library.

Divinity school and library, built 1427-1483, is the oldest school in Oxford.The building was used in the Harry Potter film as the Hogwarts' hospital.

Queen College Library, Oxford.

The Wren Library was completed in 1695 as designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren. It has exquisite classical proportions and maximizes space and light, having bookcases below window level.

The first floor of the Wren Library is decorated with limewood carvings and furnished with a series of marble busts of College alumni, including Francis Bacon and Sir Isaac Newton.

The Department of Justice Library was built at the end of the 19th century, when there was no electricity. To allow as much light in as possible, the roof was constructed as a leaded glass dome and daylight could filter down to the floor thanks to the open cast-iron staircases and balustrades.

The magnificent Abbey at Waldsassen, Germany was originally constructed in 1585.

The library at Waldsassen Abbey was completed in1726. There are 10 life-size wood carved figures which support the library galleries, and their costumes and features suggest that they are depictions of fools.

The frescos on the ceiling at the Waldsassen Library

were painted in 1724 by Karl Hofreiter.

The Bucharest Central University Library was founded in 1895.

The Vatican Library is located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts.

Sistine Hall at the Vatican Library.

Originally built as a monastery, Pannonhalma became an abbey in 1541. As a result of Ottoman incursions into Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was turned into a fortification.

The Pannonhalma Abbey has a beautiful library.On the four sides of the main hall's ceiling there are painted allegories, showing the Law, Theology, Medicine and the Arts.

Opened in 1906, Livraria Lello is one of the most beautiful bookstores in Porto.

The curved stairs blend perfectly with the walls and the ceiling.

Library Quotations

I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book. Groucho Marx

I had plenty of pimples as a kid. One day I fell asleep in the library. When I woke up, a blind man was reading my face. Rodney Dangerfield

Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest. Lady Bird Johnson

A good book is the best of friends. English Proverb The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. Mark Twain

The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries. Descartes

Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container. Unknown

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other people have lent me. Anatole France

“Classic": A book which people praise but don't read. Mark Twain

Never judge a book by its movie.  JW Eagan

An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them. Unknown

To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one. Unknown Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Francis Bacon

To those with ears to hear, libraries are really very noisy places.  On their shelves we hear the captured voices of the centuries-old conversation that makes up our civilization.  Timothy Healy

Reading is thinking with someone else's head instead of one's own. Unknown Library: A place where people lower their voices and raise their minds. Richard Armour

Nobody graduated from a library. Nobody graduated without one. Debbi Healy

Library Quotations Page 2

EVERYBODY IS READING A BOOK! GO TO YOUR LIBRARY AND GET ONE ALSO.

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Presentation by Dan Calistrat

dcalistrat@aol.com Pictures from the Internet

Music: Fur Elise-Beethoven November 2009