Manchester's blush-pink neo-gothic cathedral of learning has been judged one of the finest library buildings in the world.

The John Rylands Library in Deansgate is featured for the first time in the Renaissance Library Calendar, which contains 12 of the most breathtaking buildings, nominated by librarians.

It is the only UK library in the calendar, where a photograph of its reading room appears alongside the library/sacristy of St Catherine's monastery in Sinai, Egypt and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works.

The John Rylands Library is one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in Europe. It was built during the 1890s in memory of the wealthy cotton merchant John Rylands, who died leaving a £2.75m fortune.

His widow Enriqueta commissioned Basil Champneys to design the building, which took a decade to complete.

The library contains a million manuscripts and books. It regularly holds exhibitions of its treasures, which include a Caxton Chaucer of 1476, believed to be the first book printed in England.

The library is being refurbished and will reopen in autumn 2005 with a modern extension on the side of the building.