Seattle Central library, Washington, USA. The top-floor reading room offers views of Puget Sound and the surrounding mountains. Designed by OMA/LMN, completed in 2004. Photograph: Frank Elschner/Artur ImagesPhotograph: prInterior, Seattle Central library. Photograph: Frank Elschner/Artur ImagesPhotograph: prSir Duncan Rice library, University of Aberdeen, Scotland. A building inspired by 'the ice and light of the north', with eight storeys housing 13km of bookshelves. Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, 2012. Photograph: Adam MørkPhotograph: Adam Mørk/prJohn à Lasco library, Emden, Germany. This 16th-century church was bombed in the second world war and remained a ruin until the 1990s, when it was incorporated into a new library building. Jochen Bunse, 1995. Photograph: Tomas RiehlePhotograph: Tomas Riehle BFF/prInterior, John à Lasco library. Photograph: Tomas RiehlePhotograph: Tomas Riehle BFF/prSainte-Geneviève library, Paris, France. The use of iron for the Ionic columns, highly innovative in its day, made it possible to do without cumbersome masonry. Henri Labrouste, 1851. Photograph: Laif/Camera Press.Photograph: prVennesla library and culture house, Norway. The 'whale skeleton' structure and generous use of glass make this a bright, striking library that has become part of the urban fabric. Helen & Hard, 2011. Photograph: Hufton and Crow/VIEWPhotograph: HUFTON + CROW/Hufton + Crow/VIEWVennesla library interior. Photograph: Hufton and Crow/VIEWPhotograph: HUFTON + CROW/Hufton + Crow/VIEWLuckenwalde library, Germany: a converted railway building on the Berlin-Dresden line. FF Architekten and Martina Wronna, 2008. Photograph: Thomas LewandovskiPhotograph: Thomas Lewandovski/prChildren and young people's section, Luckenwalde library. Photograph: Thomas LewandovskiPhotograph: Thomas Lewandovski/pr
