Shhhh! Libraries Are Best Enjoyed With No One For Company

Shhh! These beautiful reading spots are best enjoyed with no one for company but the inhabitants of your favourite fictional worlds…

- Anna Walker

Library of Birmingham Rising up from the city centre like gleaming, futuristic Lego blocks, the thoroughly modern exterior of the Library of Birmingham belies its traditional ethos—to provide visitors and locals alike with free education and entertainment. Not only is this library the largest public cultural space in Europe, but it also plays home to several levels of rooftop gardens. They're the perfect place to enjoy the wind in your hair—and the gentle flipping of pages—while taking a break from studying or sight-seeing.

In the year the library opened, 2.7 million visitors flooded through its doors, and the space remains the 11th most popular visitor attraction in the UK. Paying a visit yourself? Don’t miss the book rotunda, where you’ll find yourself surrounded by colourful bookshelves on all sides, a true bibliophile’s dream.

Says senior library services manager, David Stokes, “Surrounded by illuminated fountains, a pool and trees, the library offers a mixture of stunning architecture, unparalleled views from two garden terraces, the world-famous Shakespeare Room and free exhibitions.” birmingham.gov.uk/libraries

Women’s Library, Glasgow

Don’t be surprised if, just minutes after entering the Glasgow Women’s Library, you’re offered a cup of tea and a slice of cake—this might just be the friendliest little library in Britain.

A vast array of books on women’s issues throughout history line the shelves of the only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements and a number of events across the year transform this library into a vibrant social hub, with creative writing classes, performance groups, craft sessions and more.

As well as books, the library is home to an array of artefacts including Suffragette memorabilia.