Blech.
Some interesting trivia: the portraits on the ceilings at the Vatican and various of the national libraries were painted in scratch and sniff. (Michelangelo always worked in this genre- you really don’t want to get too close to The Final Judgment.)
I’m partial to quiet, intimate reading rooms with comfy chairs, being able to put my feet up, fresh air, a sunny view for reading but without sun on the stacks, a fireplace in the winter, large tables upon which I can spread out my work, and wireless access. The University of Toronto’s Hart House Library is as good as it gets for me.
What I don’t like are brutalist book warehouses that asusme that the reading areas should be like the interior of jail cells. Unfortunately, these cankers spread throught Canada in the 1970s – e.g. Robarts Library at the University of Toronto.
Unfortunately, not only is the reader’s environment often forgotten, but often integration with the local environment is often forgotten
Glob of infected snot (Czech National Library).
Forgot the links to the Hart House Library:
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5974358-lg.jpg
What the hell? Did the architect have a stroke? Did everyone involved have a stroke? Seriously, what in god’s name were they going for beyond ‘melting poisonous mushroom from a lousy early 90’s video game?’
Environmental consciousness. Unfortunately, the architect’s understanding of environment was focused on energy systems, and in my opinion missed out the human/cultural/historical/aesthetic components.
Okay, but who the hell approved it?
One of the most interesting new buildings I have visited is Warsaw University Library. Not only a stunning design, but the only one I know of that has a garden on its roof, which can be seen on this slide-show :-
http://picasaweb.google.com/illya.gk/WarsawLibrary#slideshow/4972135608422367250
A design competition http://www.uia-architectes.org/texte/england/Prague2006/2-resultats.html in which the head of the jury Eva Jiricna used to work with the winner of the competition Jan Kaplicky. There has been an uproar over it, from the Czech president Vaclav Klaus on down to Prague mayor Pavel Bém. Earlier this month (December 2008), the Prague Assembly put the project on the shelf. Kaplicky says he will wait for a change in government.
I love the exterior of the Biblioteca Alexandrina, the UNESCO financed current library of Alexandria. It looks far more futuristicthan ancient.
Woo Thomas Fisher! 
(It really is that gorgeous in person. You have to take a shoebox-sized elevator to move around the stacks, but it’s so worth it.)
Hart House is gorgeous, but the library itself is very small–it’s much better for cozying up to sleep or read in a comfy nook than actual research. The Reference Library at Yonge and Bloor is huge–and very airy and light, with glass elevators and water features.
I wish I could have seen the library of Ephesus in its heyday.
I was happy to see the law library at the University of Michigan in there. I never study there because there isn’t any wifi, but some of my friends do…because there isn’t any wifi.
A new major library has recently been build in Alexandria. It looks pretty impressive, IMO.
Another interesting bit of trivia, The Trinity College Dublin, Long Room wasripped off in Star Wars Episode 2.