<p>I remember seeing a similar thread about which schools looked most like Harry Potter which inspired me to ask which college has the best library system/collection. I know princeton has a famed rare books room but what else is out there?</p>
<p>I think it was UConn where I visited that had a gorgeous library.</p>
<p>I'd say the best library would be the one that doesn't have the old hag or snooty guy with an english accent telling you to be quiet and not letting you just look though materials, but making you request a certian one, even though you're not exactly sure which one it is.</p>
<p>Also I'm part Engish, so nothing against english people</p>
<p>One of the main reasons I loved Oberlin so much was because the library was amazing. Lots of great places to sit, a sunroof, cool shaped desks, and the WOMB CHAIRS! Of course they also have a great selection.</p>
<p>Emory's library system is really nice.</p>
<p>dartmouth has a fantastic library- it's sooo pretty and there's a million "nooks" to study in</p>
<p>In all son's college visits, the library that really blew him away was Lafayette's. I didn't see it, but he still says "it was awesome".</p>
<p>Boston College has a nice library, if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>The London School of Economics has a really modern and cool lookining library. It also had the biggest collection of social science related books in the world.</p>
<p>University of Illinois has the biggest public university library in the US. Counts for something. I dunno about the atmosphere, though.</p>
<p>Harvard has over 90 libraries in Cambridge and Boston. It's the largest library system in the world after the library of Congress. My personal faves include the Kirkland House library (an actual colonial frame house, with lots of great study nooks) and Langdell (the law school library -- I often studied there as a college senior).</p>
<p>I really liked Cornell's library system--there was a good deal of different buildings and some of them had really beautiful places to sit around. There was no shortage of facilities, either. I'm sure other libraries have wireless keyboards and 4-screen monitors as well, but Cornell's were pretty trippy.</p>
<p>I thought the British Library was the biggest followed by the Library of Congress and then Harvard.</p>
<p>My daughter and I thought the library at Knox was gorgeous. Lots of old wood and glass, fireplace...I don't know how the collection was but the ambiance...(sigh)...</p>
<p>Several of Harvard's libraries are wonderful places to explore or just sit and read. I also love some of the libraries at Univ. of Toronto. They, like Harvard, have many, and they have the third largest number of library materials after Harvard and Yale. Their main library, Robarts, is shaped like a peacock; one of the most unusual buildings I've ever seen.</p>
<p>BC has a nice one</p>
<p>Cornell has something like 17 libraries on the Ithaca campus (with others located at medical centers in NYC and Qatar). </p>
<p>The best looking one is the A.D. White library though, check it out:</p>
<p>That stamp building (rare books) on the Yale campus is pretty stunning...</p>
<p>But the library I remember as the most interesting was Vassar. It had Macs on one side of the hallway and PCs on the other; there were really nice balconies with sitting areas and stuff, and it was student staffed (a plus in my opinion). I think I remember them saying it was around a million volumes.</p>
<p>columbia's library is gorgeous as well</p>
<p>And Vassar's library would be a <em>gorgeous</em> place to work. All that stained glass!</p>