Without sacrificing any of its industrial charm, Dutch architects transformed an old train shed into a gorgeous library and community event space. “LocHal” is Tilburg’s “new public city forum,” says Civic Public Architecture, which completed the project alongside Braaksma & Roos Architects and interior design firm Inside Outside. Not only have they proven the extraordinary potential for reuse of such structures, they’ve infused life back into a disused zone of the city in the process.

Measuring nearly 50 feet tall on a footprint of roughly 60,000 square feet, the new library takes advantage of the preexisting glass walls and skylights while adding new structures to subdivide the interior space. Bookshelves, stairs and platforms made of oak, concrete and black steel give patrons plenty of space to wander, explore, discover new reading materials and attend meetings. The building also contains learning laboratories for community skill-sharing. Inside Outside designed the multi-story fabric curtains that help create porous zones within the enormous building, along with what they call the “stair landscape.”

“For 150 years Tilburg’s Spoorzone was the ultimate workshop of the Dutch Railway. Now a library and creative workplaces will be realized here in the former Locomotive Hall. The team of The Cloud Collective, renovation specialists Braaksma & Roos and Inside Outside has created an integrated spatial concept that connects inside and outside, the interior and the urban landscape. Located on the station square the new program represents itself as an inviting staircase – “a Forum” – inside these gigantic industrial halls. On the stair-landscape different scenarios can play simultaneously: a lecture, an exhibition, a workshop or quietly reading. The program of the Forum is conducted by three pairs of custom-woven curtains, hanging over the full height of the hall, which define temporary spaces for specific uses and thus allow the forum to remain open in its entirety.”

The architects chose not to repaint original elements like flaking steel pillars, simply adding newer, sleeker materials alongside them in a contrast between old and new that’s particularly striking in areas where greenery drapes down from balconies. The result is a fitting tribute to the neighborhood’s history that adapts beautifully to modern needs.

If you’ve ever gotten bored with the book you’re reading on the beach and wished you could just run into a seaside library for a new one, here’s the building of your dreams: a stunning modern repository of books so close to the sea, it’s practically on the water. Vector Architects positioned this monumental concrete structure right on the edge of China’s Bohai Bay, about three hours from Beijing, with massive glass doors opening the reading space right onto the sand.

Oriented to direct nearly all of its views to the water, the library feels strong and solid, anchored to the sand. Of course, it’s hard not to worry about all of those books being ruined in the event of a severe storm. It’s not clear whether the architects have taken any particular precautions against potential disasters, but it certainly looks like a beautiful place to sit and read, especially when the lower doors are all open to the breezes coming off the water.

Steel roof trusses support the massive canopy roof, which curves down into the wall at the rear of the building. Upper-level benches and tables look out a strip of fixed windows, and a stairway leads to a small rooftop patio. In contrast, a meditation room is  insulated from the rest of the space, the only windows a handful of skylights carefully directing natural light.

The building feels like a real-life version of a series of storm-proof fantasy beach structures by Dionisio Gonzalez – architecture with the heft and wherewithal to stand up to the elements when other buildings would be swept away.

Shifting from paper to digital media hasn’t diminished the role of libraries in our communities, with many modern designs expanding to serve as cultural hubs with cafes, soundproof video rooms and even lookout points with panoramic views of the surrounding city. These 14 designs combine older traditions with new materials, programs and functions, juxtaposing thousands of years of collected knowledge with dazzling structures made of steel, timber and glass.

Revamped Medieval Tower Library

The crumbling medieval Torre del Borgo in northern Italy gets a new life thanks to a stabilizing renovation that added a stacked timber volume for addition space and outfitted the inside with a ribbon-like black staircase. Architect Gianluca Gemini strengthened the existing walls, added more windows  and created a means of getting to each of the four levels that also functions as a sculptural centerpiece.

Historic Chapel Turned Modern Library  in Italy

A sleek perforated aluminum tower contrasts with the traditional architecture of a former chapel in Lonate Ceppino, Italy, transforming it into the ‘Elsa Morante’ public library. DAP studio contrasts old and new, airy and solid, connecting the modern volume to the pre-existing structure with glazed passageways.

Monterrey Library by Anagrama

Built-in wooden bookshelves curve up and connect to form a cocoon-like architectural feature at the Monterrey library by Mexico City-based studio Anagrama. Set within a staircase, this unusual space doubles as a reading room, with padded bench seats  on either side of the steps.

Barn-Like Timber Dainville Library

Formerly a farm building, the squat brick section of the original Danville Library gets a beautiful and functional barn-like addition to bring it into the modern era, with timber slats adding architectural interest and screening the interior from direct sunlight. The new gabled areas by BplusB architects give the interior a cathedral-like feel.

New Library for Baghdad by AMBS Architects

The first new library for Baghdad since the 1970s, this unusual structure by AMBS architects takes its shape from the arabic Kufic word for ‘read.’ Stretching out into a lake, the building will feature the world’s largest reading room as well as a massive double-curved glass roof to flood the interiors with natural light.

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Room To Read In A Digital World 14 Modern Library Designs

Matte black steel and timber-clad stacked volumes fill in empty spaces throughout the medieval Torre del Borgo in northern Italy, a recent renovation stabilizing the crumbling stone walls and connecting the four stories together for transformation into a public library. Still strong after all these centuries, the stone shell of the fortified building works in concert with modern materials to create a space that provides an important function to the community, and helps preserve its history.

Before it was re-designed, the Torre was not only falling apart piece by piece, it lacked adequate means of passage from one floor to the next, and the interiors were unfinished. It needed structural support, extra space and additional windows to make it usable for the city of Bergamo.

Architect Gianluca Gemini came up with “an architectonic and functional reinterpretation of the building” that identifies solutions to the degradation. Black iron ramps and walkways cut across the four main halls, making them fully accessible and highlighting a contrast between the smooth steel and glass and the rough, mottled stone. This solution is visually striking, invisible from outside and leaves plenty of room for library patrons to read and browse.

The timber and concrete addition features floor-to-ceiling glazing to bring more natural light to the interior, and adds floor space, without significantly altering the original stone structure.

Peruse the waterproofed selections at Minnesota’s Floating Library, renew your library card at a bus stop in Bogota, or select a volume from the shelves mounted to a tank-shaped ‘Weapon of Mass Instruction.’ These 12 traveling libraries and pop-up book stands bring the love of reading to the city streets, and even to the most remote corners of Mongolia via camel.

Weapons of Mass Instruction Tank Library

Artist Raul Lemesoff was commissioned by 7UP to create ‘Weapons of Mass Instruction,’ a 1979 Ford Falcon transformed into a tank-shaped library, for World Book Day 2015. The vehicle features a rotating upper chamber, a faux cannon and room to store nearly 900 books in various compartments along the exterior. The library travels throughout Argentina, both urban and rural, to bring free books to anyone who wants them.

Mobile Beach Library in France

French architecture firm Matali Crasset brought more than 300 titles to becah goers in the seaside town of D’Istres via a pop-up library made of steel and tarps. The tent-like structure includes three shaded reading alcoves.

Bus Station Library

This urban book stand in Bogota, Colombia is part of the Paradero Para Libros Para Parques (PPP) program, created to promote literacy across the country. There are currently 47 of these bus stop libraries across Bogota, with many more located in other cities. A volunteer staffs each one for about 12 hours per week.

Pedal-Powered Mobile Library

The Denver Public Library literally brought its services to the streets in the form of DPL Connect, a pedal-powered mobile library and wi-fi hotspot that can travel to parks, concerts, farmer’s markets, coffee shops and anywhere else people gather. It’s stocked with a rotating collection of books tailored to the bike’s location, and the librarian pedaling the cart can provide traditional library services like help with digital downloads and reading suggestions.

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Pop Up Books 12 Mobile Libraries