{"id":510,"date":"2017-03-21T22:47:21","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T20:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/?p=510"},"modified":"2017-03-22T10:24:37","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T08:24:37","slug":"temples-of-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/temples-of-books","title":{"rendered":"Temples of books"},"content":{"rendered":"

A library is a sacred space indeed. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sanctuary where you lower your voice and let your mind soar. Whether modest or sublime, a library is the ideal haven from the busyness of everyday life. A shrine where you can be transported to a destination of choice by none other than a magical collection of words \u2013 on a medium that was once a living tree \u2013 and the fertility of your imagination. O noble sacrifice, o noble ritual!<\/p>\n

To celebrate National Library Week in South Africa, I\u2019ve compiled a collage of several of the world\u2019s most hallowed libraries. Libraries where the architectural magnificence inspires mute reverence, allowing the tightly-shelved tomes to whisper wisdom from forgotten eras.<\/p>\n

My favourite grand library is the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale de France which I was fortunate enough to visit while doing research. This library is home to one of the largest collections of manuscripts in the world. (Incidentally, in French, a \u2018librairie\u2019 is a bookstore.) Enjoy the visual feast.<\/p>\n

\"Biblioth\u00e8que<\/a>

Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale de France, Paris<\/p><\/div>
\n
\n

\"The<\/a>

The Grand Mafra Palace, Portugal<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Strahov<\/a>

Strahov Abbey Library, Prague<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"The<\/a>

The Bodleian Library, Oxford<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A library is a sacred space indeed. It\u2019s a sanctuary where you lower your voice and let your mind soar. Whether modest or sublime, a library is the ideal haven from the busyness of everyday life. A shrine where you … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-libraries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":529,"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions\/529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavinford.com\/thinkspot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}