They are the most spectacular in the world.

Some are fascinating old halls with wooden ladders and mesmerising ceilings that have housed literary works for centuries. Others modern masterpieces.

Below are a collection of some of the most fascinating libraries in the world.

1. Circular wonder: The Library of Congress in Washington DC was founded in 1800 and contains more than 160 million items on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves

2. The Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart in Germany was built in 1965, with its bare decoration drawing attention to its books

3. Stunning surroundings: The largest monastery library of the world is Admont Benedictine Monastery in Austria which comprises some 200,000 volumes in its beautiful halls

4. From a glance the Tama Art University Library's concrete arches resemble those of a Roman aqueduct, but up close provide an interesting place to settle down with a book

5. Page turner: The impressive Clementinum library in Czech Republic is magnificently decorated with ornate gilded carvings and a ceiling fresco depicting the Temple of Wisdom

6. The 213ft-long main chamber of the Long Room at Trinity College Library in Dublin was built between 1712 and 1732. By the 1850s the Library had been given permission to obtain a free copy of every book that had been published in Ireland and Britain

7. The Austrian National Library is a Unesco-protected site and it is easy to see why, with its captivating gold painted marble pillars

8. Mexico City's recently reopened Biblioteca Vasconcelos is an outstanding example of a contemporary digital-age library

9. The six-floor Baltimore George Peabody Library is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world featuring 300,000 volumes largely from the 18th and 19th centuries

10. Taking the prize for one of the fanciest libraries around is Wiblingen Abbey's halls. This 18th century monastery is built in rococo style featuring gold accents and statutes

11. It is easy to see why stunning New York Public Library took 12 years to build, with high ceilings and gilded decoration. Pictured is The Rose Main Reading Room

12. Plenty to explore: The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is located in the University of Toronto, featuring the largest collection of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada

13. The Joanina Library (Biblioteca Joanina) is the Baroque library of the University of Coimbra in Portugal with the walls covered by two-storied shelves, in gilded or painted exotic woods

14. Built between 1712 and 1732, the Long Room at Trinity College's Old Library holds the collection's 200,000 oldest books

15. The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library contains the principal rare books and literary manuscripts of Yale University, housed within a striking glass network of shelves

16 . The Theological Hall inside Strahov Library in Prague is breathtaking to behold

17. The Hogwarts-esque Reading Room in the Suzzallo Library at University of Washington consists of rows of brass-lamped, oak study tables, beneath a 65ft-high ceiling

18. The University of Salamanca in Spain holds around 906,000 volumes to read from wooden chairs that compliment the surroundings

19. Located in Manchester, John Rylands Library is a striking gothic library, which opened on 1 January 1900. Pictured is the Reading Room which features stained-glass windows

20. The Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve is a French national library in Paris built by architect Henri Labrouste in 1851, featuring a sea of lamps, wrought-iron railings and arched ceilings

21. The 85ft-long Library of Convent in National Palace of Mafra houses around 36,000 volumes amassed through royal commission