Libraries may not turn a huge profit, true. But no library system I know of has ever required a multitrillion-dollar bailout to keep the global economic system from collapsing.
Joe Queenan / One for the Books
hilarious.
15 Spectacular Libraries in Europe
The Library of El Escorial, Spain
This library is located in Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, the historical residence of the king of Spain. Phillip II was responsible for adding the library and most of the books originally held within. The vaulted ceilings were painted with gorgeous frescoes, each representing one of the seven liberal arts: rhetoric, dialectic, music, grammar, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. These days, the library is a World Heritage Site, and it holds more than 40,000 volumes.
