Hidden Libraries

 Hidden Libraries: The World's Most Unusual Book Depositories by DC Helmuth, 208 pages.

This book catalogues 50 unusual libraries from all over the world, living and dead. Each library gets about 4 pages of full-color photographs and description, digging into the reasons for their existence and design. The book is organized by continent, and contains a truly astonishing breadth for what can be covered by the term "library."

This is pretty much the ideal of what I refer to as a "coffee table book." It is very good for picking up and casually reading a few entries at a time. It is informative without being difficult, and doesn't require any remembering from page to page, so you can easily start wherever you want. I nice, light read for people who love libraries (and really, who here doesn't?).