As a bibliophile I have always been drawn to libraries, from my lovely local village library where we stock up on books for the children to the beautiful rare books room at the British Library, where I conduct most of my book research.

The chance came up to pitch an article to the Smithsonian online magazine and I immediately thought of writing something on the most interesting (and importantly) the most accessible collections around the world.

It was a real joy to research and so difficult to chose just eight libraries but I am proud of how the article turned out. Have a read of it here and please leave a comment about your favourite library.