College Students! discussion

If you could build your own library, where would you build it? How many floors would there be? What would be on each of those floors? Would there be a coffee shop? etc.

I would build it in my house (which I would one day have). It would be a large room where all the walls were lined with floor to ceiling bookcases. There would be an huge couch and one of those circular chairs that you can snuggle in. There would be tall lamps that hover over the furniture and a cd player that would play soft music in the background...

So my favourite Disney movie of all time is Beauty and the Beast Ever since I was little I wanted a library just like the one the Beast gives to Belle! Hope you guys saw the movie!

Aww! I actually remember the library from that movie! Good choice :)

aww Silvia..i LOVED the library from Beauty and the Beast!!

Oh man, I love the library in Beauty and the Beast. That is what I thought of when I first saw this thread! I would want it in my own house with big windows and places to sit all around. Exactly like Beauty and the Beast. Yes!

Oh my gosh, Silvia, I have seriously wanted that library from Beauty and the Beast since I was 5. I always tell people that, and they think I'm crazy. But that is the perfect library. I loved it! If I could build it, I would.

Maybe we should all build that library together since everyone love it so much! Haha :) That would be the best thing!

Ahahahah Sounds like a plan! And it should come with a handsome prince too while were at it!

this plan sounds good to me!

Haha that is so awesome...I especially love the comment about having a handsome prince to go with it. You guys so rock!


Mine would be very much like the library in Beauty and the Beast plus the one from My Fair Lady, built into my house. We have a living room with a HUGE picture window and right below it we have another family room with a wood burner. I would replace the wood burner with a huge fire place and take out the floor/ceiling. Adding a hall way around the border where the floor used to be and the BIG ladders that roll around, and have it connect it to our spiral staircase. Then add a few couches and a lot of blankets and pillows!

There is this tiny town in Washington called Oysterville, occasionally my mom and I will go on a "photoshot" which basically means we drive the hour+ to Oysterville to escape for the day. In Oysterville there is the great house with a huge window looking out on the bay and main street. You can just tell the room is filled with books (so many it has a ladder) and gets the best light and view...that is my ideal library.

Anna that sounds so perfect!

Obviously, no dream library could be complete without THIS!

Aha WHAT. Secret passageways!! Yes! I would put secret passageways in my library, which would be a smaller version of the one in Beauty and the Beast (also what I first thought of when I saw this thread). Oh, and those paintings with the removable eyes. Not that I'd use them all that often, but just for me to know I could spy on people if I wanted to haha. I'd also have a nook completely dedicated to tea--it would have a hot water dispenser thing, or maybe just a faucet, a teapot and a burner. Plus TONS of different kinds of tea, mostly green, but I like variety. I'll try anything once. And I'd have a section for my young adult books, one for memoirs, fiction, etc. I'd have a big comfy chair right next to a window, a fireplace, a couch if I had company, and a secret place for my snacks. :)

Beauty and the Beast library FTW!

Wood floors, ornamental rugs, fireplace and a nice little coffee maker.

Oh and comfortable furniture, and softly playing classical music. I like to read with some music on...

I agree with just about everything. I was SO obsessed with secret passageways as a child... always looking for them, wherever I was -- yes, I agree, way too much tv.

And I was going to add emphatically the rolly-ladders, but I see Caiti beat me to them. YES, those are an absolutely vital part of my dream library, after only the books and cases themselves.

The library described in Kafka on the Shore (Murakami) also put a wistful, dreamy glint in my eyes.

Also, I wouldn't complain if I had a layout similar to Berkeley's Morrison Library:
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It looks big, but when you're inside, it's super cozy and the couches are so comfortable (it's a popular midday nap spot). As far as library aspect, I'm mostly talking about the piece you glimpse in very left. This is probably my favorite place on all of campus. Which is saying something because I REALLY like our campus.

Just to add: I also really like this thread. Good call, Ashley.

Yeah, rolly ladders! Although I don't want my ceilings to be TOO high... I like lower ceilings, feels more cozy. High ceilings make me feel exposed.

haha. April I love it. when we were buidling our current house, I begged my parents to build in a secret passageway!! (I didn't get one) or at least have a dumbwaiter (I was really into Harriet the Spy)

I so want to build a secret passageway! If I ever build my own house, I'm putting in a secret passageway to my dream library.

Ohh, you should make the library a secret room. Like in Young Frankenstein!

Funny timing.

First, my mother is a real estate agent, and she had to show me this house she went through with her clients last week. It has secret passages. :) It isn't a very large house, and the "secrets" are just disguised doors to closets, the pantry, a hidden office, and stairs to the loft, but still fun!

Second, my brother is buying a house, so we went to the furniture stores the other day, and one had a book shelf that had a rolling ladder. :) I thought of you all.

oh! I want the one Belle received from the beast... hahaa... it's one of my childhood fantasies to own the library in "beauty and the beast".

I'm getting my dream library!

Ok, not so much of the dream i really had. But it's something.

My boyfriend and I are getting a house in August. And i get a room entirely for my library. The walls will be floor to ceiling shelves (apart for the space for the door) and just a simple rug and a few comfy furniture pieces in the middle.

i might change the layoutt around some. i'm not sure. but i've been thinking of my grand room non-stop. and i dont think i'll stop until i get the room in august.

and everyone will be welcome to come by and exchange and borrow books.
so glorious. i'm entirely more excited about my room then the fact that we're getting a house. hahah.

yay how exciting!! I'm envious!

Silvia wrote: "So my favourite Disney movie of all time is [b:Beauty and the Beast|41424|Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|Robin McKinley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169......."

OMG ME TOO!!

I also love the Beauty and the Beast library! It's so amazing. However, since I don't think I'm going to inherit a castle, when I finally am settled in m own house I want my library to be place where whoever I'm married to and I can keep are books, preferably sorted by genre. Of course this would also a llow our children to have access to plenty of reading material. However, this isn't for about another 10 years...but still :)

Michelle, I'm excited for you! I think I might be more excited about my own library than the house in general too if I were in your place haha.

I'm not picky. I'd just like a room devoted to reading: shelves completely covering one of the walls, a couple of bean bag chairs, an old fashioned desk and chair, a couple of paintings on the other walls, old-fashioned looking lamps, and an armchair. No tv. No computer. No distractions.

I thought this was relevant.
http://wondermark.com/c/2008-09-12-44...

But seriously, I'm going to have a big library/reading room, and random bookshelves all over the house, for precisely the reason in that link above.

Haha, that's awesome.

Oh my gosh. That is so perfect.

I agree entirely. I'll one day have at least one room that is lined completely with bookshelves filled to capacity with every book imaginable on any topic. Ever.
I often dream of that place. And it usually includes a HUGEMONGOUS comfy chair to one side, next to the only [but rather large:] window, and it's always raining outside, and there is always some sort of coffee /slash/ hot chocolate /slash/ tea drink at hand, and always warm.
And of course, there's usually a snuggie around, too, because one must be able to cover up if cold, but must never drop one's book or have really cold arms.

But it would probably be smack-dab in the middle of a busy city, high up enough that the traffic is barely a dull roar, or it's somewhere in the middle of nowhere, where the only thing you can see for days is mountains or rivers and valleys. Or all of the above. And it would be as many stories tall as it took to fit as many books as I could possibly fit, plus a floor that was my own private stash. There would, of course, be wi-fi, because I'd have to be able to record my readings and reviews and stuff on here.

And if that never happens [which I REALLY, really hope it does:], I'll just have to settle with having a rather large den [perhaps knocking down a pre-set wall or two in order to encompass as much living area as possible:] lined with shelves, with some sort of great carpet and cushy chairs that you can sit in and sink into and you feel like you're being held by a cloud or perhaps a hand of some strange deity.

But, you know. That could just be the 4.00am talking. :]

My mom's partner just bought a house in Astoria and it has an attic that would be perfect for a library, it has plenty of room, a solid floor, and great views of the Columbia river. Only problem though is that the stairs to it are slightly dangerous, and she really has no interest in a library, I think both problems are entirely fixable. Another thing is that I don't actually intend to live in the house, but that is also just a minor problem.

This isn't necessarily the type of library I would like to have, but I found it quite humorous!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/33XZw5/...

Ha, Kelly I've seen that before! :)

My friend sent me a picture once of a house that had a staircase as a library.
Here it is

I don't know if I'd want that in my house; I'd probably get dizzy. But I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

That is amazing!

that is pretty cool, I would feel terrible about stepping on books though. And the manila folder style stairs would definitely trip me.

Win! I love that; what a way to save space!

I'm a big public library fiend, so my home library would probably be small, because I usually only buy the books that I love and adore. It would make great use of space, maybe some secret compartments to keep some special books dust-free. Comfy couches, cozy blankets, maybe gourmet hot chocolate, and maybe a fireplace.

I can just imagine being there when it's raining outside. So cozy, I love being warm inside during a storm!

Saw this and thought it was cute.

http://www.growyourwritingbusiness.co...

the chair is so cool i want one now

Silvia wrote: "So my favourite Disney movie of all time is Beauty and the Beast Ever since I was little I wanted a library just like the one the Beast gives to Belle! Hope you guys saw the movie! "

OMG!!! I always wanted that library!! Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie and when I saw that library, it was my heaven. Confession: My eyes still get big and dreamy when I see that part. :)

Since so many like that particular library, we should all build it together and it's HUGE so we can all have our own space. I love everyone's ideas and I feel so much joy knowing I'm not the only one who sits around dreaming of what my library would look like if I could build it.

I always liked rocking chairs so I'll have that as "my" chair. :)