National Library of Australia, Canberra, Australia

This card arrived through a Round Robin on the Postcrossing forum (the theme of this particular group was Year of the Monkey stamps). I love libraries so it's always nice to see them on postcards, too.

The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people." In 2012–2013, the National Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, and an additional 15,506 metres of manuscript material.

The National Library of Finland

Moving on... No more beaches for today. :P I love spending time in libraries and I have to say that generally speaking, Finnish libraries seem a lot better than English ones. They tend to be bigger and maintained better, and most of the services are free. Borrowing books is still free in England (or at least in Wolverhampton and Dudley it is) but you have to pay if you want to borrow cds, dvds or other things like that, which tends to be free in Finland. Well, at least the selection of books in English is better here. ;)



I received this gorgeous postcard from the Finnish Summer RR on the postcrossing forum. It's been such a fun RR so far and I've received a lot of great cards.

The National Library of Finland (Finnish: Kansalliskirjasto, Swedish: Nationalbibliotek) is the foremost research library in Finland. Organizatorily, the library is part of the University of Helsinki. Until 1 August 2006, it was known as the Library of the University of Helsinki.

In addition to being the most important of the libraries of the University of Helsinki, the National Library is responsible for storing the Finnish cultural heritage. By Finnish law, the National Library is entitled to receive five copies of all matter printed in Finland. These copies are then distributed by the Library to its own national collection and to reserve collections of four other university libraries. In addition, the National Library has the right to store in to its collection any material published on the Internet.

Any person domiciled in Finland may register as a user of the National Library, and after this, borrow library material for home use. The publications in the national collection, however, are not loaned outside the library. The library contains one of the most comprehensive collections of books published in the Russian Empire of any library in the world.

The National Library is located in a library complex in the heart of Helsinki, right by Senaatintori square. The oldest part of the complex, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, dates back to 1844. The newer extension Rotunda dates to 1903. The bulk of the collection is, nonetheless, stored in Kirjaluola (Finnish for Bookcave), a 57,600-cubic-metre underground bunker drilled into solid rock, 18 metres below the library.

Austrian library

I haven't receive just one, but TWO library-themed postcards so far this week! *squee* I just wish this one was a bit clearer about the name of the library and where it's located. ...or maybe it's clear if you speak German, but I don't, so I'm a bit lost. :(


AT-58276

If I'm correct, this card shows the library in St. Florian's Priory, a monastery in the town of Sankt Florian, Upper Austria, Austria. Or at least it looks very similar. There's more info here. I haven't copied and pasted it here in case I got the place wrong...



Austrian mailboxes like to take a walk in the nature... :D The bigger stamp was issued earlier this year for Publicity Campaign 2010. The stamp on the left is from a set of 5 stamps issued in 2007, depicting flowers. This one here is the Scotch Laburnum.

State Library of New South Wales, Australia

Being the bookworm I am, it is always a treat to receive postcards showing libraries around the world.


AU-87910

The library here is the State Library of New South Wales in Australia (also shown with special Christmas lights). It is a large public library owned by the state of New South Wales and it is located in Sydney.

The public library started as the 'Australian Subscription Library' in 1826. It was then taken over by the New South Wales Government in 1869 and became the 'Sydney Free Public Library'. In 1895 it was renamed the 'Public Library of New South Wales' until its most recent name change in 1975, when it became the 'State Library of New South Wales'.

The library contains over 4.7 million items including more than 2 million books, 1.2 million microforms, 1.1 million photographs, as well as newspapers, maps, architectural plans, manuscripts and other items. As well as being a general purpose reference and research library, it contains many historically significant collections dating from the European colonisation of Australia, including accounts from Australian explorers and other pioneers, paintings and sketches, and many other historical records. These are held in the Australiana research collections known as the Mitchell (named for David Scott Mitchell) and Dixson libraries, housed within the State Library precinct. The collections grow through purchase and other acquisitions of material, and legal deposit for all books published in New South Wales.



I'm a little confused with the stamps... Why are they put on the card like this?? I'd like to see the bottom one as well, especially as it doesn't seem to be from the usual overseas stamps range. :(

The City Library, Salt Lake City, USA

I love reading and usually always carry a book with me wherever I go. I also love spending time in libraries, and I love seeing libraries around the world. Postcrossing has been very helpful in this respect, and it's always a treat to receive official cards such as this.


US-723326

This is the City Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. On the back it says: "Salt Lake City's newest landmark is a truly awe inspiring place for the community to gather, and learn. This new architectural masterpiece was finished in 2003 and will be a place of young and old to celebrate Salt Lake City's culture and diversity."

I found some more info about this library as well:

The Salt Lake City Public Library has been located in a few different places. After celebrating the library's 100th anniversary in early 1998, an $84 million library bond was approved to move the library north half a block to its current location. The firm of Moshe Safdie and Associates and local architects in VCBO Architecture designed the building, which opened to the public on February 8, 2003. The Salt Lake City main library is a 22,300 m² five-story tall, wedge-shaped building. The library has a collection of over 500,000 books as well as subscriptions to over 60 newspapers and magazines and 163 internet capable computers. The whole library depends on natural lighting, reducing the need of lights in the library. A huge five story glass wall is where most of the light comes from.

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

I participate quite a lot on the postcrossing forum, especially in the British Isles community there. Recently some more people from Ireland have joined as well, which is great. And it means more postcards from Ireland, which are always great, that country seems really interesting, I hope to get to visit it one day. Anyway, this card is from Claudia who's originally from Germany but has been living in Ireland for more than 12 years.



Claudia sent me a postcard showing a library as she noticed I like books and reading. :) This card shows The Long Room at the Trinity College in Dublin. There's some helpful info on the postcard itself:

The main chamber of the Old Library, the Long Room, is nearly 65 metres in length, and houses around 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. In 1860 the roof was raised to allow the construction of the present barrel-vaulted ceiling and gallery bookcases. Marble busts are placed down either side of the room which also contains the oldest surviving harp in Ireland.



The stamp is a little difficult to see from behind all the cancellations... but it shows the Sea aster and is from a set of 3 stamps, from the fifth phase of the sixth definitive series, depicting the Wild Flowers of Ireland. I'm not sure of the year of the issue...