National University Library of Strasbourg

The National University Library of Strasbourg features a massive, copper-clad dome that sits atop a facade of neo-Renaissance arches. German authorities built this library in the late nineteenth century to replace the city's original collection, which perished during the Prussian siege of eighteen seventy. Inside the central rotunda, the original card catalogs remained in use long after other libraries went digital. A local librarian once found a handwritten note tucked into a book, left there by a student in nineteen twelve, still waiting for a response.