Cemetery of Forgotten Books

One of my all time favorite books is Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I think I have actually mentioned this in a couple of blog posts. This year I had the pleasure of reading his new title The Angels Game. Both of these books are beautifully written and capture the reader in an amazing story, and both of these books mention a place in Spain know as the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books." In the modern world it is hard to imagine this place, libraries now are single level and filled with computers, I went into the library on my campus last week and I had to walk more than halfway through it before I was able to see shelves of books. And then there is the smell of a good ole fashion library, that smell just can't be recreated in the modern library.

Then this weekend we went to the historic Georgetown University Library in Healy Hall. I was completely in awe of this library. Spiral stairs led up into the stacks and you could walk through what felt like millions of historic books. The beautiful structure felt light and airy although it was full of books. We walked around the library and I took a bunch of pictures of the stacks and the structure. I felt like I could have stayed in the library looking at all the documents for years.

This is what I imagine the Cemetery of Forgotten Books to feel like. A large labrinth of stacks, books piled high and that one gem could be buried deep in the back. You never know what you may find in a library like this and that is what I imagined the "Cemetery" to be like. For the book lover this was an unparralleled experience, if you are in the DC area, and you love books, I hope you can get the chance to visit the library at Georgetown University, its gorgeous!