The Sterling Memorial Library at Yale certainly needs to be on the list of most spectacular lbraries, as it is simply staggering, not only in its beauty but in its collections. What a magnificent library.
Incidentally, some really terrific people work there. Once upon a time I was in desperate need of a rare book about colonial medicine, and Yale was the only library in the entire country with a copy. The terrific folks spent a good deal of time working with me over the phone so I got exactly the information I needed.
Take a close look at the photograph below. The carvings on the outside of the building depict scholars throughout the ages, with writing in several different languages and alphabets.
And here we have a picture of the inside of the library:
Many thanks to Yale University and altopower for permission to use the photos!