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Famous University Libraries: The World’s Most Instagrammable

From education to escapism, libraries can be a sanctuary for the public and students. Whilst most library-goers get stuck in with a book, others appreciate them for their architecture, design and beauty.

Interested in making learning more exciting, Theknowledgeacademy.com sought to establish the world’s most popular beautiful university libraries according to Instagram data.

The World’s Top 20 Instagrammable University Libraries
RankLibrary nameUniversity nameLocationInstagram hashtags
1.Radcliffe CameraOxford UniversityOxford, England40,394
2.John Rylands LibraryUniversity of ManchesterManchester, England22,135
3.Trinity College LibraryTrinity CollegeDublin, Ireland18,339
4.Suzzallo LibraryUniversity of WashingtonWashington, USA6,670
5.Butler LibraryColumbia UniversityNew York, USA3,666
6.Widener LibraryHarvard UniversityMassachusetts, USA3,025
7.The Maughan LibraryKing’s College LondonLondon, England3,014
8.Powell LibraryUCLALos Angeles, USA2,882
9.Biblioteca JoaninaCoimbra UniversityCoimbra, Portugal2,853
10.George Peabody LibraryJohns Hopkins UniversityMaryland, USA2,748
11.Cambridge University LibraryUniversity of CambridgeCambridge, England2,124
12.Sterling Memorial LibraryYale UniversityConnecticut, USA2,029
13.Bobst LibraryNew York UniversityNew York, USA1,990
14.Weston LibraryOxford UniversityOxford, England1,855
15.Senate House LibraryUniversity of LondonLondon, England1,595
16.TU Delft LibraryUniversity of TechnologyDelft, Netherlands1,584
17.LSE LibraryThe London School of Economics and Political ScienceLondon, England1,470
18.The Sir Duncan Rice LibraryAberdeen UniversityAberdeen, Scotland1,370
19.Manchester Metropolitan University LibraryManchester Metropolitan UniversityManchester, England1,143
20.Uris LibraryCornell UniversityNew York, USA864

The analysis:

  • The university library with the most Instagram hashtags (40,394) is Radcliffe Camera, Oxford University
  • The top three most Instagrammable university libraries are located in England and Ireland (Radcliffe Camera, John Rylands Library, and Trinity College Library)!
  • The USA and UK both feature the most university libraries in the list (8 each)
  • Portugal (Biblioteca Joanina), the Netherlands (TU Delft Library) and Scotland (The Sir Duncan Rice Library) also make the top 20

Methodology:

  1. Theknowledgeacademy.com sought to determine the world’s most Instagrammable university libraries.
  2. The study considered just under 300 university libraries by using reputable sources including ‘Town & Country’, ‘4icu’, ‘Best Masters Programs’, and ‘Matador Network’.
  3. Theknowledgeacademy.com then used Instagram to discover how many hashtags each university library has. To do this, they inserted the name of each respective library, or building, into Instagram’s search feature to establish a hashtag’s figure. Where appropriate, variations of each hashtag were also considered.
  4. The libraries were then ranked from most to least Instagrammed based on the total hashtag sum.
  5. Instagram hashtags are correct as of 22nd October 2021, but are subject to change.

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