Books deserve to be on show and more people are making their collections a feature in their homes.

But for real bookworms, there’s nothing like having your own library – a quiet space dedicated to books where readers can curl up and get lost in their favourite tome. To celebrate National Book Lover’s Day, we’ve picked four homes with libraries that showcase books as both objets d’art and learning tools.

Pre-war loft in Chelsea, New York

$18.5m via Christie’s International Real Estate

The mezzanine library in this converted pre-war loft has two impressive aspects. On one side it has views of the city through an arched window and on the other, it overlooks the property’s grand living room – a cathedral-like space with all-brick walls and 30ft ceilings made from timber beams.

Mansion in Huntleigh, Missouri

$1.9m, Sotheby’s International Realty
This imposing redbrick bemouth was built to a design by Charles Eames in 1937 and it has only had two owners since then. Art deco windows decorate the property’s roomy interior which has a stately feel. The curved library with full-length shelving has echoes of the White House’s Oval Office.

White stucco townhouse in Notting Hill, London

£3.45m, The Modern House
Positioned eyrie-like at the top of this five-storey terraced townhouse, the London property’s all-wood library is a celebration of timber and books: fitted bookcases go up to the pitched scalloped ceiling (there is a ladder to reach the top shelves) and face a wood-panelled wall. London’s skyline can be admired from a glazed wall interspersed with beams.

Barn conversion in Laverton, Somerset

£485,000, The Modern House
Freestanding bookcases in the library of this stone barn conversion are arranged in rows to maximise storage space. They form passages that allow its owners to walk between the books. This room sits just off a multi-levelled living space set beneath double-height pitched ceilings ribbed with exposed beams.

The world’s most beautiful libraries captured by Thibaud Poirier