Hidden libraries The world's most unusual book depositories

Travel writer Helmuth (Fifty Places to Travel Solo) offers a charming celebration of unorthodox, out-of-the-way, and lesser-known places around the world where books are stored and shared. Among the 50 libraries featured is Street Books, a bike cart library in Portland, Ore., that serves patrons without IDs or the ability to pay overdue fines ("If we don't cross paths again, we encourage folks to pass the books on to people who will enjoy them," reads a statement on their website). The cabinet-size Little Free Library at the South Pole makes for a bright speck amid hundreds of miles of snow, while the Vatican Apostolic archives are accessible only via a vigorous screening process and contain "85 km (53 miles) of documents spanning twelve centuries of the Holy Roman Empire's rule." Vivid photographs bring the sites to life, and visiting information is provided for each library, even when the likelihood of getting there is low (London's Arcadian library requires a personal petition) or nonexistent (the Home Library of Bruno Shröder in Mettingen, Germany, "cannot be visited. It's real, but there is no publicly available address, no opening times and the librarian is deceased"). Bibliophiles will be enthralled. Photos. (Nov.)