We love to read, but even if you don't, there are libraries here in New York whose architecture is so dazzling, you won't want to leave.

Here are a few of our favorites:

New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building: Brush past the two ginormous Tennessee-marble lions (named Patience and Fortitude) and make your way into the second-largest public library in the US (behind the Library of Congress). This Beaux-Arts landmark structure, which is the main branch of the NYPL system, has been around since 1911. Head straight to the stunning Rose Main Reading Room (pictured above) and take in the glistening chandeliers and beautiful ceiling murals.

The Morgan Library and Museum began as the private library of financier J. Pierpont Morgan, and was built on the collection Morgan amassed in his lifetime and donated to the city. The building, located in Murray Hill, now hosts 350,000 objects in a complex of buildings of differing styles and periods covering half a city block. In it you'll find everything from drawings by Michelangelo and Picasso to Gutenberg Bibles to manuscripts by Dickens and Twain. The library regularly holds concerts, talks, tours and other programs.

You can just stroll over to the NYPL, Jefferson Market Branch from the hotel. This former courthouse cum library has been around for decades, and its carved doorways, public garden and stained glass windows, not to mention its classes and programs, have become Greenwich Village staples.

The New York Society Library is set in a beautiful Italianate townhouse on the Upper East Side. The building itself was built in 1917, and was converted for use as a library in 1937, holding around 300,000 volumes, dating back to the 1700s.

Happy reading!

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