a city with a rich literary tradition, rio de janeiro is habitat to dozens of libraries, many of which are connected to the city's universities and educational institutions.

for sightseers or those looking for a quiet respite, there exist an array of remarkable libraries, many of them architecturally significant and containing in-depth collections of portuguese language titles - ranging from the arts & sciences to literature, and with numerous rare books and manuscripts, some dating back as far as the 15th century, these collections are quite impressive.

the biblioteca nacional do brasil, for instance, is considered by unesco to be one of the top ten largest national libraries in the world, and the real gabinete de leitura is consistently rated as one of the world's most beautiful - one can also find the historically and culturally significant state library in rio's sister city, niterói, called the biblioteca pública de niterói.