The Charles Franklin Doe Memorial Library was recently named one of the world’s most beautiful college and university libraries. The editors at Flavorwire noted that “the college library, whether ornate or modern, digital or dusty, is in many ways the epicenter of the college experience … It is at once a shining emblem of vast, acquirable knowledge, a place for deep discussions and meetings of the mind, and of course, a big building full of books, which, as far as we’re concerned, is exciting enough.” Visit Flavorwire to browse the selection. And check out this slideshow for more scenic images of Doe as well as other campus libraries.

The list of the Library’s online exhibits has recently been updated. With topics ranging from campus history to environmental design , Mark Twain, bioscience, physics, anthropology, and Asian and South Asian studies, this directory is a tribute to the vast diversity of the Library’s collections and to the creative energy of the many curators over the years.

“I am going to reach enlightenment or fall asleep trying.” That’s just one of the funny, personal messages written by hand on the Doe Library Wall, in celebration of Doe’s 100^th birthday. The wall is periodically available to Library visitors this year so they can express their appreciation, epiphanies, and affection. Read more of these first-person missives, as well as testimonials from alumni, online. And share your own Library love. The Centennial of Doe Library is being celebrated throughout the 2011-12 academic year.

The latest issue of the Library’s quarterly newsletter Fiat Lux features a profile of media maven extraordinaire Gary Handman. Other stories cover the new Bancroft director Elaine Tennant, and undergraduate architecture major Preeti Talwai, who won a Library Prize for Undergraduate Research in 2011.

In fall 2011, Mary Scott and Susan Snyder published Everyday Dogs: A Perpetual Calendar for Birthdays and Other Notable Dates, a fascinating keepsake that pairs literary quotes about canines with historical images from the Bancroft Library. Susan Snyder has published three other books drawn from the Library’s collections. Her most recent book, Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries, was chosen by Oprah as the Book of the Week last fall. Snyder is Bancroft’s head of public service, and Scott is a graphic designer at the Library. Both Everyday Dogs and Beyond Words are produced by local publisher Heyday Books.