Daydreaming about Harvard in high school, you may have imagined wood-panel rooms lined with dozens of Gutenberg Bibles and the busts of ancient Greek philosophers—a haven where students would absorb knowledge from the mere scent of the ancient books surrounding them. Uhhhh...maybe not.  Maybe you just smoked pot or played the sousaphone.  But anyway, you'll grant FlyBy that studying at Harvard is not quite the stuff of dreams (especially in the early morning).  That's where the House libraries come in.  Many replicate a sense of history and wood-panelled beauty that was all you ever thought Harvard would be (minus the parties). Thus, without further ado, here is your guide to Harvard’s six finest House libraries (with pics) after the jump.

Dunster

Although few frequent the Dunster House Library, it is without question the finest House library on campus. Tucked away on the second floor of B entryway, it is the only House library that regularly plays host to chamber music concerts. And while most libraries have just a grand piano, it boasts of a harpsichord.  Yeah, that's right.  A harpsichord.  Suck it, Adams. Moreover, while the most exotic literature at some House libraries hails from France, Dunster’s library has the best selection of texts on campus, claiming Chinese literature in the original and even a massive ancient Greek dictionary that lies eternally open. There are eleven stacked shelves in the Dunster library, which necessitates a ladder to access books on the top rows. Below a low-hanging chandelier, there is even a Latin inscription specially written for the library: bibliothecae aedium Dunsteranium pristinae (of the venerable/ancient library of the Dunster Dwelling...er House), which was given in the year MDCCCCXXX (1930). Very sweet.

The only downside: the library's only open 12-4 on Friday and Saturday. But getting the chance to gaze at the view of the Charles River from the wide window, however briefly, is cause enough to trek over to Dunster’s library from another House on a Saturday afternoon.  Freshmen placed in Dunster: do not despair of your future living in a walk-through next year. Just a tunnel walk away from your room will be a library that takes your breath away.

Eliot

Few libraries compare to Dunster’s, but Eliot’s House library is comparable in beauty and can also boast of more space and much more reasonable hours. (The curator is often generous enough to keep it open till 1 AM on Saturday night.) The grand piano at the center is less useful than the harpsichord and grand piano in Dunster’s library, where there are actually concerts—so the piano just kind of sits there. I’m not entirely sure if any drunk people have wandered from C entryway into the library on a Saturday night to play each other Chopin, but that seems to be the only context in which it would come to use.