The county library, and the reading rooms are the reason to go in. Carved walnut cases run floor to ceiling on every wall, glazed and still full, with arched windows between them and a panelled dado below. Free wifi, foreign-language collections and regular exhibitions. Weekdays only, and staff have been known to give a tour in English if you ask.
The old cases now stand behind flat screens, a lectern and leather tub chairs, with beanbags pushed against the panelling. Events and presentations run in here. It reads as odd in a photograph and works perfectly well in person — the room is still used for what a library is for.
The rare bindings are out under glass rather than shut away — among them a Hachette edition of La Gravure from Paris, red leather tooled in gold. Worth a minute on the way past; it is the part of the collection you cannot see through a glazed door.
Strada Mihail Kogălniceanu 9, Craiova 200390 · +40251532267