The book stalls along the Seine River in Paris, France continue to draw book buyers since the first shops opened in 1550. The strip’s 230 stalls along Quai de Conti stretch three kilometers, giving book hunters an unlimited choice of reading materials.

How the book shops survived for 475 years is perhaps attributed to the local government’s policy of not taxing its merchants, on top of not charging them rent. The book sellers like their freedom to do business as they are their own boss.

Another advantage of the French bookstore strip is its scenic location in the famous city.

In China, bookstores try to match that appeal with unique architecture.

The Zhongshuge in Tianjin, for example, adopted the design of Harry Potter’s gothic Hogwarts, the fictional School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a magical dormitory located in the Scottish Highlands.

It has central cobalt-colored stairs that extend to massive three-story columns that arch toward the ceiling, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

Zhongshuge’s striking interior design, however, is a greater draw for selfie-snapping tourists than for readers.

Architect Zheng Shiwei reveals a trend toward creating bookstore and library interiors intended for photography.

The Librairie Avant-Garde in Nanjing, however, banned flash photography, tripods, loitering, and staged photoshoots without permission last June, as the nonstop pictures “interfered with reading,” according to AFP.

In Prague, Czech Republic, however, selfie-snapping readers who disturb readers do not pose a problem for a book site.

The “Idiom,” a statue by Slovak artist Matej Kren, is a cylindrical tower composed of 8,000 discarded books, with a tear-shaped entrance and mirrors at each end, creating the impression of an endless tunnel, AFP reports.

Located at the entrance of the municipal library, Idiom draws about 1,000 tourists a day and they queue for up to two hours to take selfies inside the book statue.

The library has allocated one of its five entrances for tourists, and it is contemplating charging fees and employing custodians to organize the masses, according to AFP.