All bookworms love libraries. I always swoon during the scene in Beauty and the Beast when Belle walks into the library for the first time. What could be better than a beautifully-designed quiet room full of rows and rows of books? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about a library in a book and googled it to see if it were real. Here are a few of the fictional libraries we really wish were real and once you read about them, you will, too!
Fictional Libraries We Wish Were Real
1. The Great Library – Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
What I wouldn’t give to be an apprentice in the Great Library. Imagine the possibilities of not only being surrounded by books, which, let’s be honest, is already a win, but of being surrounded by MAGIC books. MAGIC. BOOKS!!!!
2. St. Rosetta’s Library – Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
Any boarding school library is bound to be an amazing one. In this Beauty and the Beast retelling, you know that school just has to have an insanely lush library. Goodbye study room, hello table in the Young Adult section!
3. The Library at the Institute – City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Each Institute is so unique, and each one has an incredible library full of Shadowhunter texts. I’d spend days reading everything I could in those libraries if they existed in real life. If I had time to spare, I might even explore the rest of the Institute, too!
4. The Watcher Library – Slayer by Kiersten White
The Watcher Library, similar to the Institute libraries, must be a gold mine for Watcher texts and magical reads to explore. Plus, you’d get to hang out in the Watcher castle, hanging out with all the healers and slayers!
5. The Library of Alexandria – The Toll by Neal Shusterman
Okay, so technically this one isn’t fictional, but we’d say it still counts. If only they’d rebuild and preserve this library in real life! We don’t need a Scythedom to make it happen…right? Either way, Alexandria is full of mystery and intrigue, and a chance to see a recreation of this grand library is something any book lover would jump at.
6. The Underground Libraries – Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody
Okay, try and tell me you wouldn’t want to visit the only surviving library on a faraway planet. THAT WOULD BE LIFE CHANGING. Not only is it the last one, it’s hidden in an underground refuge and guarded by a secret society of sorts. Sign me up!!!