In the United States alone, there are approximately 116,867 libraries of all kinds. Americans are accustomed to having free access to information that ranges far and wide. It wasn’t always that way.

Books used to be exclusively for the elite. They were too costly for the common man—and rare to boot. The tradition of social libraries began with Benjamin Franklin’s creation of “The Library Company” in 1731. This group of men shared books to enhance their discussion on various topics, and it started a trend.

Today in our society, public libraries are one of the last remaining social spaces that are free to the public to meet, share, learn, and be involved in a community. We take this social infrastructure as a given. But all over the world, even in the United States, there are groups opposed to this free sharing of knowledge with laws in place to support them.

No matter the legal obstacles, people seem to find ways to share and preserve knowledge. Even if that knowledge is taboo or forbidden, people will find a way to protect it at all costs. Our curiosity is too vast to be limited by the law. Sometimes, these hurdles cause libraries to show up in the most peculiar places.

10 Paris Catacombs

Beneath Paris, the romantic “City of Lights,” is a city of shadows. Deep underground are hundreds of miles of tunnels in a complex network that is one of the oldest in the world. It’s a darker city that few tourists experience due to the high risk of danger.

People often get lost. The walls can collapse at any moment, so many who venture there wear miners’ helmets. There’s no electricity among the endless winding canals, corridors, and crypts filled with mounds of unidentified skulls, which are estimated to be about six million deceased Parisians. There are parts so tight that you have to lie on your belly and slither forward like an inchworm, but that’s where the best parts are hidden.

Only a small section of the catacombs is accessible to tourists, while the rest has been illegal to enter since 1955. A rebellious, leaderless community has sprung up and ventures into the Paris underground anyway. These urban explorers are called cataphiles.

Away from the rules of the surface world, they are free to express themselves. They paint, sculpt, and create other art. They also build false walls, trapdoors, and secret chutes to keep away the cataflics (“catacops”) who try to catch them trespassing.^[1]

One of these secret chambers is called La Librairie. It has hand-carved shelves filled with books for the taking. You must know a cataphile who can be your guide because it can’t be found otherwise.

9 Little Free Libraries

In recent years, there has been an uplifting phenomenon where people across the United States are building Little Free Libraries in their front yards. These are “give one, take one” book exchanges. The creativity in their small box designs are impressive and range from building shelves inside an old tree stump to replicating a Dr. Who TARDIS.

For some unfathomable reason, there’s a crackdown to remove these “illegal detached structures.” After all, small community libraries are obviously the biggest threats our society is facing today.

A subset of Americans wants every aspect of community life to be regulated. Currently, their righteous battle is to tear down Little Free Libraries because being a good neighbor is apparently a crime.

In Kansas, a nine-year-old was told to remove his library or be slapped with a fine. In both Los Angeles, California, and Shreveport, Louisiana, the owners of Little Free Libraries were advised that they were violating city codes and their front yard structures needed to be disassembled.^[2]

8 Secret Locker At A Catholic School

Some will argue that schools need to ban certain books from their libraries. For example, kids probably shouldn’t be given instructions on how to build a bomb or literature that encourages violence or prejudice.

Does it make sense, however, to ban The Canterbury Tales, Paradise Lost, or Animal Farm?

An undisclosed private Catholic school bans these books and any others that they claim undermine their religious beliefs. Nevertheless, one student took action to oppose the book bans. Her alias is Nekochan. She didn’t mean to at first, but she ended up running an illegal library from her school locker.

It started by bringing to school her favorite classic, Catcher in the Rye, which happened to be banned. She loaned it to an eager friend. This happened more and more until her locker began overflowing with banned books. So she used a neighboring locker that was empty. It grew to become an unofficial library of 62 banned books. She said:

I would be in so much trouble if I got caught, but I think it’s the right thing to do because before I started, almost no kid at school but myself took an active interest in reading. Now not only are all the kids reading the banned books, but go out of their way to read anything they can get their hands on. So I’m doing a good thing, right?^[3]

7 Shadow Libraries

Some believe strongly that access to scholarly research and academic journals shouldn’t be restricted to those with enough money to purchase them. Hence, the rise of pirate libraries (aka shadow libraries) in the digital world.

If you have tried to access scholarly literature online, then you already know that many articles are behind a paywall at their journal’s site. These paywalls limit access to at least three-quarters of scholarly research and discussion, which is a global concern.

The price for access is rising every year. Furthermore, a large chunk of scholarly research is either publicly or philanthropically funded. So, what gives?

Thanks to the open access movement, anyone with an Internet connection can be privy to this knowledge if they know where to look. For starters, there’s the website Sci-Hub, which is a digital library that doesn’t limit itself to openly licensed content.

Sci-Hub calls itself “the first pirate website in the world to provide mass and public access to tens of millions of research papers.”^[4] Its main concern is to allow universal access to knowledge.

In its wake, other websites have popped up, like Library Genesis, with similar copyright infringements. To be clear, we’re not talking about the latest Nicholas Sparks novel. These website contributors are often academics who want to participate in a global library or think tank for the sake of universal expansion of knowledge.

6 Syria’s Secret Library

If dodging snipers to get to the library doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, we wouldn’t blame you. The residents of the besieged Damascus suburb of Darayya, however, swear that it’s worth it.

Anas Ahmad is a former civil engineering student and one of the founders of the library. He described the walk to the secret library: “We have to go through bombed-out buildings to hide ourselves from snipers. We have to be extremely careful because snipers sometimes follow us in their sights, anticipating the next step we’ll take.”

Together, a community of volunteers has created an underground library hidden in the basement to keep it safe from the daily dose of destruction above. It is stocked to the brim with 14,000 books on nearly every subject, but even collecting these books is highly dangerous. Volunteers take them from bombed-out or shell-damaged buildings on the front line before they are completely destroyed.

At first, it seems strange to risk that much just for books. However, not only does this secret library unite the community in a sense of hope and inspiration, but it also serves many critical functions. Since thousands of civilians have fled and thousands more have died, there are many roles left to be filled.

Hospital volunteers use the library’s books to help them treat patients. With no dentists, people need to train themselves—for example, to extract a tooth. Aspiring teachers use books to prepare them for a class of eager students.

Besides academic literature, many read for the love of it and a way to escape the terrors of the real world. While it’s easy to say that they should be using their time and energy collecting food instead, Anas Ahmad said, “Like the body needs food, the soul needs books.”^[5]

5 Seed Libraries

The cry, “Free the seeds,” is being heard throughout the United States as the Department of Agriculture cracks down on seed libraries. For thousands of years, farmers and gardeners have freely exchanged seed varieties to grow the best crops possible.

In libraries across the nation, there are about 300 seed exchanges set up by volunteers. It allows friends and neighbors to exchange self-pollinating seeds rather than be forced to buy the standard hybrid seeds.

Now states are deciding to enforce the laws in place to restrict the practice. The laws were originally intended to protect farmers by ensuring that seeds were viable and would grow what was promised. No magic beans for Jack, for instance. These laws not only refer to sales but to nonmonetary exchanges as well. Nobody anticipated seed libraries.^[6]

However, despite the harmless acts of small-scale, person-to-person exchanges, officials feel compelled to abide by the laws as they stand. Seed libraries are not only faced with state officials’ interpretation of the laws but also the powerful corporations that are attempting to expand their control over the market.

4 Cave Library In China

Over 1,000 years ago, an unknown person sealed up a chamber to a cave in the Gobi Desert that was lined 3 meters (10 ft) high with manuscripts for 152 meters (500 ft). These hidden words rested undisturbed in total darkness until they were discovered by accident.

In the early 1900s, a Taoist monk named Wang Yuanlu appointed himself as the caretaker of the cave shrines in that region. He happened to be smoking a cigarette in this particular cave when he noticed how the smoke wafted up in the direction of the back wall. He knocked down the barrier and found the hidden treasure of a lifetime, although he couldn’t read the documents.

The collection is now called the Dunhuang Library, or the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Since it was discovered, an entire academic discipline has arisen solely around its materials. The library contains 50,000 documents in at least 17 languages.

One of the most precious artifacts is the Diamond Sutra, a copy of one of Buddha’s sermons that is the oldest ever discovered as it was written in AD 868.^[7]

It was named the Diamond Sutra by the Buddha himself as he explains that his message will “cut like a diamond blade through worldly illusion to illuminate what is real and everlasting.” The Diamond Sutra is the world’s earliest complete and dated printed book.

Even the hundreds of caves, which were carved by hand 1,700 years ago, are decorated with paintings all over the walls. They also contain the world’s largest collection of Buddhist art. The caves house artifacts that range from 2,000 brightly painted clay Buddhas to the earliest complete star chart in the world.

The library contains some unsettling documents, like a manual that explains how to perform human sacrifice in detail and a contract drawn up for the exchange of a slave girl for a silk trader’s heavy debt. There’s also magic, including a book of divination written in Turkic runes. It explains that a boy who finds eagle droppings is a good omen, but if he finds an old ox devoured by ants, the omen is very bad indeed.

Nobody knows what the library was for or why it was sealed and forgotten for so long. Someone purposefully forbade access to outsiders when they sealed the entrance shut, but the reason why remains a total mystery.

3 Library Room Behind Lock And Key

Within a padlocked room in the National Library of Australia is the country’s largest horde of off-limit materials. Its location cannot be revealed as it contains hundreds of books that are not authorized for public viewing. These inappropriate texts include materials that have potentially lethal advice, such as a guide to performing suicide or textbooks with errors in the experiments that would lead to producing toxic chemicals.

The secret room is called a giftschrank, a German term that comes from the words for “poison” and “cabinet.” After the Third Reich finally collapsed, Nazi literature was stored in giftschranks rather than being burned.

The National Library of Australia has a similar creed in that the librarians don’t want to get rid of anything. The director of Australian Collections Management, Alison Dellit, said, “Part of the role of the library is to keep the history of Australian publishing and part of this history of publishing is that sometimes people publish things that shouldn’t have been published.”^[8]

2 Illegal Activities Ramp Up In LA Libraries

Sometimes, it’s not the content of the books that’s in question but the criminal activities that take place within the library’s domain. In the case of Los Angeles, the poor librarians can’t seem to catch a break no matter what they do.

Finally, the LAPD stepped in to provide security, but they turned out to be fairly useless. The libraries paid the LAPD over $5 million for security in 2017, which provided them with a total of 10 police officers and 67 security guards.

Hollywood’s Goldwyn Library even participated in an entire undercover investigation that revealed shocking crimes ranging from drug use and theft to sex acts. Hidden cameras captured disturbing sexual behavior even as innocent children strolled by. It showed people injecting heroin and smoking crystal meth and crack. One of the undercover cops was even offered Ecstasy.

The cameras further revealed that the appointed police officers weren’t catching the crimes happening around them. They were spending most of their time texting or talking on their cell phones instead of paying attention. In one case, the camera captured a crystal meth deal that happened right in front of an LAPD officer who was fast asleep.^[9]

1 The Vatican Secret Archives

The Vatican’s mysterious archives have inspired much suspicion and speculation over the years. Some conspiracy theorists claim that it contains proof of aliens or predictions of the apocalypse, while others suspect it’s the Pope’s secret stash of pornography.

Even the popular novel The Da Vinci Code threw its best guess into the ring. With 85 kilometers (52 mi) of bookshelves, it’s easy to see why the conspiracy theories exist. It wasn’t until very recently that the Pope opened the Secret Archives up to select members of the public, and even now, it’s highly restricted access.

There’s seemingly endless correspondence between the Pope and famous historical figures like Michelangelo, Mozart, Queen Elizabeth, Abraham Lincoln, and Hitler, to name a few. There are even documents about the trials of the Knights Templar and Galileo.

There are letters from Henry VIII in which he tried to convince the Pope to grant his divorce from Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry his true love, Anne Boleyn. Mary, Queen of Scots, pleaded for the Pope to save her life right before she was executed. It goes on and on. Basically, it’s like a historian died and went to heaven. It illustrates the power that the Pope has wielded throughout human history.

When pressed, however, the official spokesperson for the archives admits that there remains a section that really is secret. Nobody has access to this part—no journalists or even the most prominent scholars.^[10]

Think libraries are boring?

Well, think again. Today’s libraries are a delightful combination of old school and high tech. Of course, libraries will always have great books waiting to be plucked from the shelves, but at many locations, you can also find free Internet, downloadable media, 3-D printing, and more.

Unfortunately, there are some parts of the world with no libraries at all. These people have little access to books, and you can forget about high-tech add-ons. So, what to do if you’re a bibliophile who lives in Burundi or on the plains of Mongolia?

To solve this problem, people had to think outside the box and some of their solutions will knock your socks off!

10 Books By Elephant

Some of the biggest library heroes are really big. Elephants are known for their size, memory, and excellent circus stunts, but who knew they could also be librarians? In the mountainous regions of Omkoi, Thailand, there are no schools or libraries and many people cannot read or write. The Books-by-Elephant program hopes to change that.

Many of these remote villages can only be reached by foot. In the rainy season, even that is difficult—but not for elephants. In Thailand, elephants are already used in rice paddy fields and the logging industry. It just took a little imagination to see that they could also carry books.

With specially built frames on their backs, these ponderous public servants can carry huge boxes of books along with video equipment and satellite dishes—whatever it takes to teach people to read.^[1]

There are currently 20 elephants involved in the program. Each team is made up of two elephants, their trainers, and at least two teachers. These groups cover different areas and are able to reach out to more villagers every year.

9 Weapon Of Mass Instruction

Eccentric artist Raul Lemesoff created this particular weapon to battle ignorance and spread knowledge through the streets of Buenos Aires. His tank look-alike is made from a remodeled 1979 Ford Falcon.

The realistic-looking gun barrel and rotating turret ensure that people sit up and take notice wherever he goes. That’s fine with Lemesoff. The bigger the crowd, the more free books he can hand out. His only request: Read it, and pass it on.

His friends say he is one of those great crazy people that society needs. A poet, inventor, and artist, Lemesoff likes to combine these skills whenever possible. When he first started work on his weapon of mass instruction, no one was sure what he was making. Was it a spaceship or submarine, or was he just fixing his car? The end result was a delightful surprise.

With room for 900 books, Lemesoff can supply lots of readers, but his prime target is young people. He believes a young reader will be a lifelong reader. “I don’t do this for money or fame,” he said. “I do it because it’s fun. I attack people with knowledge but in a nice and funny way.”^[2]

When Lemesoff’s weapon of mass instruction rolls into view, the shocked and ultimately smiling faces make his day. “The weapon of mass instruction is a peace tank,” he said, “a symbol of protest against real weapons of mass destruction.”

8 Biblioburros

“Bibliomu-u-u-u-las,” the kids shout as their four-legged library approaches. The mules snort and stamp. But while they can be a little cranky, they seem to enjoy their job of spreading the love of reading.

Donkeys have always been used as pack animals, but now they have a special job—bringing books to the mountainous regions of Venezuela. Sponsored by the University of Momboy, an institution known for its community service, the biblioburros have changed the lives of countless villagers. These people reside in the Andes Mountains, and the climb to their homes is rugged.

The journey starts in the Valley of Momboy in Trujillo where the mules are loaded with books. For the next two hours, dedicated volunteers scramble up rutted paths in the sweltering sun.

Photojournalist James Ingham said, “These are just the foothills of the Andes, but they are high enough, especially when you’re walking.”^[3]

According to the volunteers, the delighted faces of the children make it all worthwhile. In addition to bringing books to people, the university would like to provide Internet service. Their goal of installing wireless modems under the banana trees may sound far-fetched, but at one time so did biblioburros.

“Cybermu-u-u-u-las!” Why not?

7 The Levinski Garden Library

The Levinski library is located near the Tel Aviv central bus station in a community populated by refugees and migrant workers. Many of these people are not legal citizens, but the love of reading transcends the complexities of social status.

This is a simple library—no walls, just two shelves built against the side of a public shelter. Yet it is a place of learning and security, a designated safe house where no one is allowed to interrogate or intimidate.

The collection of 3,500 books comes in 15 languages from Mandarin Chinese and Amharic to Romanian. This outdoor facility is fitted with a canopy that swings out to protect books from the elements. There is a tall shelf for adults and a special reading area for children with panels that fold down to sit on. The facility is also lighted so that people stopping by after a hard day’s work can browse in the evenings.

The most unusual thing about this library is the filing system. Don’t look for the Dewey Decimal System here. These books are filed by the emotions they evoke in their readers.

Each book contains a file card where the reader notes his feelings about the book. Although one person may think it’s a nail-biter, the next reader may find it reassuring or inspiring. It’s a unique approach, but library patrons think the notes make each book more interesting.

Librarians at the Levinski project say it’s important for people to have a place to come and escape the hard realities of their lives. And as we all know, a good book is the perfect getaway vehicle.^[4]

6 Human Library Living Books

Have you ever been to a Human Library? Here you can check out living books. These books are interesting people with stories to share. Readers check them out for 30-minute time periods, and that’s when the magic happens. At a Human Library, you can chat with people from all walks of life. Think former stripper, LGBTQ activist, or a journalist who was forced to flee his country.

The Living Books festival originated in Denmark in 1993. Due to a large number of immigrants, the social structure had changed and the old and new members of the community were not getting along. The first Human Library was aimed at giving people a chance to get to know each other, to sit down as neighbors, and break down barriers. It was a great success, and the concept of the Human Library has caught on.

“This type of library gives people a chance to talk with someone they wouldn’t ordinarily meet,” said the Imam of an Islamic society. “When you bring people from opposite ends of the social and political spectrum together in a nonjudgmental setting, a lot of good can come of it.”^[5]

Human Library events are usually sponsored by library systems and community outreach programs. The whole idea is to get people talking and—most importantly—listening to each other.

The motto of the Human Library? Don’t judge a book by its cover.

5 Vending Libraries

It’s 3:00 AM, and you can’t sleep. If only you had a good book to read. With library vending machines, you can hop into the car no matter what time it is and go check out a book. Similar to Red Box DVD dispensers, these self-service libraries are gaining in popularity. While they provide reading material to populations who can’t afford a regular library, they serve the public in other ways as well.

Vending libraries are popping up in high-traffic areas like park-and-ride lots, hospitals, and shopping malls. They’re also on busy street corners. Got a long layover at the airport? Get a book from the vending machine. Too time-crunched to stop at a regular library? Check out a title in the grocery store parking lot.

There are positives and negatives to this new technology. On the downside, vending machines have small collections and must be monitored carefully to make sure they are always full. Also, some people predict that downloadable options will make vending libraries obsolete.^[6]

On the positive side, vending libraries are much cheaper than brick-and-mortar sites. They are mobile and can service remote populations. Many also provide Wi-Fi hot spots.

The first year after Contra Costa, California, rolled out their book vending devices, library circulation increased by 8 percent, which translates to 600,000 books. Bottom line for now, vending libraries get more books to more people.

4 Reading Club 2000

It was the year 2000 when Hernando “Nanie” Guanlao’s parents died. He wanted to honor them and soon realized the most cherished thing they had given him was his love of reading. As a legacy to his parents, he vowed to pass that love along to others in his community. So he started a library.

At that time, he had about 100 books in his home and wondered how he might share these with his less fortunate neighbors. To begin, he set his books outside with a sign indicating that they were for public use. He had no idea how people would react. Would the books be stolen? Would people even notice his fledgling library?

They did.

The books quickly disappeared and soon reappeared, along with donations of more books. Since then, his collection has multiplied. Guanlao now has 2,000–3,000 books and has become a middleman of sorts, donating books to other needy libraries when his collection grows too large.

In this library, there are no memberships, no due dates, and no late fees. If you can’t part with a particular book, you can keep it. The Reading Club 2000 currently offers everything from magazines and romance novels to philosophy books. Every day, a steady stream of people go home with a new book.^[7]

3 Floating Books In The Fjords

If you’ve ever dropped your book in the bathtub, you know books and water don’t mix. But there is one exception. A book boat called the Epos traverses the rocky fjords of Norway, bringing light and learning during the dark Scandinavian winter.

The Epos is a 24-meter (80 ft) cutter that has been refurbished to hold 6,000 books along with a kitchen and living quarters for the crew. The book boat operates from September through April and makes two runs each year. During this time, it visits 150 coastal hamlets which are difficult to reach by traditional methods.

Norwegian winters are brutal, with dark days and howling blizzards. When the storms become too harsh, the book boat must hide out in a safe harbor. But this is a rare occurrence as there is great disappointment when the book boat fails to arrive. One of the requirements for the crew is immunity to seasickness.

The book boat keeps to a strict schedule. They arrive at a set time and stay for two hours at each location during which they receive up to 150 visitors. According to librarian Joep Aarts, the most eager borrowers are children and elderly people. Along with people’s selections, the book boat leaves a large package of books for people to enjoy until the next visit.^[8]

The Norwegian government wants library services to be free of charge and available to everyone. The Epos makes that possible.

2 Camelback Library

“The walls of this reading room are made of mountains covered with forest, the roof is blue sky, the floor is a flower-covered steppe, and the reading light bulb is the Sun,” said Jambyn Dashdondog, the proprietor of the Camelback Library in Mongolia.

Over the course of 20 years, he covered 80,000 kilometers (50,000 mi) through rain and blistering sun. His employees were his wife and son, and transportation consisted of camels, oxcarts, and a cherished van.

In the early 1990s, the Mongolian government broke away from communism and subsequently lost funding for their libraries. Dealing in books and literature was not a profitable business, and in the new free-market economy, private investors were scarce.

An award-winning author himself, Dashdondog hated the idea of a society with no libraries. He decided if there was no place for children to get books, he would take books to the children.

When the library camel visited an area, Dashdondog would stay for a few days so that villagers had time to read their selections. Then everything was packed up and moved to the next outdoor reading room where children anxiously awaited his arrival.^[9]

The camelback library and Dashdondog’s other literacy efforts were funded through the sale of his books and poems, some of which have been made into movies and songs. Sadly, Dashdondog passed away in 2017. He’ll not soon be forgotten, especially by the children.

1 Micro Libraries— Build Your Own

Do you love libraries? Now you can have one of your own just like 75,000 other people in 88 countries across the world. The popularity of this stripped-down version of Andrew Carnegie’s grand idea is growing by leaps and bounds.

Many tiny libraries are just for fun and manned by booklovers who want to share their love of literature. Others serve a vital purpose in inner-city neighborhoods and far-flung outposts.

When Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, saw a mini library in Portland, Oregon, in 2009, he decided to build one of his own. Modeled after a schoolhouse, the container was filled with books and placed on his front lawn as a tribute to his late mother. He went on to place several more around the city, and before long, the Little Free Library program was born.

Today, when people register their micro libraries at his website, they are included on the map of tiny libraries throughout the world. Also available are step-by-step instructions on how to operate your library. If you’re not a construction whiz, you can even buy premade boxes complete with Little Free Library signs.^[10]

If you’d rather strike out on your own, go for it. All you need to do is fill your box with books, set it in a public place, and begin sharing the love of reading with the rest of the world.

A writer by trade and a wanderer by nature, I love to combine the two activities whenever possible. I’m also lucky enough to be a book lover who works in a library. You can find me at: The Library Lady Travels or the Library Lady Writes.

Libraries are invaluable bastions of knowledge, technology, and social resources. But there are a few that are home to more exotic collections than your average mystery paperbacks or romance novels. And some have histories more spine chilling than you’d think. Here are ten libraries where you wouldn’t want to spend the night.

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10 The Nassau Public Library

The Nassau Public Library, the largest and oldest in the Bahamas, features unique Arawak (indigenous peoples of South America and of the Caribbean) artifacts and a collection of historic prints, colonial documents and old newspapers. There is also a reading room and museum on the property. But the structure wasn’t intended to serve the public as a library at all. The unique octagonal building was originally constructed by Joseph Eveas in 1797 to serve as a correctional workhouse (a jail). Modern patrons check out books and materials from what were once tiny cells that housed prisoners over two hundred years ago. The basement of the NPL is even known as “the dungeon.”^[1]

9 Weapon of Mass Instruction

Imagine you’re walking down the street, minding your own business, when, out of nowhere, an armored tank, complete with a gun turret, glides down the avenue, seemingly in your direction. That’s exactly what artist Raul Lemesoff does in the streets of Argentina, only his “tank” is a mobile library he calls “A Weapon of Mass Instruction,” and its purpose is to disseminate books, not bullets. The “tank” is really a modified 1970 Ford Falcon that holds up to 900 books at a time. A whimsical and community-oriented (Lemesoff says the tank can generate much social good as “a structure that has the ability of transporting books, giving books away, collecting books, making a mess of people’s heads”) idea, for sure, but one that has probably inspired more than a moment of fear when that ominous silhouette rounds the corner.^[2]

8 Conjuring Arts Research Center

The name “Conjuring Arts Research Center” might sound like it belongs in a story about a fictional wizarding school, but it’s a real place, located in midtown Manhattan. The dim, tightly-packed library owns hundreds of books on stage magic, some dating prior to 1700. In addition to the tomes, the library also houses original apparatus, huge pieces of mechanical stage machinery that once thrilled, fooled, and shocked audiences around the globe. The Conjuring Arts Research Center is open by appointment only, though you can visit a couple of local magic shops they’ve partnered with if you wish to check out books.^[3]

7 University of Southern Denmark

The University of Southern Denmark is fairly run-of-the-mill when it comes to literature, but in this case, it might be better to judge a book by its cover. At least three rare books, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, were found to have large concentrations of arsenic on their covers during an X-ray process widely utilized to find the chemical composition of pieces of art, such as paintings and pottery. Historic pigments containing the poison were commonly used in the 19th century to form a popular color called “Paris Green” which was used for everything from wallpaper to clothes. In this case, it was applied as a pesticide to protect the manuscripts from insects. Arsenic poisoning can cause ailments ranging from nausea to cancer to death. Unfortunately, the toxicity of arsenic is permanent, so the books will always be a hazard to human health. They are now stored in special protective boxes and handling is discouraged.^[4]

6 New York Puppet Library

This one is probably fun to look at during the day, but you wouldn’t want to be there as the sun sets, throwing long shadows across the weird collection it houses. The New York Puppet Library, located in Brooklyn College, is home to almost 100 unusual puppets, some enormous. Even though the puppets make their presence known, many staff members, students, and even other libraries are shocked to learn of the Puppet Library’s existence. Making it even creepier is the fact that puppets are stored 20 feet off the ground. Anyone wishing to borrow one is required to climb a ladder into the rafters, painted eyes watching them all the way.^[5]

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5 Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Monsters lurk in the pages of the books at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. From dragons to basilisks to manticores, this library specializes in manuscripts about beasts of unknown origin. Even more eerie are the vivid illustrations of odd and unusual cryptids, like tribes of humans with dog’s heads, found in the library’s 1559 edition of the Cosmographia. In addition to works aspiring to be semi-naturalist, there are famous fictional monsters here too, including an 1882 copy of Frankenstein that boasts a cover with a strikingly sinister, thin and tall version of Shelley’s man-monster, long before Hollywood got ahold of him. The repository has so many examples of monster lore that they even put on an exhibition in 2018, De Monstris, to showcase their strange zoo.^[6]

4 Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

Envision a library where hundreds of glass eyes, those of corpses, look down on you from the shelves. That’s exactly what you’ll find at the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services. This institution focuses on “realia,” animal skeletons, skulls, teeth, furs, and other taxidermy (just because the corpses aren’t human doesn’t make them any less odd for a library setting!). ARLIS is the only known library in the United States to have such unusual holdings, and is patronized largely by teachers and scientists who incorporate the specimens into their lessons and lectures. Sometimes, though, the animals are loaned out for more unusual uses—the 2013 film The Frozen Ground borrowed several to use for the set design of a serial killer’s basement.^[7]

3 Newberry Library

It sounds like the beginning of a horror movie, but it isn’t—along with a huge collection of religious texts, Chicago’s Newberry Library is in possession of a 17th century spellbook, handwritten by two nameless witches. “The Book of Magical Charms” contains spells ranging from cheating at dice to raising the dead, some of which require unusual ingredients such as dead men’s teeth. The library also holds two other spooky volumes: “The Commonplace Book” and “Cases of Conscience Concerning Witchcraft,” the latter of which was written by Increase Mather, the gentleman who passed the sentencing at the Salem Witch Trials. Interestingly, in 2017, the library sought the public’s assistance in translating the occult texts by putting them online, so any experts in Latin, witchcraft, or medieval English should definitely take a peek.^[8]

2 Historical Medical Library

The Historical Medical Library, located in the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, was the city’s central medical library from its establishment in 1788 to over a century and a half later. With over four hundred editions printed before 1501, this is one of the most important collections of historical medical knowledge in the United States. Books and illustrations abound detailing some of the most harrowing medical procedures ever envisioned by man, from blood-letting to trepanning (holes drilled into the skull). Important knowledge, definitely. Easy to stomach? No.^[9]

1 Patee Library—Penn State

It sounds like the most lurid kind of fiction: a beautiful young woman, killed in cold blood the day after Thanksgiving, her murderer never found. But it, sadly, happened in real life. On November 28th, 1969, 22-year-old Betsy Ruth Aardsma was brutally stabbed to death in the basement of the Patee Library. She was killed from behind, and no sexual assault took place. Though there have been many suspected of the foul crime, from Aardsma’s boyfriend to serial killer Ted Bundy, the motive remains unclear to this day, and the killer has never been identified. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, you might still want to think twice about hanging around those basement stacks alone, just in case Betsy’s killer ever wants to revisit the scene of their crime.^[10]

+ English Crime and Execution Broadsides Collection

This one isn’t a library in and of itself, but it is a strange and creepy collection owned by the Harvard Law School Library. The English Crime and Execution Broadsides are nearly 600 “broadsides” (large sheets of paper printed on one side only, used historically as posters or announcements). These are on a specific topic: the grisly details and punishments for capital crimes committed between 1735 and 1868 in England and Wales. These included arson, rape, assault, and murder. Not only are the crimes described, but the punishments, including hanging, are, as well, and the “dying speeches” or confessions and last words of the condemned. The broadsides are illustrated too, showing the execution scenes or vignettes of bloody crime scenes.^[11]

10 Creepy Stories Of Intruders Hiding In People’s Homes

About The Author: A.L. Montone is a magician working in the Baltimore, Maryland, area, and the co-founder of the Baltimore Academy of Magic. She is also a playwright, and served as the director of a historic house and museum for six years.

When you hear the word library, you probably imagine rows and rows of books. But did you know there are all kinds of libraries dedicated to lending things other than reading materials? From musical instruments to live human beings, you can borrow anything these days if you know where to look!

Related: 10 Lost Libraries And The Mysteries Of Their Contents

10 Tool Library

Ever needed a specific tool for just one project? Enter the tool library, where community members can borrow power drills, hedge trimmers, ladders, and even jackhammers. The first tool library was established in Columbus, OH, in 1976. Today, it lends over 4,800 tools to those who can’t or don’t want to fork out hundreds of dollars for expensive tools they only need once.

Since then, similar services have sprung up around the world to help neighbors share resources and get their projects done. So next time you need a drain snake or a reciprocating saw, try your local tool library!^[1]

Find your nearest tool library!

9 Toy Library

Kids grow up so fast and grow out of their toys even faster. That’s where toy libraries come in—to give old toys new life or even prevent them from being purchased in the first place. Often part of a larger traditional book library, toy libraries allow kids to borrow toys, saving parents cash and keeping a lot of plastic out of landfills.

The oldest continuously operating toy library is in LA County. It was started in 1935by a store owner who noticed kids stealing toys and decided to do something about it: lend them out for free. The program now serves 35,000 children each year, giving them access to the most vital childhood resource: play.^[2]

U.S. readers can find their local toy library or check out the International Toy Library Association.

8 Musical Instrument Library

Want to learn the ukulele? The Musical Instrument Lending Library in Brooklyn has eight you can borrow, along with guitars, cowbells, and steel drums. Another, the “M.I.Brary” in Lafayette, can even hook you up with an accordion! The latter was founded by Dr. Ryan Cazares, who wondered “if there’s a Grammy award winner sitting right here with us, but they don’t even know it because they don’t have the money to purchase an instrument.”

These public services offer anyone the chance to learn a musical instrument or even just try a few to see what sticks, helping make the world a more musical place.^[3]

Many community libraries also offer musical instruments for check-out.

7 Gear Library

Getting outdoors is great for all ages, but camping, hiking, and backpacking gear can add up to hundreds of dollars before you even leave the house. That’s why gear libraries exist to loan equipment to more casual adventurers.

Families in Nature runs one such library in Texas and can kit out at least 100 campers at a time in tents, sleeping pads, backpacks, and headlamps—everything they need to get outside and explore. The Mountaineers’ gear library in Washington even has winter sports equipment like skis. It aims to make outdoor recreation more accessible and inclusive, especially for struggling or underserved communities.^[4]

Gear libraries are a fantastic resource to help get communities outside and enjoy the environment as much as possible!

6 Puzzle Library

If you’ve got a dusty old puzzle sitting in the cupboard, consider donating it to a puzzle library, where jigsaw enthusiasts get their fill. At the online Jigsaw Puzzle Swap Exchange, members have enjoyed over 6100 puzzle swaps. They are able to request specific puzzles or fill out their preferences to receive puzzles that match their interests.

Many puzzle libraries have grassroots origins, like the one Allegra Jabo started in Arlington. Her Douglas Park Little Free Puzzle Library started in her home entryway during the pandemic, where she lends out over 300 puzzles donated by neighbors. She is now looking for a permanent location to house the library. Others operate in private Facebook groups or out of community centers and are always thrilled to welcome new members!^[5]

5 Seed Library

A source of both education and nutrition, in a seed library, gardeners “borrow” seeds at planting time and save a portion of the seeds from the plants they grow to return for future gardeners to use. For many seed libraries, the goal is to preserve local biodiversity by collecting rare and heirloom varieties that are not widely available.

The Global Seed Vault in Svalbard uses thick rock and permafrost to preserve backups of over a million crop seeds varieties, safeguarding the world against the extinction of important food sources—but it is only accessed if disaster strikes. In the meantime, local seed libraries keep varieties in circulation, promoting ongoing evolution as varieties adapt to thrive in the area. Kids can learn where their food comes from, and avid gardeners can help maintain the plant diversity in their neighborhood.^[6]

See the list of seed libraries around the world!

4 Board Game Library

Another popular pandemic pastime, board game libraries provide communities with a fantastic social resource. There are too many games out there for any one family to own them all. Board game libraries can bring together players across different backgrounds and languages (with language-independent games like Qwirkle) to foster a sense of community and cooperation—or just so everyone can gang up on Nanna.

Some game libraries let you take the board games home, while others provide a pay-to-play program onsite and charge an hourly fee. Librarians are even getting clever with 3D printers to replace lost or missing pieces, so the games never have to end!^[7]

3 Sourdough Library

Calling all bakers! The Puratos Sourdough Library in Sankt Vith, Belgium, houses sourdough cultures from all over the world. More than a hundred bakers from over 23 countries contributed samples to this effort to preserve a slice of their heritage. An additional 2,501 starters are registered online, and lab tests of the cultures in Belgium have revealed over 1,400 strains of wild yeast and lactic bacteria!

It was started in 1989 by bakery supply company Puratos, and the collection has continued to rise—pun intended. All samples must come from a spontaneous fermentation (not a commercial starter). The sourdough cultures are kept in mason jars in a carefully controlled environment and refreshed with their original flour every two months to preserve this sourdough heritage for future generations. Dough librarian Karl De Smedt has described the bubbling concoctions as “nothing less than history.” There’s only one sourdough library so far, but you can tour some of the library’s collection virtually.^[8]

2 Human Library

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” has never been more true than at the Human Library or “Menneskebiblioteket” in Copenhagen, Denmark. There, the human “books” are volunteers who come from a stigmatized part of the community, like someone with autism, a naturist, or an extreme body modder. The not-for-profit library offers visitors the opportunity to sit down and dialogue with someone they might not understand. The library hopes to challenge prejudice and foster a more inclusive society.

Since it welcomed over a thousand visitors during its opening week in 2000, The Human Library has expanded activities in over 80 countries around the world. So next time you’re struggling to understand somebody’s perspective, why not borrow them and ask? They’re even developing an app!^[9]

1 Library of Things

Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Then try a library of things. Part of a global movement to reduce waste and promote a sharing economy, a library of things will keep anything from party supplies to sewing machines.

Libraries of Things exist throughout the world, from the Sharing Depot in Ontario to the Leila in Berlin. Rebecca Trevalyan, the founder of one such library in London, said, “we were students in London, living in tiny houses without much spare space, and not a lot of disposable income… We didn’t need to buy and own sewing machines and drills and lawnmowers and sound systems, but we did need them now and then, and it would be great to be able to access them.”

In this way, libraries of things do more than just save people money: they build a sense of community by creating a pooled resource and letting neighbors share what they need, whether that’s a lawnmower or just a helping hand. These libraries also have an environmental impact, much like many others on this list. No wasted money, nor discarded or leftover items ending up in a landfill.^[10]

Libraries provide vital resources to the communities their serve, and not just in the form of books! Whether you need to borrow a ten-person tent, rainbow carrot seeds, or even a new perspective, there’s bound to be a library that can help you out. Have you visited any of these unusual libraries? Now that you know what’s out there, what will you borrow next?