The Library Book (Ebook)
Buy from
Famous writers on libraries real or imagined, past and future; why libraries matter and to whom.
In aid of The Reading Agency
From Alan Bennett's Baffled at a Bookcase, to Lucy Mangan's Library Rules, famous writers tell us all about how libraries are used and why they're important. Tom Holland writes about libraries in the ancient world, while Seth Godin describes what a library will look like in the future. Lionel Shriver thinks books are the best investment, Hardeep Singh Kohli makes a confession and Julie Myerson remembers how her career began beside the shelves.
Using memoir, history, polemic and some short stories too, The Library Book celebrates 'that place where they lend you books for free' and the people who work there.
All royalties go to The Reading Agency, to help their work supporting libraries.
Reviews for The Library Book
Henry Ward Beecher
Keith Richards
Related books

On the Origin of Sex
Lixing Sun
Explore the spectacular science of reproduction – from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

Screensaver
Laura Wyatt-Smith
A parent's practical guide to teaching children safe, responsible smartphone use

Reaching for the Extreme
Ian Stewart
A journey through some of mathematics' prickliest conundrums – and why they matter

The Unfragile Mind
Gavin Francis
A deeply human and compassionate re-evaluation of mental illness from the GP and bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being

Are You a Team or a Meeting?
Nick Pope
An all-new guide to building and sustaining high performing teams

Hard Streets
Jacqueline Riding
Welcome to the hard streets: working-class London in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from the author of Hogarth and Peterloo

How Africa Works
Joe Studwell
A radical reassessment of one of the most pervading myths of our time: that the African continent is uniquely ill-suited to economic development

A Shellshocked Nation
Alwyn Turner
A fresh and inventive social history of interwar Britain, from Armistice and the Spanish flu to the announcement of war

Ausländer
Michael Moritz
Ausländer casts a unique shaft of light into the darkest years of European history, and a profoundly moving, personal story of disaster and trium…

Polar War
Kenneth R. Rosen
How military ambition, climate change and extractive economics are transforming the Arctic into the epicentre of a new Cold War

The Story Solution
Anna Katharina Schaffner
An essential guide to breaking negative patterns, rewriting your self-story and unlocking a happier future

Billions to Bust – and Beyond (New and Updated Edition)
Thor Bjorgolfsson
A no-holds-barred true story of risk, loss and adventure capitalism

The Daily Artist's Way
Julia Cameron
A daily companion to the Artist's Way creative process, with page-a-day insights to use all year round

Murder in Wintertime
Various
From the bestselling series: winter-themed classic tales for crime lovers everywhere

Merry Murdle: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES
G. T. Karber
Deck the halls with this festive instalment of Murdle, the #1 Sunday Times bestselling mystery puzzle series that challenges you to find whodunnit, wh…

The Economist Quiz Book
Tom Standage
Sixty addictive quizzes from the clever people at The Economist

Untitled Shoshana Zuboff
Shoshana Zuboff
The tale of two global orders, surveillance capitalism and democracy, locked in a zero-sum death match over who will rule the digital century

Dictionary of Fine Distinctions
Eli Burnstein
A charmingly illustrated and witty stocking filler for language lovers

LRB Diary for 2026: Brief Lives
LRB Diary
An irreverent, fascinating mini-biography for every week of the year, written by the best contributors to the London Review of Books
No King In Israel
Anshel Pfeffer
How Israel's democracy fractured, and what has happened to its founding principles since 1948