I know, I know. I work in a library. Which means I am biased when it comes to thinking that the library is a great place to work. But, I also think that a library could be a great setting in a book. Again, I know that I am biased. But hopefully you all think libraries are swell too, since you are reading a blog post written by a librarian about libraries. Anyway, here are five great juvenile fiction books that take place in a library. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Happy reading!
Written by Frank L. Cole
Salt Lake City, Utah: Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2024. 284 pages.
Juni lives in a dystopian world where paper is worth more than money. There is a legend of a lost library that holds treasures untold. And Juni, who at first is tempted to find the library to ease her family’s financial woes, decides to try to find it. Readers who like adventure, mysteries, and a dystopian world where books and knowledge are the true treasures will love reading this book. Plus there is a bonus code that readers can break after they read the book.
Written by Polly Horvath
New York: Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House, 2024. 247 pages.
Essie was a baby when she was abandoned in the public library. And the four librarians that found her decided to keep her and raise her in the library. Which worked out pretty well until Essie decided to start exploring the town and she meets a boy that looks like her twin and there is a new library employee that is determined not to like Essie. This is a fun story about what might happen if three children’s librarians and one adult librarian decide to raise a girl in the library—and honestly, doesn’t that just sound like fun in and of itself?!?
Written by Jenny Lundquist
New York: Holiday House, 2025. 250 pages.
Ever since Rowan’s parents died she has lived at one boarding school or another. However, her grandfather finally decided to bring her home so that she could learn more about the family business and “legacy” which is the Library of Curiosities. This is a place where magical items are kept and can be checked out to those that wish to borrow them and use their magical properties. Rowan loves the idea of living there with her grandfather; however, Rowan doesn’t understand the truth about her family’s past and why there is a mysterious man that keeps trying to harm her family. This is a book full of magic, mystery, and a whole lot of library (even if it isn’t the book kind).
Written by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. 215 pages.
This story is told in multiple perspectives: a ghost librarian, a cat named Mortimer, and a boy named Evan who happens to discover a connection between a book in a little free library and an event in the town’s history that no adults that remember want to talk about. Although this has a little free library in Evan’s time period, there is also a library in the town’s past that the ghost librarian lives in. So, readers who want either the small little free libraries or the bigger libraries with shelves full of books and story times will also enjoy this library setting (along with the mystery of what happened that Evan has to solve).
Written by Kekla Magoon
Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2024. 373 pages.
When Dally’s grandpa dies he leaves her a letter that leads her to a secret library. There she discovers…well…secrets. The library is full of secrets of all kinds of people, including some of Dally’s relatives. There Dally gets to learn more about her past and her future as she not only learns about the secrets, but she can travel through time in order to see what happened when the secret was created. Those that love libraries, adventures, and a book full of all the genres mashed up together will enjoy this read.
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