New book explores the depiction of libraries in fiction, from Don Quixote to Discworld

Published at the end of this month, ‘Books, Readers and Libraries in Fiction’ looks at how texts and reading spaces have been represented in popular culture throughout history. 

The new book presents chronological essays on the depiction of books, libraries and reading from the medieval period to the present day, drawing from literary history and book studies to examine what fictional representations of reading tell us about changing cultural attitudes.  

The book is a collaborative work published by University of London Press and edited by Dr Karen Attar, former Research Fellow at the Institute of English Studies and curator of rare books and University Art at Senate House Library, and Dr Andrew Nash, Reader in Book History and Director of the London Rare Books School.  

Speaking about how the depiction of libraries has changed over time, Dr Attar said: 

“The depiction of libraries in fiction reflects actual historical circumstances. Until the foundation of the British Museum with its departments of printed books and manuscripts and the development of subscription and circulating libraries, all in the eighteenth century, libraries were either personal, academic, or ecclesiastical.  

“It is significant that when Don Quixote, the quintessential naïve reader, is crazed by his reading of romances, he actually possesses those romances. This is made very explicit when his housekeeper, the curate and the doctor are burning his books. It’s partly because the vast majority of libraries were personal that the emphasis in our book is on books and reading much more than on libraries. Libraries were exclusive, and people are explicitly or implicitly reading their own books. 

“Public libraries were introduced in the mid-nineteenth century, and it is from the nineteenth century that institutional libraries enter the fictitious scene. The British Museum Library is a popular backdrop to action at least from George Gissing’s New Grub Street onwards. People know it, from the outside if not from within, and can identify with it.  

“Very broadly speaking, I would say that whereas reading is part of plots, libraries as such are far more often backdrops, often for nefarious deeds or chance meetings. 

“By the mid-twentieth century the free public library, as well as lending libraries like Boots’ Booklovers Library and W.H. Smith’s circulating library, is well embedded in society. Books are readily affordable and are a greater part of society than they have ever been. In fiction, a society where books or reading are suppressed, as in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, is distinctly dystopian.” 

Regarding what the depiction of books and reading reveals about an era’s anxieties, Dr Attar said: 

“There is a rather unflattering presentation of woman’s intellect, probably reflecting the perceived inferiority of women’s education for centuries.  
“Many of the chapters in our book are about women who read ‘badly’. They can do so by the nature of the books they read (too many novels), or by over-identifying with characters in novels and by failing to profit from underlying messages. The patriarchal society is clearly reinforced with wise men guiding the reading of inexperienced women.  

“And yes, class makes a difference. That makes the chapter in our book about D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers stand out. It combines with gender. The working man reads and improves himself. The working woman needs to have her reading regulated.” 

Offering thoughts on her own personal favourite libraries, Dr Attar said: 

“For me, it has to be Cambridge University Library, simply because I know it and so can identify with it. We refer to M.R. James’s ghost stories in the introduction of the book: there’s a tale by M.R. James in which a reader requests a book in Cambridge University Library by its shelfmark, and the assistant who goes to fetch it from the stacks has a shock and has to go on sick leave.  

“I also like Peter Wimsey’s library in Dorothy Sayers’s mystery stories, mentioned in our chapter on the body in the library – I think for its ambiance of comfort and elegance, as a personal library which is appreciated and used (although it works well for show, it isn’t compiled for show), and as a reflection of its owner’s taste and intellect. 

“I’m going to turn the question also to my least favourite library in fiction. We have a lot about Jane Austen in our book, mainly Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. I least like Mr Bennet’s library in Pride and Prejudice, because it symbolises an avoidance of social duty: in using it as a refuge, he evades responsibility for the behaviour of his family.” 

On ambitions and hopes for the book, Dr Attar said: 

“I just really hope that readers will enjoy it equally, that at least some of it might appeal to readers outside academia as well as to the academic audience for which it is primarily intended, and that it will prompt people to think about their own reading practices.” 

‘Books, Readers and Libraries in Fiction’ is available via University of London Press on January 30, 2025.