"They stepped through and were standing on a landing atop a tall spiraling wooden staircase. The room in front of them stretched on as far as they could see. They apparently had come out in the middle of the library; it went above and below them for several stories and was lit by a warm golden light that seemed to have no source. The shelves were tightly packed with books and scrolls and manuscripts of all kinds, both muggle and magical. There were books in elvish, gobbledygook, and every other language imaginable and few people didn’t have the mind to imagine. There were translations of the Voynich Manuscript and tomes with tales so frightening they could not be read aloud. There was an entire wing of the library devoted to indexes and catalogues of the millions of books populating the shelves."— Harry Potter & The Unforgiven
The Grand Library
The Grand Library of the Wizengamot is the largest magical library in the world. It's always located somewhere in Britain, which is something most people blame on Merlin, but is mostly because the British Empire stole all the books, scrolls, tomes, notebooks, scribbled on napkins and enchanted post-it notes from the rest of the world for a couple of centuries to start it, and after that, it was far too much trouble to move it anywhere else.
Administration
The Board of Governors
The Grand Library is governed by a board made up of the Ministery Historian, the Hogwarts Headmaster, the Grand Warlock of the Wizengamot, the Lord President of the
Hidden Council, the Director of St. Mungo's, two Gnomes and three scholars chosen by the gnomes.
The day to day operations of the Library, as well as the granting of access, is managed by the Gnomes - who really quite the best people to be curating the collection. The Library's budget is overseen and dispersed by the Ministry Historian.
Access to the Library
The gnomes grant people access based on criteria only they know, but their mild empathy and strange sympathetic magics seem to tell them who needs what kind of access to knowledge. The higher your access, the more of the library you get into, the more books you can read or check out, and the more often the door will appear for you.
Most who come to the Library are allowed in and allowed to look up what they need to look up, and given whatever assistance they need. The Gnomes are always quite helpful and friendly, and make sure their time in the library is well spent and as successful as possible.
This is what happens to most of those who visit the Library. There are others, of course, who will need to return on a regular basis, and the gnomes understand and respect this.
The Gnomes issue different colored library cards that grant different levels of access. What each person has access to is a complex system only understood by the Gnomes, but there are certain levels of access granted that are fairly well understood.
| Color |
Access Level
|
| Gold |
Unrestricted access - given to the wisest and most learned scholars whom can be trusted to make the right decision with the knowledge they have. Those who have these cards have a special place in Gnome culture and are known as Golden Seekers
Unlike other levels of access, the Gold Card acts as a doorway to the library from anywhere. This is a privilege given only to a few. |
|
Research Fellow |
| Brown |
Noted scholar. Some texts are protected or hidden because of waht they contain. |
|
An active agent in the world who may need special access to forbidden knowledge from time to time. Aurors and Curse Breakers usually have this level of access. |
|
A teacher |
|
Student. |
| Blue |
Given to the few muggles allowed into the Library. |
|
Healers |
|
Government officials |
While members of the governing board all have access to the library, their level of access is granted based on the same criteris gnomes use with everyone else.
- or those patrons who hold Gold Cards - are the rarest form of scholars, heroes, and magicians. When asked, all the gnomes will say about is that these rare few are those who are 'prepared for and understand the truth of the burden of knowledge.'
Research Fellows are those scholars who are allowed to take up residence in the Library and work there. This is an honor granted to a relative few. Blood status, magical ability - none of it matters. Squibs, muggles, and magicians are allowed to hold this position, and any who argue with it are ignored.
Above them are the Scholars in Residence - those scholars given permanent positions working for the Library itself. Many of these scholars remain there for the rest of their lives. Some few find positions elsewhere - but once a Scholar in Residence, always a Scholar in Residence - they always have a home there and a position there, no matter what.
Rules of the Library
There aren't many rules, and most of them are common sense. They are not written down - if the gnomes have granted you access, they believe you are smart enough to be able to figure them out.
The first and foremost rule is probably this: do not go into parts of the library or seek knowledge you are not permitted.
The Grand Library is accorded the status of neutral territory. You can end up sitting at a study desk next to your worst enemy who very much wants to kill you - or worse, having to share the only copy of a magical tome that holds the secret to defeating them.
The use of magic is allowed, but is limited to utility spells needed to perform tasks related to research or personal health and functionality.
There are places where spells can be practiced safely, of course. And a potions lab, though all ingredients must be supplied by the patron.
No dueling or fighting. At all. Unless the gnomes say otherwise.
Do not take a book from the library without permission. If you do not return a book you have taken, you are charged its value, a fee, and you are banned. (And the gnomes will reclaim the book. By whatever means necessary.)
Do not interfere with any patron or scholar. Wait your turn or work together.
Muggles
Gnomes invite muggles to the Library - at least those who need to be there and who are worthy of it, or who are needed by others. These muggles are by law and tradition exempt from the Statute of Secrecy.
Locations inside the Library
There are numerous special locations within the library that patrons may or may not have access to.
Study & Work Rooms
These are available upon request or as the gnomes feel it is necessary. There are various forms of these rooms. From near permanent offices for researchers to specialized rooms with magical protections to view specific items.
Potions Lab
There is a well equipped, fully stocked potions lab researchers can use if they need. They are expected to provide their own ingredients, but can also purchase ingredients from the Library.
Spell Test Chambers
Located deep within the library, these ancient chambers have been reinforced over more than two thousand years, and are used to practice spells that cannot or should not be cast elsewhere.
Special Collections
There are many Special Collections in the Grand Library. Tomes of magic too dark to be read and curated selections from specific writers.
There is a list of Special Collections, but you cannot see that list without a Gold Card or a seat on the board.
The well known special collections are:
- Muggle Science & Technology
- Muggle History
- Muggle Literature & Culture
- Untranslatable Tomes
- Muggle books about magic and the arcane
- Culinary Traditions of the Magical World
- Dark Forces, Magic, & Lore
- Prophecies, Oracles, & Divination
There are literally thousands of curated special collections and there are notes about them in many scholarly tomes and publications, each with their own room or wing, but many are not accessible at all - or are only accessible via special permissions.
Museum & Antiquities
To say there is only one museum in the Grand Library is to say there is only one Museum at the British Museum or the American Smithsonian.
There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of museums and collections of artifact - magical and mundane - in the Grand Library.
Some of these collections and museusms are perfectly harmless, but others are full of dark artifacts, cursed items, and other such that are contained by Gnomish and wizarding magics.
Some of these collections are hidden from all but those but the Golden Seekers and Gnomes themselves, because the knoweldge of them or the power of them are far, far too much for more to know of.
Residences
The Grand Library hosts an unknown number of rooms, suites, and apartments for Research Fellows and the Scholars in Residence - and there is one wing for Golden Seekers that they, and only they (and those they take with them) may enter.
There are rumors, of course, of the wing set aside for the supposed cadre of Curse Breakers, but there is absolutely no proof of this.
Divisions of the Library
The Grand Library is, of course, an organization as well as a location.
The Divisions of the the Library are well known and well documented, but many think there are hidden, secret divisions of the Library that aren't often spoken of.
Administration
The Head Librarian is also the chief administrator. They handle reports, work with the governing board, and keep track of everything. They have a staff (mostly) gnomes and a few humans.
Librarians and Curators
Librarians are exactly what we know them to be. They help patrons find what they need, take care of the researchers, shelve and catalog books, and keep track of vast amounts of information.
The Curators handle art and artifacts in the same way librarians handle written works.
Special Collections
Here, Gnomes and wizards (usually scholars, researchers, and Golden Seekers) work together to deal with special collections - either of the mundane or dangerously magical.
Acquisitions
Every day, more material and artifacts are submitted to the Library. Either by scholars and researchers, by the Ministry, or by citizens and organizations who find or create things they feel needs to go into the Library.
The Acquisitions department also goes out into the world and pursues certain kinds of knowledge and information to bring back to the Library.
The Curse Breakers
It is rumored, but not proven by any, that a small and elite group of powerful Curse Breakers work for the Grand Library. That like the Curse Breakers of Gringotts, they are a branch of an ancient Order dedicated to protecting the world for lost and forgotten dark powers.
If such a group existed or currently exists, they do not appear to answer to the Ministry of Magic or the International Confederation of Wizards - which is the governing body that they should have answered to during the times when this group would have been most active.
The Grand Library is a hidden repository of knowledge.
Originally supposed to be a repository of arcane knowledge and history, it hs grown and morphed into a repository of every kind of knowledge. It is designed to be the most comprehensive source of such knowledge in the world and in history, and it may have even achieved that goal - there is no metric to compare it to.
According to the gnomes and the Ministry Historian, it has (at least) one copy of every book, novel, script, story, scroll, etc created that they could get their hands on. Despite this vast collection of muggle knowledge and stories, most of the library is still arcane knowledge.
The gnomes (and most magical scholars) maintain there is far more arcane knowledge than scientific knowledge - though many historians would disagree with that.
It looked to be a simple wood door of the same ubiquitous kind that was found in houses across Britain. It had a few scratches on the surface and the hinges looked a bit rusted. It just didn’t have a doorknob. Instead, there was a circular metal plate where the doorknob should have been. Bill tapped it with his wand and the edges of the door flared with bright golden light before it swung open.— Harry Potter & the Unforgiven
The Grand Library of the Wizengamot is a massive building crammed into the back room of a used book store down the street from the Leaky Cauldron in London, accessible through a door only magical folk can see.
The door isn't always there, but it is there most of the time for most people, all of the time for very few people and never there for the people who really shouldn't be allowed in a library.
Encyclopedia salespeople, many politicians, and the occasional Dark Wizard ended up on the banned list.
Unlike the Ministry of Magic or St. Mungo's, the Grand Library isn't just a magically hidden building or complex, but a single room in the back of bookstore that exists as a library. The magic behind this is complex, but easily maintained and hard to break - but the simple fact of its existence makes most witches and wizards think Merlin had something to do with it instead of it being a well maintained repository of imperialistic intellectual property.
The truth is that Merlin had little to do with it. Roman wizards actually built it.
The only other ways into the Grand Library is via whatever means the Gnomes use to access it - which no human has ever laid eyes on. Or via a Gold Library card, which can only work for it's holder and those the holder wishes to bring with them.
Any other trying to follow the holder and those chosen to accompany them would face the full might of the Library's wards, which - even for as powerful a wizard as Dumbledore or Voldemort, would face almost certain destruction.
"They stepped through and were standing on a landing atop a tall spiraling wooden staircase. The room in front of them stretched on as far as they could see. They apparently had come out in the middle of the library; it went above and below them for several stories and was lit by a warm golden light that seemed to have no source. The shelves were tightly packed with books and scrolls and manuscripts of all kinds, both muggle and magical. There were books in elvish, gobbledygook, and every other language imaginable and few people didn’t have the mind to imagine. There were translations of the Voynich Manuscript and tomes with tales so frightening they could not be read aloud. There was an entire wing of the library devoted to indexes and catalogues of the millions of books populating the shelves."— Harry Potter & The Unforgiven
The Library is run and staffed (mostly) by
Gnomes.
It had skin the color of aged wood and bright blue eyes, a neatly trimmed gray beard and wisps of white hair sticking up from its almost bald head. It was just over three feet tall and wore simple, buff colored robes.— Harry Potter & the Unforgiven
The Gnomes are the administrators, the librarians, janitors, curators, security guards, and every other role the Library needs.
There are human staff - researchers, librarians, historians, even some witches and wizards hired as securituy guards. Mostly former Aurors and Hit Wizards from all over the world who need extra income.
There are many magical scholars and historians who work at the Library and have their own research and study rooms. Most of them pay a montly fee to be allowed to work there, and have ongoing projects and publications or work that is supported by family fortunes, their own profits or various governments and institutions.
These researchers are considered Library staff for some purposes, but not for others, although the exact nature of this is only known to those who work at the Library. They are notoriously secretive about the nature of their arrangements with the gnomes, and while dark magic might pry the secrets from them, those secrets may or may not be worth the effort.
During times of war against dark wizards, many of these researchers take up residence in the Library, only leaving it when they absolutely have to.
Some of this is to protect themselves, but some of it is to protect their knowledge from being
Originally, the Grand Library was dug out of caves under Britain, and the construction of the Library went down rather than up. This trend has continued, and the only full map of the Grand Library exists with the Gnomes and the Ministry Historian.
While construction materials and techniques have gotten better over the centuries, the Library has been renovated hundreds of times to keep it as (magically) modern as possible.
The Library was originally build by the Romans in the traditional, classic Roman style. As the Library evolved, the Roman and architecture and decor was subsumed and integrated into Britisih Imperial architecture and design, but the vast majority of the Grand Library is still Roman, even if it has been repaired and restored far from its original appearance and materials. (Except, of course, for any place the Romans used their cement - that stuff is eternal, magical or otherwise.)
The Grand Library is hidden from by powerful and ancient magics created by Roman and Celtic magicians. Enchanters and Artificers built the Library and the magics of its defenses, and the Gnomes have added their own powers to it over the centuries.
Between the original spells laid down on it and the Gnomes continuously using their powers of preservation and stasis on it, making the wards and walls impenetrable. The only way to gain entry to the Grand Library is with the Gnomes' permissions and powers.
Every month, at least one member of the governing board works with the Gnomes to inspect the Library and lay down wards, issue orders for repairs and make sure there has been no breach.
Many times Dark wizards or opposing factions have attempted to breach the Library.
All have failed.
The Grand Library fo the Wizengamot is ancient.
The Library was originally built in 53 BC when native British Celt magicians were brought into the international magica community after the second failed Roman invasion. The Council of Arcanists decided the British Isles were a safe and remote enough place to begin to create and curate a new and comprehensive magical library.
Every other place they had considered wasn't safe enough or would be easy for invading armies to accidentally destroy - much like the once great Library of Alexandria.
There were a series of magically hidden caverns British magicians had used for generations as a repository of scrolls, texts, and other such knowledge run by ancient priests and monks of forgotten orders who worshipped gods almost no one remembered even then.
Of course, there were gnomes. They arrived with the Roman wizards, and made contact with local gnomes who were more than happy to help. Wizards, Goblins, and Dwarves dug out more tunnels and rooms, and reinforced the ones that already existed.
The complex became a vast, deep, and complex compound, curated by gnomes and magicians from all over the world. There is no 'end' date listed on construction, as it continues even today as more and more knowledge is added to the library.
The Library remained under the control of the Council of Wizards, and later the International Confederation of Wizards until sometime in the late 1800s when conflict in the International Confederation caused the Confederation to try to move the Library - a decision that created a huge negative response from magicians all over the world.
When the British Ministry offered to take over the costs of running and expanding the Library, the Confederation was forced to allow them to do so.
The British are, of course, incredibly proud of the Library and have made significant improvements in it over the past hundred years or so - something that has endeared them the to the scholarly communities of the wizarding world.
The Grand Library is not open for tourism per se, but it is open for visitors, researchers, students, and others who need information.
Alternative Names
The Grand Library of the Arcane
Entry for WorldEmber 2021
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