History Main / GreatBigLibraryOfEverything

*** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Otlet Paul Otlet]], a Belgian pioneer of library and information science, conceived a library known as the [[https://daily.jstor.org/internet-before-internet-paul-otlet/ Mundaneum]], consisting of index cards filled with encoded information, and tried to establish a research service that allowed the paying public to phone his team to look up information, imagining that it would expand to include an [[TheAlternet Alternet]] of “electric telescopes” that enabled live streaming of multiple document lookups (an early version of search engines) and allowed viewers to see associations between documents (anticipating the Semantic Web detailed below). He convinced the Belgian government to fund his efforts, but the Mundaneum, without the research service, was mostly destroyed by the Nazi invasion of 1940.

* ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' has the Interdimensional Library, or simply "the Library", which allegedly contains a copy of every book ever published anywhere in TheMultiverse (although Century Smith thinks the librarians may be exaggerating a bit). It is poorly organised, but spawns [[RefugeeFromTVLand living projections of fictional characters]] who can instinctively navigate its strange logic and guide browsers to the books they need. Entry into the Library is not free: you have to pay by gifting them a new narrative, the stronger and truer the better.

* The SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy library in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse isn't infinite, but it is enormous for a high school library, and contains lots of stuff human libraries shouldn't even know about, sealed off in private areas: alien books, CosmicHorrorStory books, ...

* The ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' [[GameMod mod]] ''Sunder'' includes the level "Archives of the Technomancer", set in and about a colossal library with bookshelves the size of ''apartment blocks''. The bottom of the library is filled with lava, which [[ConvectionSchmonvection for some reason doesn't seem to affect the books adversely.]]

* The Great Celaeno Library from ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'', another MythologyGag to the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, which the protagonists visit in the 2013 TV season. It's said to contain just about every book in the known universe, and for [[ShoutOut good measure]] even includes the [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Gaia Library]] (see below under Live-Action Television).

* The [[WizardingSchool Hogwarts]] library in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books is a downplayed example -- it may not contain ''everything'', but it contains virtually everything relevant to the plot of the story.

* [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', at least in the early stages of the game. One of the [[VestigialEmpire Fallen Empires]], known as the [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge Keepers of Knowledge]], values the technological superiority most of all, as well as the unique knowledge that is collected in the Master Archive, which located on the planet named after it. According to the game itself, "the collected knowledge of five galactic ages is supposedly stored here". Due to the incredible size of the Archive, as well as millennia of decline, even the Keepers themselves no longer know how to properly use this storehouse of knowledge.

* In the video game ''Qurare Magic Library'', the original library is known for having stored knowledge of everything, past, present and future, and even alternate histories. You're essentially collecting all the female versions of historical figures as kodice(kodex) then you use them to fight the runaway kodice. A few are still male but most are female, the game is kicked off 15 years after a paradox that cause the great library to explode and when the main character Miu was born.

--->The cat hoisted herself up onto her feet. “Okay, pal. Lemme see what Penny’s mom’s got in that magic CD rack of hers.” The two friends respectively padded and rolled off to the bookcases full of jewel-boxed discs.

Please note that the library must not be split up into multiple smaller libraries but instead be a continuous entity. So you can have a huge connected library, but not a bunch of smaller branches. %%Why though?

Please note that the library must not be split up into multiple smaller libraries but instead be a continuous entity. So you can have a huge connected library, but not a bunch of smaller branches.

** An example of the trope that extends the principles of the previous three (most prominently, absolute [[https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/library-alexandra freedom of information]] without regard for paywalls or copyright, see also InformationWantsToBeFree), is the concept of the “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shadow_library shadow library]]”, a site that takes data from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping web scrapers]] (programs similar to crawlers) and creates free torrents of them. Examples include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis Library Genesis]], [[https://sci-hub.ru/about Sci-Hub]] (restricted to scientific papers), and [[https://annas-archive.org/about Anna’s Archive]].

* ''VisualNovel/{{Touchstarved}}'' has the Senobium, a university rumored to play host to one of these.

** An example of the trope that extends the principles of the previous two (most prominently, absolute [[https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/library-alexandra freedom of information]] without regard for paywalls or copyright, see also InformationWantsToBeFree), is the concept of the “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shadow_library shadow library]]”, a site that takes data from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping web scrapers]] (programs similar to crawlers) and creates free torrents of them. Examples include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis Library Genesis]], [[https://sci-hub.ru/about Sci-Hub]] (restricted to scientific papers), and [[https://annas-archive.org/about Anna’s Archive]].

** An example of the trope that extends the principles of the previous two (most prominently, absolute freedom of information without regard for paywalls or copyright), is the concept of the “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shadow_library shadow library]]”, a site that takes data from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping web scrapers]] (programs similar to crawlers) and creates free torrents of them. Examples include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis Library Genesis]], [[https://sci-hub.ru/about Sci-Hub]] (restricted to scientific papers), and [[https://annas-archive.org/about Anna’s Archive]].

** An example of the trope that extends the principles of the previous two (most prominently, absolute freedom of information without regard for paywalls or copyright), is the concept of the “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shadow_library shadow library]]”, a site that takes data from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping web scrapers]] (programs similar to crawlers) and creates free torrents of them, science papers. Examples include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis Library Genesis]], [[https://sci-hub.ru/about Sci-Hub]] (restricted to scientific papers), and [[https://annas-archive.org/about Anna’s Archive]].

** Another, nascent, example is an app called [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/p8bu54/how_i_collected_33_tb_of_unique_text_documents/ Library of Alexandria]] consisting of over 30 million documents and books, most of which were collected online using [[https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/web-crawler web crawlers]]. The collection also somehow includes a database of old Russian passports. (Make of that what you will.)

* In ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', there is one inside [[spoiler: the Cosmos fiend's mind]], which she can bring other people into. Once there, she can put all of the content of all of the books in the library into the victim's mind. This, of course, [[MindRape completely breaks them]], and for some reason the only thing they can think about after that is Halloween.

* The Exterior Library in ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'' contains all known knowledge from TheMultiverse, and is populated by a mysterious demon clan. The titular Demon Queen hails from that clan, and used the knowledge she learnt from within to not only claim her current position, but also kick start the equivalent of the RealLife British Agricultural Revolution in the human world. And even she does not have clearance for everything in the library. [[spoiler:Witch Girl]] is eventually revealed to be a member of the same clan despite [[spoiler:having been raised, and perhaps originally being, a human]] and in her side story gains access to Exterior Library.

* The library of St. Marguerite Academy, in ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'', is known for its vast amount of books and labyrinthine staircases. A great deal of humor derives from the fact that Kujo has to climb the stairs to reach the greenhouse at the top level, while Victorique has the privilege to use the elevator. The library is also a prolific source of urban legends among St. Marguerite Academy students. It is said that a golden fairy inhabits the top floor, and that those who step on the thirteenth step of the stairway would be cursed.

** Doctor Strange's library is hinted to be the most impressive, since as [[spoiler: an immortal in the region of 500,000 years old]], a frequent abuser of TimeTravel, and a habitual thief capable of stealing the Tesseract from Asgard's highest security vaults whenever he feels like it, he's accumulated an extremely extensive library. It's also implied to be a more conventional armoury.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WelcometotheWayne}}'': The Stanza is a [[BiggerOnTheInside gigantic]] library located in The Wayne accessed throught a portal in a mirror, managed by [[MagicLibrarian Mrs. Clara]] an elderly lady and helped by squid like creatures, there's a weaponry, railings that lift up when are grab and a control room by which she watches and controls the movements of the passages and giant bookcases.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WelcomeToTheWayne}}'': The Stanza is a [[BiggerOnTheInside gigantic]] library located in The Wayne accessed throught a portal in a mirror, managed by [[MagicLibrarian Mrs. Clara]] an elderly lady and helped by squid like creatures, there's a weaponry, railings that lift up when are grab and a control room by which she watches and controls the movements of the passages and giant bookcases.

* In WesternAnimation/WelcomeToTheWayne: The Stanza is a [[BiggerOnTheInside gigantic]] library located in The Wayne accessed throught a portal in a mirror, managed by [[MagicLibrarian Mrs. Clara]] an elderly lady and helped by squid like creatures, there's a weaponry, railings that lift up when are grab and a control room by which she watches and controls the movements of the passages and giant bookcases.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': There is a giant library in Mordhaus; the home of the death metal band Dethklok. It contains millions of books, including a diary that belongs to the lead singer's grand mother.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has a level called Long Library. It contains numerous books, especially [[DeadlyBook ones that attack]] the protagonist, Alucard. There is a shop belonging to the Master Librarian, the head of Long Library. He sells items - such as healing potions - to Alucard.