Library Episode

Behold: An endless catalogue of books.

Books are cool and all, and it's fun to read and learn. So where's the best place to read and learn? Why, none other than the library! Schools and public areas are known to house the wonderful world of reading, and you're free to read to your heart's content. But shh! — It's the rule to be quiet when in the library so you don't disturb anyone working or studying.

Thus, the Library Episode revolves around characters going to a library for whatever the plot demands; if the quiet rule is played to the extreme, it may involve a Scary Librarian. If the loudness aspect goes too far, it could result in So Much for Stealth. These episodes may also include the Extremely Overdue Library Book trope, where the character may have to pay a huge fee as a result of keeping the book they borrowed for so long. If the library happens to be extravagant, then it could result in a Great Big Library of Everything.

Please note that a Library Episode is an episode that involves a library exclusively; if the library appears but characters briefly visit, then it doesn't count. This episode can also result in a "Reading Is Cool" Aesop, though it sometimes might be a Very Special Episode as well.

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Examples:

Fan Fiction

• The Joys and Sorrows of Young Charles Finster: In the chapter aptly titled "The Library", Chas and Drew learn to read and write their names, so they can get library cards and therefore read a book for their assignment. Drew lies to Chas that if you damage your book, they'll take your card, but then starts to wonder if it's true himself when he breaks his own book.

Film — Live-Action

• The Breakfast Club is this, combined with Detention Episode. It revolves around five troubled teens forced to spend a Saturday detention in the library where they bond with each other and discover how much they have in common.

Live-Action TV

• All That has a sketch called "The Loud Librarian", which features librarian Mrs. Hushbaum screaming at the patrons for no reason whenever they make any sound, talking included.
• Doctor Who: "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" The Doctor and Donna arrive in a planet-sized Great Big Library of Everything, only to find all life there wiped out by malevolent Living Shadows.
• Good Luck Charlie: In "Story Time", Teddy and Amy take Charlie to the library for story time. While there, Candace, the library's host and worker in children's publishing, tells Teddy and Amy that books nowadays are boring, and is on the lookout for a new, talented writer to come up with an exciting story. This leads to Teddy and Amy competing to write a children's story to get published. While Teddy puts actual time and effort into her story, Tim Can and His Amazing Journey, a story about a soup can and his adventures in being recycled into different objects, Amy focuses more on the merchandising for her story, Trashy the Trash Can than the actual story itself. Candace gets so annoyed with Teddy and Amy's competitive nature that she turns both of their stories down.
• Downplayed in an episode of The Golden Girls titled "Stand By Your Man," as the main plot begins with a dateless Blanche reluctantly going with Dorothy to the library. Dorothy tries to check out with her mother's card and learns it expired five years ago, so she instead uses her own card while insisting the librarian not judge her. Meanwhile, instead of reading books, Blanche books a date with a man named Ted, who turns out to be wheelchair-bound. The rest of the episode focuses on Blanche's relationship with Ted. When it ends badly, Blanche swears to never date a man she meets in a library....on a Saturday....unless he's cute....and drives a nice car.
• Married... with Children: "He Thought He Could": While rummaging through some old stuff, Al finds out he has an overdue library book that he checked out when he was little. Marcy chides him into returning it but Al's reluctant since he had bad beef with the librarian back then. He's convinced she couldn't still be there after all those years and goes to return it. But, as his luck would have it, she still is and even recognizes him as an adult. With her explaining she held onto the job largely out of spite to prove Al couldn't return the book as a kid. He seems to get away with tricking her into believing he had returned it, but gets caught on camera in doing the act and it broadcasted on the news. This is all that's needed for her point to be proven and her to officially retire. But Al still gets the last laugh after a final confrontation by stealing her prized teacup.
• Mr. Bean has a library episode, in which Mr Bean is looking at a priceless manuscript. When he accidentally scribbles on a page, he goes to great lengths to hide this, causing great damage to the tome in the process.
• Similar to The Breakfast Club example, the Victorious episode "The Breakfast Bunch" has Tori and the gang being forced to spend a Saturday detention in the Hollywood Arts library after Robbie causes everyone to be late for class. The episode itself is a full-on take of The Breakfast Club from beginning to end.
• Wishbone: "Pantin' at the Opera" parallels the plot of The Phantom of the Opera when books begin disappearing from the Oakdale Library and an old librarian is reported dead, which leads Joe and his friends, along with his mother, Ellen, the reference librarian, to investigate.

Newspaper Comics

• Calvin and Hobbes had a multi-strip story arc where Calvin is assigned to do a report with Susie on the planet Mercury, and has to go to the library with her to do research. Calvin, of course, ends up wasting their time in the library by doing things like drawing aliens, and when he actually does give his report, it's clear that all of his time in the library accomplished nothing.

Puppet Shows

• Bear in the Big Blue House has the two-part Season 4 premiere, "Welcome to Woodland Valley". In this episode, Bear gathers the residents of Woodland Valey for a potluck dinner to help rebuild the roof of the library after it was damaged by a fallen tree during a storm. The kids of the Big Blue House work hard collecting books to restore the library's collection, while Doc tries to decide what to do about the tree occupying a large portion of the library. He eventually plans on removing the tree, chopping it up, and using it for firewood to heat all of Woodland Valley, but Ojo discovers a pair of possums living within the tree that changes Doc's plan.
• Sesame Street:
  • In a Cookie Monster sketch, Cookie goes to the library and asks the librarian for various books, as well as a box of cookies. The librarian becomes extremely frustrated when he has to explain multiple times to Cookie that the library doesn't have any cookies, just books. Cookie eventually understands, and decides to ask for a book about cookies... and a glass of milk.
  • In another sketch, Grover is at a library, explaining it to the viewer. The librarian forces Grover to speak in progressively quieter tones, until Grover can barely be heard.
  • In Episode 3613, Natasha becomes tired of playing peek-a-boo with Humphrey, so Roxie Marie suggests that Humphrey read her a book. When Humphrey borrows Roxie Marie's math book, Natasha is unimpressed, so Roxie Marie takes Humphrey and Natasha to the library to check out a book of their own. While at the library, Humphrey reads a book called Tickle the Elephant to Natasha. F.N. Jones, the author of Tickle the Elephant makes a personal appearance at the library, and Natasha bonds with Simba, his pet elephant, which inspires Jones to write a new book, Tickle Natasha.

Web Comics

• Medic Pics: Chapter #29 takes place completely in the same library during exam season, with the artist musing about body pillows instead of studying.

Western Animation

• Archie's Weird Mysteries: In "The Haunting of Riverdale", Jughead finds himself haunted at the local library which he believes is from a previous librarian that died who hated him when he was younger. He's right about it being the ghost of the librarian, but she never hated him. What he thought was her being scary was really her trying to make amends for her first impression and get him to go back to the library without fear and enjoy reading.
• Arthur:
  • The episode "Locked in the Library!" features Arthur and Francine visiting the library and forgetting about closing time, and, as the title says, they inadvertently get locked in for the entire weekend.
    Arthur: I just remembered something.
    Francine: What?!
    Arthur: Today's Saturday, which means... the library is closed until...
    [Francine gasps in horror]
    Both: MONDAY!!! [echoes]
  • In "D.W.'s Library Card", D.W. wants Arthur to borrow a book called Hopalong the Frog from the library and read it to her. When Arthur refuses, D.W. wishes that she could get her own library card so she can borrow the book herself. She finds out that she's old enough, but in order to get a library card, she must successfully write her full name. She practices and eventually succeeds, but when she finally gets to borrow Hopalong the Frog, she finds out from the Tibble Twins that if a library book is damaged, her library card will be taken away forever, which dissuades her from reading the book. At the end of the episode, just before it's time to return the book, Arthur finds out that he first borrowed it when he was D.W.'s age, and it inspires him to read it to her.
  • One of the music videos in "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival" is called "Library Card", where Arthur and his friends sing about the joys of reading books at the library.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender has the episode "The Library", where the Gaang visits a mystical library owned by Wan Shi Tong, an owl spirit that, while mistrusting humans, allows them to enter and peruse the library so long as they do not use any of their findings for war. The Gaang agrees, but during their exploration comes across a completely burned out wing of the library, destroyed by Admiral Zhao in his youth, to avoid people finding out ways to stop the Fire Nation from conquering the world. When the Gaang finds out about the "Day of Black Sun" from a surviving piece of parchment (a day about a total solar eclipse that robs firebenders of their powers), Wan Shi Tong is enraged and sinks the library, which the Gaang barely escapes from. The episode also is a Wham Episode, as while they're inside the library, Appa is kidnapped, leaving the group stranded in the desert.
• Big City Greens:
  • The episode "Quiet Please" focused around Cricket's inability to read because of his overly-stimulated brain, so the family takes him out to the public library to teach him about reading and to find a book he likes. Unfortunately, the librarians there are really strict, and if they make one noise (even talking or whispering), they'll get banned for good; thus the family resorts to using sign language to Tilly's request whenever they need to say something. Not to mention the whole episode is one big take on A Quiet Place; Bill even indirectly mentions the title once the family first enters. In addition, everything that happens in the library is completely unrealistic.
  • A Random Rings short, "Tilly Calls a Library", has Tilly calling a kinder librarian from a different library and convinces her into writing a book with her.
• The Bubble Guppies episode "Check it Out!" is themed around the library.
• Bugs Bunny Builders: In "Stories", the Looney Builders are hired by Hoots Talon to expand and paint the old library. They enlist the help of master painter Sylvester, who with the help of Tweety as his build buddy, faces his fear of heights.
• Charlie and Lola: In "But That is My Book", Charlie takes Lola to a library to find the book she's always wanted to check out, Beatles, Bugs, and Butterflies, but they cannot find it anywhere. Charlie suggests another book, Cheetahs and Chimpanzees, but Lola still insists they find the book she wants to get. In the end, another girl checks out the only copy of the book, and Lola's depressed, so she checks out Charlie's book instead.
• Dennis the Menace (1986): In "Quiet Riot", Dennis ruins a library book that Mr. Wilson was reading when he accidentally flies Tommy's toy airplane into Mr. Wilson's bathtub. An outraged Mr. Wilson makes Dennis come to the library with him to explain to the librarian how the book got damaged. While at the library, Dennis and Tommy cause havoc, which the librarian accuses Mr. Wilson of doing.
• Dexter's Laboratory:
  • In "Book 'Em", Dee Dee takes a book from the local library without checking it out first. When Dexter finds out, he tries to return the book without Ms. L finding out. Unfortunately for Dexter, the task proves to be difficult due to Dee Dee's incompetence.
  • In "Dexter's Library", Ms. Salinger leaves Dexter in charge of Huber Elementary School's library while she leaves to go to a meeting. Dexter takes his power as library administrator too far when the children break even the most minor rules.
• The Fairly OddParents!: In "Shelf Life", Timmy has to do a book report over his summer vacation, but goofs off all summer. When Wanda brings Timmy to the Dimmsdale Public Library so he can't goof off anymore, Timmy first tries to do a book report on The Rat in the Spats, which isn't on the list of approved books. Wanda then gives him the approved books to choose from, one of which is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Timmy wishes Tom out of his book to help him write his report, which results in Tom stealing Cosmo's wand and using it to edit the other books. Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda must chase Tom down to get Cosmo's wand back and put an end to Tom's shenanigans.
• Futurama: "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" is about giant floating brains draining the intelligence from everyone on Earth. Fry, who is immune to the brains' attacks, confronts the leader of the brains in the Public Library, where the brain attempts to trap his mind inside one of the books. Fry defeats it by tricking it inside a book he hastily wrote, which ends with the brain leaving Earth forever.
• Higglytown Heroes had two:
  • "Great Unexpectations" focuses on the kids going to the library to find out more about metamorphosis. They get shushed by the librarians as a Running Gag whenever they get loud.
  • "Twinkle's Favorite Author" has the library covered with a giant pizza and the kids have to find out how to remove it.
• Looney Tunes Cartoons: In "Overdue Duck", a large, muscular man goes to Porky's library to read some poetry in a quiet place, and threatens to beat up Porky if he is disturbed. Unfortunately for Porky, Daffy keeps causing disturbances.
• The Loud House: In "Read Aloud", the Loud Family enter a contest at the library, wherein the family that reads the most books will get a free pass to Spunk E. Pigeon's Pizza Parlor. Most of the members of the Loud family are avid readers, but Lola doesn't show any interest in reading, which interferes with the Loud family's chances of winning, as the contest states that all family members must read at least one book. Lincoln finds out that Lola has difficulty learning how to read, and teaches her that reading can be fun. Although the Loud family don't win the contest, Lola's newfound love for reading inspires her to learn how to make pizza for her family.
• Megas XLR: In "Buggin' The System'', Coop, Kiva and Jamie discover a ring-shaped planet with a large interstellar library which Kiva believes could contain information on how to defeat the Glorft. Coop is nervous about the situation due to his "bad luck with libraries" and his fears are worsened when it is discovered that the planet is infested with bug-like aliens that feed on energy. In the end, the planet is accidentally destroyed and the library with it by Coop.
• Muppet Babies (2018):
  • In "Library Leapfrog", Miss Nanny takes the babies to the library to check out books. While the other babies are excited about checking out books, Robin isn't, as he would much rather play his video game. The other babies show Robin how much fun reading can be when they go inside the books themselves and have an adventure getting Robin's video game back from Piggy and Summer when he accidentally gives it to them instead of his box of animal crackers. By the end of the episode, Robin decides that he would much rather check out the book of Zorna and the Muffonians than play his video game.
  • In "Animal Too Loud!", Mr. Manny takes the babies to the library to read books. While at the library, Animal squeaks Sir Featherbrain, Fozzie's rubber chicken, which leads to Mr. Manny taking him away and putting him on a shelf, having thought Fozzie squeaked him. Feeling bad for getting Fozzie in trouble, Animal tries to get Sir Featherbrain back for Fozzie without being noticed by Statler and Waldorf, which isn't easy, since all of his stealth attempts are too loud.
• The final season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic had "The Point of No Return", in which Twilight finds out she forgot to return a book due to having moved to Ponyville at the start of the series and, being Twilight, blows the matter out of proportion and tries to tries to track down the librarian who assigned it for her, visiting several libraries at the start of her journey.
• The Owl House contains 1½ library episodes:
  • In "Lost in Language", Luz visits the Boiling Isles library where she first discovers Amity's soft side, and engages in madness with her siblings Edric and Emira. She and Amity also begin to bond when they accidentally turn the protagonist of Amity's favorite book evil and work to reverse the spell.
  • The episode "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" features a subplot where Luz and Amity venture into a forbidden section of the library in search of a diary that once belonged to a human who lived in the Boiling Isles centuries ago. Though at this point, both of them have mutual crushes on one another, with Amity being willing to risk her job and get the diary when Luz implies to take her on a date to the Human Realm one day.
• Half of the Phineas and Ferb episode "Run, Candace, Run" has Candace have to go to the library to read for a children's book club while having to attain to Jeremy's family reunion on the same day.
• The Replacements: In "Quiet Riot", Todd is annoyed with the school library's strict librarian Mrs. Shusher, so he replaces her with the loud and obnoxious pop star Ms. Osbourne to make the library more fun. Unfortunately, it causes all the students to slack off and almost end up in summer school.
• The Rocky and Bullwinkle story "Topsy Turvy World" has the heroes at the library trying to get information on why the weather is suddenly behaving strange when a mysterious figure topples some books on top of them (with the next episode titled "Funny Business in the Books" or "The Library Card").
• Rugrats (1991): In "Quiet, Please", Chas takes the babies to the library so they can get their own library cards. While in the library, Chuckie loses his library card and the babies have to help him find it. Meanwhile, Chas gets in trouble with the librarian when a book he borrowed gets damaged by Kimi.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Library Cards" has Patrick enter SpongeBob's library and is introduced to reading, and he reads so much that his brain swells up with knowledge and is unable to get out.
• The Steven Universe episode "Buddy's Book" takes place entirely in the library at Beach City as Connie gets a head start on her studies. When Steven discovers Buddy Buddwick's journal, they read it together, imagining the events therein.
• Tiny Toon Adventures: "Weirdest Story Ever Told" is a Three Shorts episode that takes place in the ACME Looniversity library, and Buster and Babs teach the viewers the joys of reading books, but are told to be quiet by Foghorn Leghorn, who hypocritically yells at the top of his lungs. "Robin Hare" is a parody of Robin Hood with Buster in the role of the titular hero, "To Babs or Not To Babs" has Babs determined to become a star in William Shakespeare's newest play, and "Elmyras Round the World" has Buster dream that Elmyra's worldwide relatives chase him wherever he goes in a parody of "it's a small world".
• Trolls: The Beat Goes On!:
  • "Trolly Tales" has Branch and Poppy take a few of the kid trolls to a book depository to teach them the joys of reading. They get into a disagreement on how to go about it and opt to tell them some stories to see who's the better storyteller. When neither fail to impress, one of the kid trolls tells his own. Though ultimately the objective's accomplished in getting the kids interested in reading.
  • "Scrapbookmobile": Smidge tries to get a favored book from the Scrapbookmobile (essentially a mobile library) and spends most of the episode trying to chase it down to get it. When it gets destroyed, she and Biggie opt to make a new one.
• We Bare Bears: In "The Library," the bears help an exhausted Chloe study for an upcoming exam at the library. Ice Bear battles one of her classmates over a book, Panda is stymied by an old-fashioned computer, and Grizz accidentally overloads Chloe with sugar and sends her speeding through the shelves.

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