library

plural libraries

1. An institution which holds books and/or other forms of media for use by the public or qualified people often lending them out, as well as providing various other services for its users.

   She went to exchange her books at her local library.

   2 more examples

   Libraries have been burnt and whole religious movements wiped out because their belief and myths have been considered to be of dubious origin by the upholders of orthodoxy[.]

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 11

   When all else fails, give up and go to the library.

   2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, page 133

   Synonyms: bookhouse, bibliotheca, bibliotheque

2. broadlyAny institution that lends out its goods for use by the public or a community.

   You can check out a bandsaw from the tool library.

   1 more example

   […] bike library where, as of 2016, there had been 275 check-outs per bike per year between 2010 and 2016. According to the librarians, the bikes are constantly in use during periods of good weather (Vilelle 2017).

   2020, Noah Lenstra, Healthy Living at the Library: Programs for All Ages

3. A collection of books or other forms of stored information.

   A small library of books has been written on the subject.

   1896, Alfred Newton, A Dictionary of Birds, page 71

   1 more example

   My library is not a single beast but a composite of many others, a fantastic animal made up of the several libraries built and then abandoned, over and over again, throughout my life. I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t have a library of some sort. The present one is a sort of multilayered autobiography, each book holding the moment in which I opened it for the first time.

   2008 May 15, Alberto Manguel, “A 30,000-Volume Window on the World”, in New York Times

4. A collection of information or reference materials not in book form.

   She has the most impressive record library I've ever seen.

   1 more example

   At his office in Copenhagen's Amager neighborhood, Thulstrup maintains a vast materials library, arranging samples and mock-ups on tables as tactile mood boards.

   2026 May 28, Sam Cochran, “Feeling Zen”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 100

5. A room dedicated to storing books.
6. computingA collection of software routines that provide functionality to be incorporated into or used by a computer program.

   A static library is much like any other library in that it contains a bunch of code for your application to use.

   2014, John Paul Mueller, Jeff Cogswell, C++ All-in-One For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 307

   Synonyms: library file

7. biologyA collection of DNA material from a single organism or relative to a single disease.
8. Magic: The Gatheringcard gamesThe deck or draw pile.

   At this phase, most of TCGs only allow players drawing card(s) from a pack which is also called library or deck.

   2010, Zhigeng Pan, Maiga Chang, Adrian David Cheok, Transactions on Edutainment III, →ISBN, page 119

   4 more examples

   At the conclusion of every duel, each player must show the remaining cards in his or her hand to the opponent to verify that no Restricted List duplicate cards appear there (e.g., to prove that a second Time Walk wasn't drawn from his library).

   1994, The Magic, the Gathering: Pocket Players' Guide, →ISBN, page 167

   But why did very good players shy away from cards that are so obviously good from our perspectives? One very real possibility is that library manipulation/increased selection and redundancy tech had not yet been established - after all, many players were amazed at Lestree's use of the Sylvan Library to draw extra cards!

   2006, Michael J. Flores, Deckade: 10 Years of Decks, Thoughts, and Theory!, →ISBN, page 228

   To win a game of Magic, you must achieve one of two chief goals: either be the first to reduce your opponent's life total from 20 to 0, or force him or her to attempt to draw a card from his or her library when there are no cards left in it.

   2006, John Kaufeld, Jeremy Smith, Trading Card Games For Dummies, →ISBN, page 50

   The deck becomes the draw pile, also called the library, from which each player repeatedly draws cards for his or her own hand, cards that are gradually included into the game.

   2010, Shirley R. Steinberg, Michael Kehler, Lindsay Cornish, Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia, →ISBN, page 418