The great extant libraries are thought to include the Bodleian at Oxford, la Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne, the British Museum, the Vatican Library, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Peabody Conservatory Library in Baltimore, and a few others.

Most of these began life as personal collections of books built up and added onto over the decades, in some instances over the centuries. The bibliomaniac can only fantasize owning or even superintending as chief librarian the many books stored in such institutions. Meanwhile non-bibliophiles, even some philistines among them, often wish to attach themselves to the prestige of great libraries. The library, among other things, is a symbol of learning.

"You learned sir, who enter among books,

don’t slam the door with your tumultuous hand;

nor let your rowdy foot create a bang,

a nuisance to the Muse. Then, if you see someone

seated within, greet him by bowing,

and with a silent nod: nor waffle gossip:

here it’s the dead who speak to them who work."