From Alan Bennett's Baffled at a Bookcase to Lucy Mangan's Ten Library Rules famous writers tell us all about how libraries are used & why they're important. Tom Holland writes about libraries in the ancient world while Seth Godin describes what a library will look like in 2020. Lionel Shriver thinks books are the best investment Hardeep Singh Kohli makes a confession & Julie Myerson remembers how her career began beside the shelves. Using memoir history polemic & some short stories too The Library Book celebrates 'that place where they lend you books for free' & the people who work there. All royalties go to The Reading Agency to help their work supporting libraries.