This article was first published in Storycraft.
That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”
– Jhumpa Lahiri
Story is at the heart of all human knowledge, and from the earliest days of recorded narrative – from the times of tablets of clay and papyrus scrolls there have been reading rooms.
The world’s oldest libraries remind us that the human hunger for knowledge far predates printing presses, Wi-Fi, and even paper itself.
Here are five of the oldest libraries still known to us – not all sadly still exist, but we can imagine what life would have been like then, and what these libraries symbolised for the society of the day.
The Library of Ashurbanipal — Nineveh, Iraq (7th century BCE)
The world’s first systematically organised library
In the ruins of the Assyrian capital Nineveh, archaeologists uncovered over 30,000 clay tablets inscribed in cuneiform. King Ashurbanipal, who ruled from 668 to 627 BCE, wasn’t merely a conqueror – he was a collector of words.
His library included royal decrees, hymns, dictionaries, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of humanity’s oldest surviving epic poems.
This was the first library to attempt classification – an early cataloguing system inscribed right onto the clay. Much of what we know about ancient Mesopotamia comes from this collection, now housed at the British Museum.
For some wonderful insights into the history of the library, read this piece by the British Museum where you can find a portal with links to thousands of the tablets translated into English.
The Library of Alexandria — Alexandria, Egypt (3rd century BCE)
The dream of universal knowledge
I’ve long been fascinated by this ambitious endeavour. Founded under Ptolemy I and expanded by Ptolemy II, the Library of Alexandria sought to collect every book in the known world.
Scrolls arrived from Greece, Persia, India, and beyond.
Its scholars – including Euclid, Eratosthenes, and Archimedes – studied astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy under its roof. The very idea of a global library – a single repository for all knowledge – was born here and though destroyed over time, its myth endures as the archetype of intellectual ambition.
These days you can visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina which stands as a homage to the original Library of Alexandria, nearby to the original site.
This modern day library complex houses space for up to 8 million books, a massive reading room stretching over 20,000 square meters with space for 2000 readers, conference facilities, a planetarium, manuscript restoration laboratory, multiple museums and art galleries, and many more specialist resources.
For virtual tours of the modern day Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
For an in-depth run through from World History Encyclopedia: read about the history of the original Library of Alexandria (short youtube video also available half-way through article).
3. Nalanda University Library — Bihar, India (5th century CE)
The Buddhist heart of ancient academia
Nalanda wasn’t just a monastery – it was the world’s first residential university, with over 10,000 students and teachers. Its library complex, Dharmaganja, housed three grand buildings filled with manuscripts on logic, medicine, philosophy, and grammar. It had a profound impact on the shaping of Buddhism.
Chinese scholar Xuanzang wrote of: “The richly adorned towers, and the fairy-like turrets, like pointed hill-tops are congregated together. The observatories seem to be lost in the vapours (of the morning), and the upper rooms tower above the clouds,” during his two year stay there.
Nalanda represents the fusion of scholarship, spirituality, and global exchange – attracting students from China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and South East Asia.
Rebuilt in 2010, Nalanda’s modern revival, the Nalanda University, is an Institute of National Importance, and a research centre at post-graduate level near to the ancient ruins – now an UNESCO World Heritage Site, continuing a 1,500-year-old tradition.
4. St. Catherine’s Monastery Library — Sinai, Egypt (est. 548 – 565 CE)
A living link to early Christianity
Nestled beneath Mount Sinai, this UNESCO World Heritage Site holds the oldest continuously operating library in the world. It safeguards over 3,300 manuscripts – in Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Georgian – including early Christian texts and fragments of the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest known Bible.
The library survived centuries of conquest and change, protected by its remote desert location and the devotion of its monks. Digitisation projects now bring its fragile parchments into the digital age, preserving what time tried to erase.
Take a virtual tour of the Sinai Library.
5. Al-Qarawiyyin Library — Fez, Morocco (est. 859 CE)
The oldest operating library in the world open to the public
Founded by Fatima al-Fihri, a visionary woman who also established the University of Al-Qarawiyyin, this library holds manuscripts dating back over 1,000 years – from Qur’anic calligraphy to medieval astronomy.
After centuries, it was beautifully restored in 2016, balancing ancient manuscripts with clean, modern design.
It’s the oldest continuously operating library still welcoming readers – a living dialogue between past and present. Its survival celebrates not only knowledge but the enduring role of women in its preservation.
Discover the secrets of a hidden doorway in the library with this short clip from CNN.
From Nineveh’s clay tablets to Fez’s leather-bound manuscripts, these libraries tell one unbroken story: that the written word has always been our greatest inheritance.
Every time we enter a library, whether ancient or modern, we walk into humanity’s oldest act of hope: to remember.
If You Go
Al-Qarawiyyin Library, Fez – Open to visitors by appointment.
St. Catherine’s Monastery, Egypt – Tours available from Dahab or Sharm El Sheikh.
Nalanda University Ruins, India – UNESCO site with museum nearby.
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Laura McVeigh is a Northern Irish novelist and travel writer. Her work is widely translated. Her latest novel Lenny is set between Libya and Louisiana. She has authored books for Lonely Planet, DK Travel, had writing published by Bradt Guides, bylines in the Irish Times, Irish Independent, featured by the BBC, Newsweek, New Internationalist & many more. A former CEO for a global writers’ organisation, working with writers from 145 countries, she is founder of Travel-Writing.Com and Green Travel Guides. Laura writes on storytelling, travel writing and mindful travel on Substack.