WoW Forever Library Books: Every Book Location and How to Do the Friend of the Library Quest

THE WOW FOREVER COLLECTION · GUIDE · RESEARCH CHECKED SEPTEMBER 28, 2026

Short answer: pick up any library book you find in the world, take it to the librarian in Stormwind or Undercity, and hand it in. There is no quest to accept first. Ten books earn a choice of two item level 25 necklaces. Twenty books earn a choice of two item level 40 rings, and that second reward needs level 20. There are 40 books in the game data, 37 of them have been picked up in the beta so far, and about 20 can be done solo at the beta's level 20 cap if you are willing to die a few times on the way.

Everything below comes from Wowhead's Forever database, which reads the beta client, plus the players who have been mapping the books since September 17. The checklist further down lists all 40 with coordinates and a rating for how hard each one is at level 20. Tick them off as you go and your progress stays in your browser.

How the book quest works

Season of Discovery hid these books around Azeroth for Mages to collect for runes. Forever keeps most of the books, lets every class collect them, and swaps the rune rewards for gear.

• There is no starting quest. Each book is its own quest, named after the book. The librarian only offers it while you carry that book. You find a book, you walk it in, you hand it in.
• Alliance hand in to Garion Wendell in the Stormwind Mage Quarter. Most guides put him at 37.6, 80.8. Wowhead's own news post gives /way 49.0 86.4, "inside the Mage Tower," and its NPC data has spawn points in both places, so check the tower if he is not by the Mage trainers.
• Horde hand in to Owen Thadd in the inner ring of the Undercity Magic Quarter, around 73.4, 33.0.
• The eight level 60 books go to Mage trainers, not the librarians: Jennea Cannon in Stormwind (38.6, 79.6) and Oran Snakewrithe in Undercity (73.6, 33.0). In Season of Discovery those quests were Mage only. Forever removed the class restriction.
• Every book pays on its own. The first set pays 1 silver 25 copper and about 160 XP each, and the level 60 set pays 9 silver and about 660 XP. Mages also get a Comprehension Charm per book. Other classes do not.
• Books are Unique and Bind on Pickup. You can hold one copy of each, they do not stack, and you cannot trade or mail them. Every book you carry costs a bag slot until you hand it in. None of them drop from mobs: they all sit on shelves, tables, crates or the floor, and they sparkle.
• Progress is per character. Nothing we found suggests books count account-wide.
• Four turn-ins are faction locked in Wowhead's data. Only Alliance can donate Archmage Antonidas and Rumi of Gnomeregan. Only Horde can donate The Lessons of Ta'zo and the Apothecary's Primer. Players on the other side have looted some of these (the Rumi copy in Westfall can be grabbed through the inn wall), but nobody has confirmed the donation works cross-faction, so do not count on it.

The rewards

Ten donations complete Friend of the Library, which you can do at any level. Twenty complete Greater Friend of the Library, which requires level 20. The first ten count toward the twenty.

Which to take: casters and healers want the Scholarly Pendant and the Philanthropist's Ring. Physical damage dealers and tanks want Erudite's Amulet. Then it gets awkward. The Field Researcher's Loop is the best level 20 ring for every melee class in the game, and Wowhead's data says only Rogues can wear it. Beta players think that is a mistake, and Wowhead says it is too soon to tell. Until it changes, a Warrior, Hunter, Paladin or Shaman who finishes all twenty books gets a ring they cannot wear or a caster ring. Two forum threads have complained about it, so it is worth reporting in game if you hit it.

Both are among the best items you can get at the beta cap. The necks appear in almost every list in our WoW Forever BiS gear guide, because dungeons at this level barely drop necklaces. There is no reward past 20 books in Wowhead's Forever data. The later Season of Discovery tiers do not exist in Forever.

Every book location

All 40 books, grouped by continent. The rating is how hard each one is to reach and loot solo at level 20, mostly from Patrickjarvis324, an Alliance Paladin who collected all twenty at the level cap and rated every book on Wowhead, checked against other players' reports. "Copy /way" copies a TomTom command. Books that do not appear in your faction's list are ones your faction cannot hand in.

A few notes on the list:

• The eight Mage trainer books (the level 60 set) have not been confirmed to count toward the ten and twenty. Patrickjarvis324's recommended twenty includes two of them, Magma or Lava? and Necromancy 101, which suggests they do, but nobody has said it outright. If you want to be safe, get twenty librarian books.
• Two books are missing. Ataeric: On Arcane Curiosities and The Liminal and the Arcane are not at their Season of Discovery spots, and neither has a donation quest in Wowhead's Forever data. They may have moved, or they may be gone. A Luddite's Guide to Caring for Your Demonic Pet is still in its cage in the Swamp of Sorrows, but the key is Mage only and you can no longer loot it through the bars. Skip it.
• Plenty of guides still print Season of Discovery coordinates for the three Eastern Plaguelands books. Forever changed that map, and all three moved. The list above uses the Forever spots.
• A Web of Lies has two sets of coordinates. Wowhead's database and one tester put it around 73.6, 65.2. Two other testers found it at 76.0, 65.0, in front of the easternmost tent. They are close enough that you will see the sparkle from either.
• The two Blackrock Mountain books use the Blackrock Mountain map, not the Searing Gorge or Burning Steppes one. You never enter an instance for either.

An easy twenty at level 20

You do not need all 37. Here is one way to get twenty for each faction using only the books rated easy or careful solo, grouped by trip. Deaths are part of the plan: several books are in zones meant for level 40 to 60, and the trick is to die near the book, run back as a ghost and resurrect somewhere quiet.

Alliance

1. Home loop. Archmage Theocritus (Tower of Azora, Elwynn), Bewitchments and Glamours (Moonbrook) and Rumi of Gnomeregan (Sentinel Hill inn) in Westfall, then Crimes Against Anatomy in western Duskwood.
2. Dwarf country. Archmage Antonidas in Ironforge, then Goaz Scrolls in the Wetlands on the way to the boat. Runes of the Sorcerer-Kings in Loch Modan is there too if you are well geared or have a friend.
3. Kalimdor. Nar'thalas Almanac in Darkshore, then the Barrens four: Arcanic Systems Manual (the Sludge Fen oil rig), Secrets of the Dreamers (the Wailing Caverns outer cave), Baxtan in Ratchet, and Fury of the Land in southern Stonetalon. The boat from Ratchet to Booty Bay is a good way home.
4. Death runs. Mummies (Badlands), Stonewrought Design and Magma or Lava? (both in Blackrock Mountain), Defensive Magics 101 (Alterac), Necromancy 101 and Undead Potatoes (Western Plaguelands), Scourge (Eastern Plaguelands), Sanguine Sorcery (on top of the sunken temple in the Swamp of Sorrows) and The Dalaran Digest (Silverpine, a long run but the mobs are not hostile to Alliance).

That is twenty, with Conjurer's Codex, The Knight and the Lady and A Study of the Light as spares.

Horde

1. Home loop. The Apothecary's Metaphysical Primer in Brill, The Dalaran Digest in Ambermill, then Defensive Magics 101 in Alterac past Tarren Mill.
2. Kalimdor. The Lessons of Ta'zo in Orgrimmar, then Baxtan (Ratchet), Arcanic Systems Manual (Sludge Fen), Secrets of the Dreamers (Wailing Caverns outer cave), Fury of the Land (Stonetalon), and north through Ashenvale to Nar'thalas Almanac in Darkshore.
3. Into Alliance land. Bewitchments and Glamours in Moonbrook, Archmage Theocritus in Elwynn, Crimes Against Anatomy in Duskwood and Goaz Scrolls in the Wetlands. Loch Modan guards will flag you for PvP, so expect company.
4. Death runs. Necromancy 101 and Undead Potatoes (Western Plaguelands, close to home), Scourge (Eastern Plaguelands), Stonewrought Design and Magma or Lava? (Blackrock Mountain), Mummies (Badlands) and Everyday Etiquette (Azshara).

That is twenty, with Sanguine Sorcery and Conjurer's Codex as spares. Horde players say their route has more PvP exposure than the Alliance one, which is fair: four of the easy books sit in Alliance zones.

Tricks for the hard ones

• Loot through walls. Type /console cameraDistanceMaxZoomFactor 4, pull the camera out and angle it until the book is under your cursor. This works for Defensive Magics 101 (over the broken tower wall), Undead Potatoes (through the farmhouse wall) and A Web of Lies (through the tent roof).
• Resurrect out of sight. Die near the book, run back as a ghost and resurrect where nothing can see you. For Crimes Against Anatomy that is the corner by the wooden operating table. For A Web of Lies it is inside the tent.
• Use the right spirit healer. For Ka-Boom! in Everlook, die just outside Timbermaw Hold on the Winterspring side so you revive in Winterspring. If you die after grabbing Magma or Lava?, the Flame Crest spirit healer is close by.
• Bring a friend for these: A Mind of Metal (a Dark Iron spawns on top of it), Geomancy, Demons and You, and RwlRwlRwlRwl! (the murlocs are skull level to a level 20).
• Leave these for later: Northern Kalimdor and Ka-Boom! are the two worst books at 20. Legends of the Tidesages is third, with about ten ranged pirates around it.

Research: the Mage bonus

Mages get something extra. A Mage's first book donation completes Research Access and teaches Research, which opens a small profession tab for a new skill called Comprehension. Its one recipe is Study:

• Needs 1 Light Feather, a 6 second cast, and a library: the Wizard's Sanctum in Stormwind or the inner ring of the Undercity Magic Quarter.
• Creates a Bundle of Scrolls. From 49 opened bundles on Wowhead, the common results are Scroll of Minor Evocation (a mana restore), Scroll of Imbue Lesser Flame (fire damage on your staff for an hour), Scroll of Rat Familiar (a rat pet for an hour with +2 Intellect), Scroll of Comprehension and Scroll of Imbue Chillknife.
• The spell tooltip says a 1 hour cooldown. Wowhead's news post says one day. Players who have used it report an hour.

It is buggy right now. Research disappears when you log out and you cannot learn it again. If a Mage hands in the first book before learning Comprehend Scroll at level 6, Research is never granted. And clicking Research or Study sometimes just opens a different profession window. Warlocks have asked on the forums to be let into the library too, with no answer yet.

Bugs and open questions

• One player did not get Friend of the Library after handing in ten books. It is one report, but it is worth screenshotting your tenth turn-in.
• The Field Researcher's Loop is Rogue only, possibly by mistake.
• One player said the Tower of Azora book was gone for him after he donated it. That would suggest books vanish per character once handed in, which is fine unless you wanted to show a friend where it is.
• Wowhead's database has two items called Stormwind Library Card and Undercity Library Card with no source or text yet. Nobody knows what they are for.
• Whether the Mage trainer books count toward the twenty, and where the two missing books went, are the big unknowns. We will update this page when they are answered.

For everything else testers have found, see our beta discoveries roundup, and for where these rewards fit in each class's gear, the BiS gear lists.

Sources: Wowhead Forever database pages for Friend of the Library (including Patrickjarvis324's level 20 book table and comments from an1se, Annaforfan and thesapfather), Greater Friend of the Library, Garion Wendell, Owen Thadd, Jennea Cannon, Research, Study and Bundle of Scrolls, plus every book's item page and tooltip; Wowhead news, Everyone Can Collect Books for Rewards in WoW: Forever (September 28); Warcraft Tavern, Collect Books for Powerful Rewards (September 21); Zockify, ForeverChanges, WoW Handbook and WoW Forever Tools for coordinates, compared against each other and the database; Blizzard beta forum threads on the reward thresholds, the Rogue-only ring, the missing Friend of the Library quest, Research vanishing on logout and Horde PvP on the book route.