WoW Forever library books: locations and rewards

In Season of Discovery only mages hunted for these books, to unlock runes. In Forever every class can pick them up, and the librarians in Stormwind and Undercity pay for them with gear^[1]. The Forever client ships 31 of them, and the last reward takes 25.

Every book, with its spot, its coordinates and a map pin you can paste into the game, is now on its own page: Library Books, in the top bar beside BiS@30. You can tick off the books you have there, and it counts them toward the next reward.

How library books work

You click a book where it lies and it goes into your bags. There is no quest to accept first: the hand-in quest only appears at the librarian while you carry a book^[2]. Each book you hand in gives experience and a little silver, and if you delete a book you cannot loot that one again^[3], so keep them until you reach the library.

The Alliance librarian is Garion Wendell, inside the Mage Tower in Stormwind City (49.0, 86.4). The Horde one is Owen Thadd, in the Magic Quarter of Undercity (74.0, 32.4)^[1]. Owen Thadd shows up with the title Librarian in our own beta client's cache, so the Horde side is confirmed in the game. Both have map pin buttons on the Library Books page.

The rewards at 10, 20 and 25 books

The rewards come in three tiers, and you choose one item from each. The first two are quests called Friend of the Library and Greater Friend of the Library^[4]. The third tier, at 25 books, appears in ForeverChanges' and method.gg's guides^[2][3] but not in Wowhead's or Warcraft Tavern's write-ups. Its three items are in the client, with the stats below; the quest's name has not been published yet. All seven rewards bind when picked up.

The necklaces are item level 23 and green. They are fine while you level, but every spec's top neck at level 30 on the BiS lists is item level 33 or 35, so treat this tier as a stop on the way.

The rings are blue and item level 35, and the caster ring is the find of the set. Philanthropist's Ring has up to 9 spell damage and healing. Dark Horde Band, the first ring on every mage list at 30, has 6. Field Researcher's Loop has the same 7 Agility as Monkey Ring, one of the two rings on every rogue list, with Stamina where Monkey Ring has Spirit. Neither ring is on our BiS lists yet, because the lists only take items whose source the site knows, and these quests are not in our data yet.

All three are item level 45. Truthseeker's Bow has no level requirement and 22 Agility, more than double the 10 on Nightstalker Bow, the top pick on the hunter list at 30. Crest of Elucidation, a shield with 12 Spirit and healing, and Researcher's Night Light, an off-hand with Stamina and fire damage, both need level 40, so on the beta they wait in the bags.

Where to find the books

The guides that walked the beta sort the books by how far into the game they lie^[2][3], and the Library Books page keeps that order. Fifteen are in starting zones and capitals, seven in zones from level 30 and eight in high-level zones. One more, Ataeric: On Arcane Curiosities, is in the client, but players report it is gone from its Season of Discovery spot^[2].

A few spots are worth knowing before you set out. Rumi of Gnomeregan: The Collected Works lies in two inns, at Sentinel Hill and in Thelsamar, and counts once. Two books sit in a capital: the Ironforge one in the Hall of Explorers and The Lessons of Ta'zo in Orgrimmar's Darkbriar Lodge, where you click the large tablet rather than a book. Secrets of the Dreamers is in the last room of the Cavern of Mists in the Barrens, and Crimes Against Anatomy is below ground in the Raven Hill crypt in Duskwood^[3].

Can you reach 25 books at the level 30 cap?

Not from the known spots alone. The starting zones and the level 30 zones hold 22 books between them, and one of those is in the other faction's capital. The other three for the last reward have to come from the high-level zones, which only ForeverChanges lists for Forever so far, using the spots the books had in Season of Discovery^[2]. The page marks them as unchecked. Until more players reach those zones, 20 books and the ring is the realistic goal on the beta.

Mages get Research and Study

Handing books in teaches mages Research^[4], and with it Study. The client describes Study as spell research that needs a suitable library, and gives it a 6 second cast, a Light Feather as reagent and a one hour cooldown. What it makes is a Bundle of Scrolls, and the client lists it from level 6. On the beta, mages report that Research disappears after a relog^[4], so it may not stick yet.

An addon for the map

Every book on the Library Books page has a map pin and a /way line to copy into the game. If you want them on your map all the time, the addon Library Books (Mage Books) and More! by Taraezor pins every book and supports Forever. It was last updated on 2 October, and /books in the game opens its options^[5].