The Imperial Library
The Imperial Library is a centre for knowledge and learning that is working to distribute that knowledge across the south of Arthea. Their mission has, since the early days of Empire, been to gather and hold written information of all kinds, accumulating knowledge to share with all.
To achieve this goal of being a storehouse of knowledge, the library borrows books wherever it can and pays scribes to copy these works for storage. While the goal is to keep expanding the works that the library holds, it also has a duty to keep the books it already has safe and preserved, and it takes book storage very seriously. Books suffer in storage, they are prone to rot, and occasionally they are caught in accidents such as flooding or fires, and so the library also maintains its collection by making fresh copies, and handing these to its centres around the nations. This process of maintenance is tricky and time consuming, limiting the rate at which new books can be included.
Expanding the Library
Before the 1400's the library was confined to the lands of the former Empire only, but it has spent several years working to expand in the north. It has been taking time to make additional copies of its works to open facilities in both Cellam, the capital of Ticetia and Carlow, the capital of Caldonacia. This process if far from complete, but the Carlow building is already open. Of the books they've copied, they're now producing an additional copy for the Cellam facility.
In the north it would seem they face competition from The Pale Flame, who already have an established chain of libraries, but in the south these two organisations have already demonstrated their willingness to co-operate and share their knowledge. It is hoped, by the library at least, that this is continued across Ticetia and Caldonacia.
The Imperial Library also has strong ties with other Imperial organisations such as The Imperial Archaeological Society, The Imperial Geological Society, The Imperial Academy of Science and The Society of Imperial Arts. Since the end of the Empire, the Library has relied heavily on these connections to support it.
Funding
In days of Empire the Library was a means of storing the accumulated knowledge of Imperial achievement. It focussed both on the gathering of knowledge and on glorifying the Imperial state and its component nations. As a result it was well funded by the Empire - as it held and stored the information that supported so many Imperial organisations, it was paid well. Since the end of the first Empire, things changed, and the payments dried up. There was a brief resumption when the Empire returned, but for many years it has struggled to maintain its service.
In modern Arthea the library can only survive by attracting donors. There are many of noble birth that help, but the organisation is large. In recent times, the structure of the group has become thinner, administrators have moved out - now most of the bases of operation are run by volunteers from the other former Imperial organisations, people who's work relies on the library being present.
This is sufficient, though. The scribes need to be paid as a priority, so corners are cut elsewhere, especially in transportation and in security. Even the expansion in the north was wholly sponsored by vested interests. There are businessmen and nobles who have urged this expansion because of the value the library brings, and there are concerns among some in the organisation that they are expanding beyond their ability to manage.
Access
There are small fees involved in use of library facilities. These are to aid with maintenance, ans is usually just a few silver coins. Books are usually held in cellars to keep them protected from the elements, but this exposes them to damp and to the risk of flooding.
The stock of books in each facility varies too. Most store between 50 and 150 books, but the major centres may have more. Of course the library tries to expand this as much as it can, but copying the books is a slow process, and maintenance of the books (or replacement) means that sometimes the book count reduced.
The best places to find the accumulated knowledge, though, are in the capitals of the former Empire. The largest collection is reputed to be in Nareth, where legend says they have thousands of books. This is patently untrue, but they do have a wide collection. Their book count varies but it is usually in the region of fifteen hundred books, with a mix of quality both in content and in physical condition. The problem, it seems, with large book collections, is that some of them are written inexpertly, or are based on the witterings of the uneducated.
Each of the other capitals have several hundred books. The second largest is at the former Imperial capital of Mercunum, where they have almost a thousand books, but suffer many of the same problems over quality of content and physical book condition that is faced by Nareth.
Most of the city-based libraries outside of the capitals have at least 100 books, but these are moved around to enable copies to be made, and many are unavailable at times due to this process.