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Tidy Up the Arcane Library

Player guide

Tidy Up the Arcane Library

Everything you need for Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library: first-floor themes, hidden keys, magic abilities, achievement hints, and quiet ways to sort all 3,072 books without feeling lost.

Very Positive (97%) · 3,072 books · 12 Steam achievements

Official launch trailer

Watch how the library feels in motion, then jump back here for maps, colors, and routes whenever you need them.

What you will find here

Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! is a first-person sorting adventure from ArtRising. You wander a towering arcane library, scoop up misplaced tomes, and slide them into the rows where they belong. Finish an entire row and it glows blue—a small reward that stacks into a room-wide sense of order. Along the way you discover keys that add jump height, sprint speed, and extra carrying power, plus magic that sorts, finds, and even shelves books for you.

This site is written for people who want Tidy Up the Arcane Library tips without digging through scattered forum posts. The beginner guide walks through your opening hour: how to read cover colors, when to use the central table as a staging area, and why the R key matters for rearranging the stack in your hands. When you are ready for broader sweeps, the efficiency guide shows how abilities chain together and how to respect cooldowns without burning out.

Need geography instead of philosophy? Head to the first-floor book index for all fourteen sections from 1A through 1N. Each entry lists the theme, color cues, shelf style, and sample titles so you can orient quickly when two nearby wings look similar. Keys live in their own hidden key guide, written in visit order so you are not jumping for a vase before you can reach the rail.

Why the library feels so deep

On paper the loop sounds tiny: pick up books, read their titles, match them to the right shelf. In practice every wing has its own palette and personality. Monster styles lean on earth tones, necromancy loves midnight blues and violets, stealth shelves fade into matte black, and alchemy rows sparkle with bottles, wax seals, and hand-written labels. Those cues are your compass when thousands of duplicates nearly look the same from across the room.

The game also cares about series. A shelf is not “almost done”—it is done when the whole set of the same storyline sits together. That is why the UI encourages you to study books carefully and why reordering your hand matters as much as walking speed. Later abilities such as Insight highlight stray volumes that share a series, while Assemble tugs matching books toward you so you are not jogging every aisle five times. Auto Shelving caps the fantasy by lining up whatever you already hold, which feels incredible after a long gathering loop.

Second floor honesty

The staircase is not a fake backdrop—there really is more to sort upstairs—but public lists are still catching up with everything players have mapped. Our second-floor page spells out what we can confirm today and labels what is still fuzzy, so you are never guessing whether a list is final.

Achievements worth planning for

Twelve achievements span gentle milestones (your first perfect row) all the way to self-imposed handicaps like ignoring major magic entirely. Efficiency Librarian asks you to finish the entire collection in under three hours—tight, but fair once abilities flow. Overtime Avoider expects you to master the special stage’s ultimate skill timing. If you prefer curiosity over checklists, skim the achievement chapter only when something confuses you.

A calm way to start today

Grab the crimson key under the entrance emblem first so Jump is online before you chase vases upstairs. Sweep a handful of books onto the central table, sort them by color like a card dealer, then walk them to a forgiving wing such as healing or holy. Listen for that blue shimmer, celebrate, and repeat. When the noise in your head settles, you are ready for faster routing, bigger armfuls of books, and the satisfaction of seeing an entire aisle shine.

Start the beginner walkthrough

Quick answers

What is Tidy Up the Arcane Library?

It is a cozy first-person library game—Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library!—where you put thousands of books back on the right shelves, unlock magic that helps you sort faster, and clear achievements at your own pace.

Is there a time limit?

No. You can play as long as you like. Only specific achievements (like Efficiency Librarian) ask you to finish under a time goal.

How do I unlock Sprint?

Find the Emerald Club Key on the first floor (hidden under books on a bench near the scale). Picking it up unlocks Sprint so you can move between wings faster.

Which shelves should I do first?

Many players start with smaller shelves (3- or 5-book spots) to unlock abilities sooner, then move to clearer wings like Healing and Holy before tackling intricate color mixes such as Destruction and Alchemy.

Browse the full FAQ →