1. Librarians serve a terrific role in our communities, bringing books and readers together as well as inspiring many literary characters. The main protagonist in the Kingsley Amis novel That Uncertain Feeling is an assistant librarian tempted towards adultery. What is his name?

   1. John Lewis

   2. Peter Jones

   3. Mark Spencer

   4. Lucky Jim

2. Libraries are safe and non-judgemental spaces where anyone can go and feel at home. Yet not all literary libraries are benign. Which of these MR James ghost stories is set in “a certain famous library” where “an unnaturally strong smell of dust” heralds some frightening events?

   1. The Tractate Middoth

   2. Casting the Runes

   3. The Mezzotint

   4. Number 13

3. Many writers have also been librarians. That is true of one of the following – but can you tell which?

   1. Samuel Pepys

   2. Jonathan Swift

   3. Lord Byron

   4. Giacomo Casanova

4. What is the meaning of the title of Alan Hollinghurst’s debut novel The Swimming Pool Library?

   1. It’s the story of how a council achieves efficiency savings by co-locating the library with other public services, including a swimming pool and post office

   2. It’s about a group of gay men in the 1980s who meet at the swimming pool to swap novels and phone numbers

   3. It’s the slang name given by a group of schoolboys to the library reading room where they meet by night for gay liaisons

   4. It’s the slang name given by a group of schoolboys to the swimming pool changing room where they meet by night for gay liaisons

5. It’s no mystery why people love libraries so much, because they are a fantastic free resource when people need reading and information. But which famous library features in the background of the Dorothy L Sayers Peter Wimsey mystery Gaudy Night?

   1. The British Library

   2. The Bodleian Library

   3. All Souls College Library

   4. Balliol College Library

6. A librarian features in all these novels but one. Which one?

   1. Passing On by Penelope Lively

   2. An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym

   3. Leaving Home by Anita Brookner

   4. Summer by Edith Wharton

7. Libraries offer universal access to literary culture, and many great works have been created in them too. Which of these writers carried out the research for their groundbreaking studies in the famous Reading Room of the British Library?

   1. Sigmund Freud

   2. Karl Marx

   3. Charles Darwin

   4. Marie Stopes

8. What is the name of the monastery librarian in Umberto Eco’s historical murder mystery The Name of the Rose?

   1. Benno of Upsala

   2. Malachi of Hildesheim

   3. Adelmo of Otranto

   4. William of Baskerville

9. Time for more author-librarians. Everyone here has worked in a library – bar one. Pick out the exception.

   1. David Almond

   2. Anne Tyler

   3. Madeleine L’Engle

   4. Per Petterson

10. Which of these authors have not expressed opposition this month to the drastic cuts, closures and job losses being proposed in the library service?

    1. Martina Cole and Will Self

    2. Kate Mosse and Philip Pullman

    3. Charlie Higson, Helen Dunmore and Andrew Motion

    4. None of the above

Solutions

1:A, 2:A, 3:D, 4:D, 5:B, 6:C, 7:B, 8:B, 9:A, 10:D

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   That's bad! Head down to your local library today and catch up on some reading, fast.

2. 3 and above.

   Could do better. A LOT better. Head to your local library and reacquaint yourself with the world of books.

3. 6 and above.

   Yes, not bad. You're clearly no stranger to the book stacks, so well done. But no slacking please - head down to your library for a knowledge top-up.

4. 9 and above.

   You're the tops! Well done and keep up the good work - and don't forget your local library needs you.