It seems that every year—maybe even more than that—the r/libraries subreddit lights up with people talking about ghost stories related to libraries. Some people love these threads and enjoy the lore surrounding supposedly haunted libraries. Others cringe, suggesting that libraries shouldn’t perpetuate the myths since it’s not truth.
Do we really know that though? Because even if we have no factual proof of ghosts or hauntings, there’s something to be said about the fun, the magic, and the meaning that people attach to these stories. We could and do make the same arguments about organized religion, after all (not to mention that book lovers, including library workers, love that quote about how dinosaurs didn’t read and that’s why they went extinct when we do not have any actual proof that they did NOT read—yes, I am going there). Ghost stories are part of folklore and legend that have helped shape human storytelling for eons.
The reason ghost stories and libraries co-mingle so frequently is because of the history of libraries and of the legends tied to ghosts. So many libraries are in older buildings, with hundreds across the nation dating back to the Carnegie Era. This means that their walls contain not only the stories on shelves, but stories about the people who worked, visited, and may have met an untimely demise in or near those facilities.
In honor of Halloween, let’s travel to a hand full of haunted libraries across the United States. These libraries lean into their spirited histories, and several provide an array of opportunities to learn more about their ghostly inhabitants. As a bonus, I’ve got a story of a haunted book to share, too!
Hoyt Library in Saginaw, Michigan
The quote in the title of this piece comes from a review of this particular library. It tends to draw visitors in and beyond the area curious about its haunted history, which is not only well-documented by the library but was the focus of the documentary A Haunting at the Hoyt Library. The paranormal investigators who surveyed the library for that film found plenty of evidence confirming the presence of otherworldly spirits.
Hoyt Library dates back to the 1890s. One of its most notorious ghost stories is that of the elderly woman who greets visitors and who has been known to help patrons when they’ve had questions. It is believed that this elderly woman is the spirit of Harriett Ames, the institution’s first librarian.
Other strange happenings in Hoyt include the sounds of keyboards typing when there are no keyboards nearby. Patrons and staff have reported books falling off shelves, weird light flashes, and cold splashes, and more.
These aren’t just one-off experiences. Word is that the strange things in this library happen almost every day. Hoyt Library has the designation of being one of the most haunted places in the entire midwest.
Peoria Public Library in Peoria, Illinois
Was the main library built atop cursed grounds? That’s the legend of the spiritual presences at Peoria Public Library in central Illinois. Back in the 1830s, Mrs. Andrew Gray owned a home that stood near where the library was constructed years later. She took in a nephew after her brother died, and her nephew was not interested in having a job nor in staying out of legal trouble. She hired a lawyer to help out her nephew, but it began to cost them a LOT of money—so much so that the lawyer convinced them to use the house as collateral. It wasn’t a good idea. Gray lost that home shortly after the surprise death of her nephew and, upon the home’s foreclosure, supposedly cursed the land upon which it was built.
The library was built in 1894, and not one, not two, but the three first directors of the library each died under mysterious circumstances. One of them, Erastus S. Willcox, was a leader in librarianship across the country. His presence is rumored to be among the spirits who wander the halls and stacks, dressed in early 20th-century clothing, even today.
Here’s where there’s a bit of a twist…or more evidence that there is indeed something to the curse from Mrs. Gray: the Peoria Public Library’s main branch was razed and rebuilt in the 1960s. But even a new space hasn’t stopped the regular sightings of ghosts wandering the stacks.
You can listen to an entire podcast episode about this haunted library, too.
More Haunted Libraries—Plus a Haunted Library Book!—Below for Subscribers.
Bonus hot tip about ghosts and libraries that you may not be expecting to see here: if you’re interested in exploring the spiritual world with an EMF meter, your local public library may have one you can borrow from their “Library of Things” collections. Mine does!
