The Hogwarts Library is located on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle and contains tens of thousands of books on thousands of shelves. Overseen by Madam Irma Pince, the library is where students can go to peruse or borrow books to supplement their studies (or for personal enjoyment). The library closes at 8:00 pm.
The library books have various spells on them to prevent students from defacing or stealing them. Hermione Granger tore a page out of a library book about magical creatures without being cursed, jinxed, or hexed by the book. How she did this is unknown. Chocolate and (presumably) other food is forbidden in the library. Harry Potter also showed signs of breaking the security of the library in his first year, when he entered the Restricted Section under his Invisibility cloak.
Students and teachers may take out books from the library, with the librarian’s permission. Books from the Restricted Section require a signed note from a teacher to be checked out. Professor Severus Snape told Harry Potter that it was against the rules to carry a library book out of the castle. However, he may have just made that rule up to get Harry into trouble. Students seem to be able to place books on hold – during the 1992–1993 school year the book Hogwarts, A History had a two-week waiting list.
Professor Dumbledore removed the books pertaining to the subject of Horcruxes, due to the fact that they involve such Dark Magic. He kept them in his office until his death, whence Hermione Granger summoned them before departing in her sixth year.
