Several years before I started this blog in 2010, a series of articles by George Eberhart about haunted libraries was published in the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog. This comprehensive list on the now defunct blog—the above link is to the site on the Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine—covers perhaps a few hundred libraries throughout the United States including a great list on the South. After perusing the list and noting the many libraries missing from my own list, I’ve decided to create my own list here.

Marguerite Clark’s former St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, mansion, now the Milton H. Latter Memorial Library. Photo 2007, by Infrogmation. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Like theatres, it seems that every good library has its own ghost. George Eberhart argues that there are two reasons for libraries to be haunted: one, that the library inhabits a building that may have been the scene of a tragedy, or two, that the library may be haunted by a former librarian or benefactor who may continue to watch over it.

In these lists, I have includes places that are active library buildings, places that were once libraries, bookstores, and homes with significant libraries.

• Alabama

• District of Columbia

• Florida

• Georgia

• Kentucky

• Louisiana

• Maryland

• Mississippi

• North Carolina

• South Carolina

• Tennessee

• Virginia

• West Virginia