Derry Public Library
The Derry Public Library is a dual-building complex that serves as a crucial setting in Stephen King's It, functioning as a sanctuary for knowledge, a site of childhood wonder, and a stage for terrifying supernatural confrontations. It is the place where the Losers' Club first begins to understand the nature of the monster haunting their town and where, twenty-seven years later, they reunite to finish their fight. The library is both a repository of the town's dark history and a physical space that bridges the past and present of its characters.
Architecture and Significance
The library is composed of two distinct structures: the old stone adult library, built with lumber-baron money in 1890, and the newer low sandstone Children's Library behind it. These two buildings are connected by a glass corridor, a feature that captivates the young Ben Hanscom. He is delighted to learn from the head children's librarian, Mrs. Starrett, that the warmth in this passageway is caused by the greenhouse effect. This architectural detail leaves a lasting impression on Ben, who later, as a world-renowned architect, designs the hotly debated BBC communications center in London. Ben himself recognizes that the communications center is "nothing but the glass corridor of the Derry Public Library stood on end." The adult library itself is characterized by its cool, murmuring quiet, high narrow windows, and the smell of books, creating an atmosphere of shadowy charm that Ben loves. The Children's Library, in contrast, is bright and sunny, filled with posters and the sounds of story hour, where a librarian reads "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to a group of solemn children.
A Sanctuary for Childhood
For the young Ben Hanscom, the library is a refuge from the bullying of Henry Bowers and the loneliness of his own life. On the last day of school in June 1958, after being chased by Henry and his friends, Ben escapes to the library. He signs up for the summer reading program, receiving a map of the United States, and carefully selects three books: Bulldozer, The Black Stallion, and Hot Rod. It is here, at a table in the Children's Library, that Ben writes a haiku on a postcard for Beverly Marsh, a secret declaration of his love. The library is also where the Losers' Club conducts its research. After the smoke-hole ceremony, Bill Denbrough, Ben Hanscom, and Richie Tozier go to the library to research how to make silver bullets, a plan that eventually evolves into the creation of silver slugs for Beverly's slingshot.
A Site of Adult Confrontation
When Ben returns to Derry as an adult in 1985, he is drawn back to the library. He asks for a new library card as a souvenir of his childhood. While standing in the rotunda, he is confronted by Pennywise the Dancing Clown, who appears on the landing of the left-hand staircase. The clown taunts him, first in Richie Tozier's voice and then as a vampire, before Ben is able to drive it away by remembering the silver slugs they made as children. The encounter leaves Ben shaken, and he discovers that the book he inadvertently checked out is Bulldozer, the very same book he had borrowed on the day he first fell into the Barrens. The book still bears the mark of Henry Bowers's boot and his own childhood signature, now stamped with the word "CANCEL."
The Final Reunion
The adult Losers' Club holds its final meeting in the library on the night of May 29th, 1985. Mike Hanlon, the head librarian, has arranged for them to gather there after their reunion lunch. The group shares stories of their childhood, drinks heavily, and experiences a series of supernatural phenomena, including fortune cookies that bleed and contain insects and eyeballs. The meeting culminates in a powerful, involuntary act when the scars on their palms, made by Stanley Uris with a piece of Coke bottle in 1958, break open and bleed. They form a circle, and a surge of power causes the library's doors to slam shut and a typewriter to type the phrase "he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." After the others leave, Mike Hanlon stays behind to write in his journal, only to be attacked by Henry Bowers, who has escaped from the Juniper Hill asylum. Henry stabs Mike with a switchblade, and Mike is left bleeding on the floor, having managed to call for help before losing consciousness. The library, once a place of refuge and discovery, becomes the site of a near-fatal assault, marking the final, violent chapter before the Losers' Club descends into the sewers for their last confrontation with It.
