Arabia
The library at the Grand Mosque and the library at the Mosque of Um Khamar both contained rare manuascipts.
Mecca
The Haram Mosque was one of the first to have several book depositories.
The Maliki Library had several book cabinets.
The library at the Sharabiya Madrasa school, founded in 632/1233 by Prince Sharaf al-Din al-Sharabi, had a large valuable collection. However, by the 10th/16th century, much of the collection had been lost.
The Qaytbay Madrasa, founded by Ibn al-Zaman in 882/1477, had many donations of books and a paid librarian. The Ottoman governor Sharawani Zada Muhammad Rushdi founded the Sharawani Library, which contained works on grammar, law, literature, and history, written in four languages. It contained at least 1,700 books.
The largest library was the Sulaymaniya, founded by Ottoman Sultan Abd al-Majid. It contained about 2,000 books, many of which came from Istanbul. Much of the collection was destroyed by a flood in 1278/1861.
Medina
The Prophet's Mosque had several book collections. The central depository contained many books and Qurans in at least two large cabinets. The mosque received a large collection from the reigning Persian monarch. A fire in the mosque in 886/1481 destroyed many books. Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay of Egypt provided funds to have the mosque restored and a school founded. He provided a large book collection for the school.
The nearby Mahmudiya Library contained 4,600 volumes.
The Hamidiya Library contained about 1,700 volumes.
The library of the Bashir Agha Madrasa contained over 2,000 volumes.
Taif
The library at the Mosque of Ibn Abbas contained many valuable books. However, most of them have been lost.
