This Element explores the history of the relationship between libraries and the academic book. It provides an overview of the development of the publishing history of the scholarly - or academic - book, and related creation of the modern research library. It argues that libraries played an important role in the birth and growth of the academic book, and explores how publishers, readers and libraries helped to develop the format and scholarly and publishing environments that now underpin contemporary scholarly communications. It concludes with an appraisal of the current state of the field and how business, technology and policy are mapping a variety of potential routes to the future.