Jedi Temple Library

"There is more knowledge here than anywhere else in the galaxy."

- Master Jocasta Nu to Ahsoka Tano.

The Jedi Temple Library was a vast collection of Jedi wisdom situated near the main floor of the Jedi Archives of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The library contained innumerable amounts of reading material collected from all corners of the galaxy. Containing holobooks, datasticks, and a variety of other modern and ancient storage devices, the library sported information that was restricted to only members of the Jedi High Council including an access way to the Holocron Vault. Located in the First Knowledge quarter the majority of the library was accessible to all members of the Jedi Order.

History
"Master Kenobi says that there are even texts here that are forbidden to be read." "The Archives hold a great many secrets, it is true."

- Ahsoka Tano talking to Madame Jocasta Nu

With the loss of the Great Library of Odan-Urr in 3,996 BBY, the information that had been salvaged was transported to the ever growing Temple on Coruscant. While the original incarnation of the library was small and cramped, it was eventually moved into more spacious chambers as the Temple expanded in 2,519 BBY.

In 22 BBY, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious concocted a scheme to raise an army of Dark Jedi. As the Clone Wars drew so many Jedi from the Temple, it would be easier to infiltrate the Holocron Vault in the Temple. Selecting the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane, Sidious suppied Bane with schematics of the Temple and a large supply of credits and ordered him to retrieve he Acquisition Division's holocron. In order to complete the mission, Bane killed Master Bolla Ropal inorder to secure the Kyber memory crystal, the activating device for the holocron. Than, after aquuiring the body of Master Ord Enisence, Bane hired fellow bounty hunter Cato Parasitti to provide tactical support as he prepared to enter the Jedi stronghold. The two bounty hunters, accompanied by the droid Todo 360, set off to the Temple, Parasitti disguised as Enisence via her Clawdite shape-shifting talents.

Once inside, Parasitti, still disguised as the Skrilling Jedi, made it past the library guard and set up at a console by the Vault. Communicating via comlink with Bane, she directed him through the ventalation shafts on the roof of the Temple Ziggurat using the schematics provided by Sidious. With all her focus on te data terminal, Parasitti failed to see the approaching Jocasta Nu, Chief Librarian. Having noticed Parasitti's short temper when talking to Guard Ahsoka Tano earlier, Nu had hoped to comfort the odd-acting Enisence. Startled, Parasitti struck Nu, knocking her unconcious. Mimicking Nu's form, Parasitti resumed her efforts in directing Bane. As the Duros successfully captured the holocron, the Temple went on high alert. After a short duel, Parasitti was apprehended by Ahsoka Tano; though Bane escaped with the holocron without a fight.



Later that same year, Padawan Tano sought guidance in the library after petty theft Bannamu absconded with her lightsaber while she and her master were on assignment in the Coruscant Underworld. Searching for a lead, she was directed by Madame Nu to the ancient Master Tera Sinube who was napping in the chamber. Sinube had compiled a massive database of the crime on Coruscant, adding to the wealth of knowledge already stored in the library Stacks. After identifying the Patrolian that had stole the lightsaber, the two Jedi went off to find it.

At the conclussion of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, Darth Sidious, in his guise as Supreme Chancellor commenced with Operation: Knightfall. Led by Darth Vader, the 501st Legion invaded the Temple, slaughtering all the Jedi and employees there. As the Jedi rushed to destroy their records to prevent them from falling to the Sith, Vader managed to secure the library and muuch of its contents.

With the Temple abandoned and the library in the hands of the Sith, the chamber would be scoured by Armand Isard over the next decade. Shortly after the rise of the Galactic Empire, Gregar Typho of the Royal Naboo Security Force infiltrated the library in search of a lead on the death of Galactic Senator Padmé Amidala. While cautiously navigating the debris-strewn floor, Typho detected bounty hunter Aurra Sing slinking through the Stacks. Startled by the sound of movement, Sing attacked Typho; he was able to evade her, fleeing deeper into the library. Grabbing a datastick from a shelf, he shattered it on the floor, causing a small explosion. Distracted, Typho was able to render Sing unconcious using skills taught to him by Master Qui-Gon Jinn a decade previous. Having the upper hand, Typho fled the Temple, having no more information than when he entered.

The library lay largely untouched throughout the Galactic Civil War, viligantly guarded by Imperial Senate Sentinels and shadow troopers in constant wait for returning Jedi. As the Empire was crippled and the Alliance to Restore the Republic captured the captial, the New Jedi Order secured the Temple and began searching the destroyed halls for salvagable information. Jedi historian Tionne Solusar was able to restore parts of the Archives and library, adding information of recent history.

Several years later, as Coruscant fell to the Yuuzhan Vong, the library was damaged beyond restoration. However, in preparation for disaster, Solusar had scanned the databanks, saving all the data to be kept safe in the space station called Shelter.

As of 35 BBY, the Temple had been rebuilt by the Reconstruction Authority per the request of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Cal Omas. Using blueprints from Solusar had found in the Archives, the Temple was largely the same as it had been for centuries. It is likely that the library had been restored to its former specifications by the Dark Nest Crisis.

Layout
The Temple library was an octagonal chamber, centered by a large domed rotunda from which fourteen long, dual storied halls ran like spokes on a wheel. The central chamber was carpeted in red and housed a large database station used by the Chief Librarian to keep record of the books stored in the Stacks. Four arched openings led to the four main halls of the library, while another wall of shelves ran between each hall.

The outer hall of the library encircled the chamber, lined with a collection of datasticks and various other storage devices. At the end of one of the main halls was a circular portal, leading into the Holocron Vault. Accessable only to members of the Jedi High Council and Council of First Knowledge, the chamber was highly secured against intruders.

Amongst the main halls of books were study desks like to those in the main Archives hall. Each desk was equipped with a data screen that was hooked up to the large supercomputers, capable of drawing on any information stored in the library. The great windows overlooking the two-stories of the library were filled with statues of Jedi brandishing their lightsabers, as if defending the great storehouse.

Behind the scenes
The touch-screen keyboards of the library's computers seen in the The Clone Wars episode use the Aurebesh symbols in alphabetical order, but display all symbols upside down. Whether this was done intentionally or if it was a mistake by the animators is not known.

Appearances

 * Legacy of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Holocron Heist
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows