Free Printable Library Crossword Puzzles

Print a criss-cross library crossword for a first visit, from borrowing to parts of a book, with its answer key.

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Name Date

Library Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

This grid is wider than a phone screen, so it scrolls sideways. It prints whole.

Tap a square, and its clue shows here.

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Type in a square and the next one takes over. Tap the same square again, or press Space, to switch between Across and Down. Arrow keys move around the grid, Enter goes to the next clue, and a clue takes you to its squares.

Print gives 2 pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle with its clues, then the answer key. The squares print 8 mm wide. For a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.

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Answer key: Library Crossword

1COMI2COV3SPINE4L5FHRIIE6DB7CALLNUM8BERTFEOAIDRRO9QARINUTOA10TITLEWNE11AUTHOR

Across 1 COMIC · 3 SPINE · 7 CALLNUMBER · 10 TITLE · 11 AUTHOR

Down 2 COVER · 3 SHELF · 4 LIBRARIAN · 5 FICTION · 6 DUEDATE · 8 BORROW · 9 QUIET

Next step Find library words in a word searchPrint the back to school crossword

All 123 clues

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In the Library 22

  • Aisle Walkway with bookcases on both sides
  • Bookend Weight placed at the end of a row to keep everything upright
  • Bookmobile Library on wheels
  • Bookworm Person who loves to read
  • Branch Smaller local library that belongs to a bigger system
  • Browse Wander and look through books with no set plan
  • Carrel Small partitioned space in a library for study alone
  • Cart Small wagon on wheels that carries books around the room
  • Collection Everything a library holds, taken together
  • Desk Counter where the staff answer questions
  • Display Show of books set out to catch your eye
  • Librarian The library's keeper, and the one to ask when you are stuck
  • Media ___ center: another name for a school library
  • Nook Small, tucked-away corner, good for reading
  • Patron Customer, in library language
  • Quiet Calm and free of noise
  • Shelf Level ledge fixed to a wall or built into a bookcase
  • Shelve Put a book back where it belongs
  • Stacks Closely spaced bookcases that hold a great many books
  • Storytime Time when a story is told to a group
  • Volunteer Person who gives time to help, by free choice
  • Whisper Talk in a hushed voice

Borrowing Books 19

  • Barcode Pattern of black bars that a machine reads
  • Bookmark Marker slipped between two pages
  • Borrow Receive something for a time, expecting to hand it back
  • Card Library ___: it shows that you have joined
  • Checkout The process that records an item as leaving the building with you
  • Circulation Library word for sending books out with readers and taking them back
  • Due date Deadline for handing back what you took home
  • Fine Small charge for bringing a book back late
  • Interlibrary Describes a book sent from one library to another for a reader
  • Lend Give for a while, on condition that it comes back
  • Loan An item on ___ is with a reader for a set time
  • Member Person who has joined
  • Overdue Late in coming back
  • Receipt Written proof that something was received
  • Renew Ask for more time with a book you already have
  • Reserve Keep back for later or special use
  • Return Hand in what you took out
  • Scan Read a striped code with an electronic device
  • Stamp Inked mark pressed onto paper

Finding a Book 26

  • Alphabetical Arranged from A to Z
  • Author Creator of a written work
  • Biography Published account of one person's life
  • Call number Identifier of digits and letters that gives a book its address
  • Catalog Complete register of the items in a library
  • Category Class into which like items are sorted
  • Fantasy Kind of story set among the supernatural and creatures that never were
  • Fiction Writing that comes from imagination, not from real facts
  • Folktale Story from a people's oral tradition
  • Genre A type of writing, such as poems or plays
  • Illustrator Artist whose drawings fill a book
  • Keyword Important word you type to look something up
  • Label Small tag that gives information about the thing it is stuck to
  • Locate Pin down the position of a thing
  • Memoir Book in which someone tells their personal experiences
  • Mystery Tale built around a secret that the reader tries to work out
  • Nonfiction Books of facts and true accounts
  • Order Putting books in ___ means each one sits where it belongs
  • Poetry Writing in lines of verse, with rhythm that is chosen with care
  • Reference Kind of book made for looking things up quickly, not for reading straight through
  • Search Attempt to find something
  • Section Part of the room set aside for one kind of book
  • Sequel Follow-up that picks up where another work stopped
  • Series Set of related books, one after another
  • Subject Main topic of a book
  • Title Words on the front that say what a work is called

Parts of a Book 27

  • Appendix Extra material added after the main text
  • Bibliography Part of a written work that cites all the books it referred to
  • Binding What keeps the pages and the outside of a book together
  • Blurb Short description on a book's back that is meant to sell it
  • Caption Brief explanation attached to a photo or drawing
  • Chapter Numbered division of a book, often with a name of its own
  • Contents Table of ___: list at the front that shows what is inside and where
  • Copyright Legal right shown by a small c in a circle
  • Cover The outside of a book; it wraps the pages
  • Dedication The writer's thanks or tribute to one person, on a page of its own
  • Edition Whole run of copies printed at one time
  • Endpaper Folded sheet that joins a book's front or back board to its pages
  • Epilogue Afterword that follows the end of the tale
  • Flyleaf Blank page at the very front or back
  • Footnote Small note at the bottom of a page
  • Foreword Introduction contributed by a guest, not by the book's creator
  • Glossary Part of a book that defines its special terms
  • Heading It sits above a passage and tells its topic
  • Illustration Artwork made to decorate or explain a text
  • Index Listing at the end of a book that tells where each topic appears
  • Jacket Dust ___: loose paper wrapper around a stiff-backed book
  • Margin Empty border of a sheet, handy for notes
  • Preface Short opening note by the writer
  • Prologue Introduction that stands ahead of the main story or play
  • Publisher Company that makes books and sends them out to be sold
  • Spine Bound edge that faces outward when books stand in a row
  • Volume One book of a numbered set

Kinds of Books 29

  • Almanac Book that lists a year's events in the sky and at sea
  • Anthology Gathering of poems or short stories from various pens
  • Archive Storehouse for documents no longer in current use
  • Atlas Bound set of maps, named for a figure of myth
  • Audiobook Book you listen to: a recorded reading of the full text
  • Braille Tactile alphabet for readers who are blind
  • Comic It tells a tale in a sequence of pictures in frames
  • Database Information kept in a regular structure for a computer to look through
  • Diary Log of each day's experiences, kept by the one who lived them
  • Dictionary Work that lists words, usually A to Z, and explains each
  • E-book Book read on a screen
  • Encyclopedia Big work of short articles on a great many topics
  • Globe Spherical map of our planet
  • Guidebook What a tourist carries to learn about a new place
  • Hardback Book with a solid outside, not a bendable one
  • Journal Daily written record, or a scholarly publication
  • Magazine It comes out again and again, with articles by many writers
  • Manual Booklet that explains how to use something
  • Manuscript Handwritten version of a text
  • Microfilm Long strip of film with greatly reduced photographs of documents
  • Newspaper Daily or weekly publication of news
  • Novel Long invented story in prose that fills a book
  • Pamphlet Small, brief printed work of a folded sheet or a few sheets
  • Paperback Book with a soft, bendable outside
  • Periodical Publication that appears at regular intervals, though not daily
  • Scroll Rolled-up length of parchment or paper that carries a text
  • Textbook Book written for students of a course
  • Thesaurus Where to look for a synonym
  • Yearbook Annual made by a graduating class to record the past months

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for a first library visit, in five sets: in the library, borrowing books, finding a book, parts of a book, kinds of books. Every answer and its meaning was checked in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org), and a few library terms in English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0), in October 2026. No book, writer, publisher or named shelving system is in the bank, and no clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

These free printable library crossword puzzles are vocabulary crosswords for the first library visit of the year. The first puzzle has 12 words a new borrower needs, among them Shelf, Author, Spine, Call number and Due date.

Read the full guide

Five sets after First Visit Words

In the Library has Stacks, Carrel and Bookmobile. Borrowing Books has Renew, Overdue and Barcode. Finding a Book has Catalog, Genre and Sequel. Parts of a Book has Glossary, Foreword and Flyleaf. Kinds of Books has Almanac, Thesaurus and Anthology.

An orientation on paper

Pupils can solve the first puzzle at the tables, then walk the room and find one of each thing they wrote: a spine, a call number, a title. The words are the same in a school library and a public one.

  • Print Finding a Book before a research project, when pupils will need Catalog, Keyword and Reference.

Questions and answers

Is the library crossword puzzle free to print?

Yes, and there is no sign-up. Each print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own, so the puzzle goes to the class and the key stays at the desk.

What grade is the library crossword for?

First Visit Words suits grades 2 to 4, with answers such as Nook, Lend and Index. Parts of a Book and Kinds of Books suit grades 4 to 6. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

What is a call number in a library?

A call number is an identification number, usually a mix of numbers and other characters, used to identify and locate an item within a library. Call number is an answer in Finding a Book, beside Catalog and Alphabetical.

What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction?

Fiction is invented or imaginative writing. Nonfiction is written to give facts, or true accounts of real things and events. Both words are answers in Finding a Book.

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