The Violet Library was the largest library in the entire Eastern Kingdoms.
Whether in size, the number of books in its collection, or the number of readers.
The first floor alone nearly exceeded the entire Sunfury Library in area!
And the Violet Library had six floors in all.
After all, this was the culmination of three thousand years of knowledge from all of Dalaran, far beyond anything a single Silvermoon City family could compare with.
If the collections of Silvermoon City's great families-Sunfury, Dawn's Seal, Sunstrider, and Dawnstrider-were gathered together, they might easily surpass this place... but Karin knew that accomplishing that would be harder than drinking the Sunwell dry in one gulp!
The most fundamental difference between Silvermoon City and Dalaran... was that although Silvermoon City was ruled by royal authority, it was actually loosely organized; Dalaran, though nominally governed by the Council, was centralized in practice!
For just thirty copper coins, anyone could obtain a Violet Library pass, freely enter any part of the library, and borrow any book!
Yes, any book! Unlike the libraries of Silvermoon City, with their various restrictions, Dalaran's library imposed no such limits.
Even a farmer who knew absolutely nothing about magic, as long as he paid those thirty copper coins, was entitled to borrow the books on the sixth floor describing the most complex sixth-ring spells, books worth hundreds or thousands of gold coins outside. Whether he could understand them was another matter, of course!
Books on the fourth floor and above could not be taken outside the library and could only be read inside or in the few reading rooms beside it.
Books on the third floor and below could be borrowed for up to thirty days!
Damaging a book incurred a fine. The enormous Violet Eye kept constant watch overhead,