Whether you’re trying to finish Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library really fast, or aiming for the Efficiency Librarian achievement by completing it in under three hours, speed is less about carefully organizing everything and more about unlocking your Major Magic skills in the right sequence. Players going for the achievement will find it much easier by focusing on that optimal unlock order.
The Major Magic upgrade drastically alters how you play Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library, shifting the focus to managing cooldowns. If you’re new to the game or prefer the slower pace of manually sorting books, it’s best to focus on improving Insight and Shelf Guide skills rather than trying to speed things up.
Major Magic Upgrade Order for Speedruns (TL;DR)
- Two points in Insight to complete three-volume series quickly.
- Max Assemble to stop manual searching and sorting.
- Get a few points in Shelf Guide if you don’t know where series go.
- Max Auto-Shelving to stop manual shelving.
- Get a point in Sort for when Auto-Shelving is on cooldown.
- Max Shelf Guide so you always know where books belong.
How Major Magic and Minor Magic Work
As you finish complete book series on Major Magic, you’ll earn points to improve your level. At first, you only need to shelve two series to get one point, but you’ll need to shelve more and more series to earn each point as you progress.
You can get Minor Magics by discovering hidden keys and opening chests on the second floor. Check out our guide to find all the key locations and learn about Minor Magic upgrades.
Understanding the 3-5-10 Volume Structure
Book series in the game come in three different lengths: three, five, or ten volumes. Shorter series (three and five volumes) fit on small shelves, while the longest series (ten volumes) need full-length shelves. It’s best to shelve the three-volume series first, as this will help you earn Major Magic points quickly.
Our guide helps you quickly find book series, and it lists them alphabetically, which is especially useful for locating shorter collections during speedrunning.
Get Minor Magic First
Before you focus on improving your Major Magic, make sure you use the red key to get the High Jump Permit. This permit lets you jump between floors quickly, saving you a lot of time.
It’s also a good idea to use the other keys at the beginning to unlock upgrades like the Run Permit and increased Carry Capacity. However, you can always get those later when your Major Magic is recharging if you want to play more efficiently.
If you need more details, see our Minor Magic unlock guide.
Best Major Magic Upgrade Order for Fast Runs
This is a recommended order for upgrading your magic abilities. It’s particularly effective for players aiming to finish the game quickly—in under three hours—to earn the Efficiency Librarian achievement.
Step 1: Shelf Monsterology: An Introduction to Forbidden Beast
Right when the game begins, you’ll receive the entire Monsterology: An Introduction to Forbidden Beast book series. Place it on Shelf 1A, and you’ll be well on your way to getting your first skill point.
Step 2: Focus on Romance, Daily Magic, and Mathematics
Now, your main focus should be getting one more skill point – and this is usually the hardest part of the game. The fastest way to do this is to search for Daily books in Magic, Mathematics, and Romance.
These topics are easily recognizable, and many are covered in detailed, multi-part collections – making them ideal for quickly establishing your next idea. Here’s what to keep an eye out for:
| Subject | Visual Clue |
|---|---|
| Daily Magic (2C) | Pastel colored books that focus on mundane tasks. |
| Mathematics (2D) | Books with an insignia on the spine depicting a book inside a shield. |
| Romance (2L) | Pink and purple books with romantic titles. |
Having trouble finding books quickly? Our guide shows you exactly where everything is, organized by shelf, subject, and series.
Step 3: Get a Couple Levels in Insight
Once you finish a complete set of three Daily Magic, Mathematics, or Romance books, add the resulting point to your Insight score.
This ability makes books from the same series as the one you’re currently holding briefly glow yellow. If you have a 3-book series you’ve started organizing but haven’t finished, use this ability to locate the remaining books and complete the set – you’ll earn an extra skill point! You can then invest that point in Insight to shorten the ability’s cooldown and make it last longer.
Step 4: Max Assemble
Continue working on the small collections you’ve begun organizing with Insight, and use all the points you earn to fully upgrade Assemble.
As a huge fan, I’m really excited about this ability! Basically, it pulls books from the same series as whatever book you’re currently holding right to you. I first used it to finish up some three-book collections, which was awesome. But get this – once you fully upgrade it, you can instantly gather all ten books in a series! It’s a total game-changer for completing those massive sets.
It’s helpful to be aware of what other subjects are available during this time, so you’re not limited to just Daily Magic, Math, or Romance. Here are some suggestions:
| Subject | Visual Clue |
|---|---|
| Destruction Magic (1M) | Gemstone on spine. |
| Alchemy and Potion-Making (1N) | Tree on cover. |
| Curses and Dispels (1C) | Black books with red writing. |
Step 5: Max Auto-Shelving
Once Assemble hits max, focus on upgrading Auto-Shelving.
This ability lets you quickly put away books you’re holding by automatically placing them on the shelf you’re facing. You can use it several times in a row before it needs to recharge. The idea is to grab a book, use the ‘Assemble’ function to finish a set, then use this ability to put it away, and keep repeating the process.
(Optional) Shelf Guide
If you’re confident about where books go, you can skip the Shelf Guide feature for now – it just shows you where the top book in your hand belongs. I still recommend practicing it a little as you improve your Auto-Shelving skills. It might not be the fastest way to level up, but it makes things easier to remember and reduces the risk of getting lost when sorting a series.
Step 6: Get Sort
Once you’ve fully upgraded Auto-Shelving, invest a point in Sort. This skill neatly organizes the books you’re carrying in number order, which is useful during the short time Auto-Shelving needs to recharge.
Step 7: Max Shelf Guide
Okay, I’ve finally gotten the hang of the Shelf Guide, and it’s a game-changer! Seriously, no more wandering around trying to figure out where to put books. Now I can just focus on using my skills as soon as they’re ready, and I’m well on my way to unlocking that Efficiency Librarian achievement. It feels so good to have a system!
Why Assemble Is the Most Important Skill for the Efficiency Librarian Achievement
The most important skill is Assemble, because it eliminates the need to search for or manually sort items. While combining it with Auto-Shelving makes things even faster, you can achieve a quick completion time with Assemble alone.
How to Use Major Magic Efficiently During Speedruns
For simplicity, here is how you should be using your abilities at each phase of the game:
Early Game Rotation
- Use Insight on cooldown to complete partially-shelved short sets.
Mid-Game Rotation
- Use Assemble on cooldown to complete three-volume series.
- Continue using Insight to manually complete sets when Assemble is not available.
- Use Auto-Shelving on cooldown to automatically shelve series.
Late-Game Rotation
- Pick up any book and use Assemble to complete the series.
- Use Shelf Guide to find where it goes.
- Use Auto-Shelving to shelve the series when you arrive.
- If Auto-Shelving is on cooldown, use Sort and manually shelve the series.
Why You Should Do a Low-Magic Run First
Like we discussed earlier, this strategy significantly alters how you play the game. I suggest trying a playthrough without using much, or any, magic first. Here’s the reasoning behind that suggestion:
- Manual organization and shelving can be fun.
- There’s an achievement, Anti-Magic Master, for completing the game without using Major Magic.
- You’ll learn the layout of the library, which will make the early stages of speedruns much smoother.
Tips for the Efficiency Librarian Achievement
If you’re trying to complete the game in three hours, keep these simple tips in mind:
- Get your Minor Magic early.
- Focus on unlocking Major Magic and using them on cooldown, not manual sorting.
- Familiarity with the library is helpful, but you can make up for it with the Shelf Guide ability.
More Librarian Tidy Up the Arcane Library Guides
- All Key Locations and Minor Magic Upgrades
- All Book Locations and Shelf Maps
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2026-05-10 17:40