The Hawkins library in Stranger Things: the archives, the Upside Down nest and the square ripped open
Universe · Hawkins · Library
Four seasons out of five show it. In 1985, no scene: only a voice on the phone. The place, in March 1986, tears open.
The town library is a building with a clock tower, on the main square. It is seen from both sides of the membrane: an archive room on this side, a nest on the other.
The essentials
- The place: Hawkins Public Library, clock tower, the main square
- The seasons: 1983, 1984 and 1986, then the last season. No scene in 1985.
- 1983, on this side: Hopper, Powell and Marissa, in the archives
- 1983, on the other side: A nest. Barb dead. Will alive, a tendril in his throat.
- 1984: Five books at a time. Dustin leaves with the pile.
- 1986: Nancy and Robin in the basement. Then the square bursts.
- The shoot: Exterior in Jackson, Georgia, at a Butts County building.
Contents
A clock-tower building, on the square
The town library stands at the center of town, on the square. The wiki calls it Hawkins Public Library and notes a clock tower. The map of Hawkins puts it on the main street, with the drugstore and the movie theater.
It is seen in 1983, November 1984 and 1986, then in the last season, never in 1985. That year, the only library is a voice on the phone. In July 1985, an emergency number picks up on a cover line, a public library in Philadelphia. The other dimension, frozen on November 6, 1983, has the double of the building, and that double serves as a nest.
The exterior is filmed in Jackson, Georgia, at a Butts County building, in the center of town. The wiki calls it the courthouse. Travel guides speak of the probate court. From 1983 to 1986, people come to the library looking for answers, then the town tears open there.
Black bookmark, red tassel. A dead tree drawn in red, white lightning, red letters. For reading on this side of the building.
In the shopReading in the Upside Down bookmark11,90 €See the product
1983: Hopper, Marissa and the archive room
The scene is in the third episode of season 1. The wiki dates it November 9, 1983.
Hopper comes with Officer Powell. They search the newspaper archives for anything to do with the Hawkins lab. Marissa, the librarian, receives them. “Hey, Marissa.” She tells him he has some nerve showing up. He never called her back. He suggests going out again the following week. The wiki speaks of a short relationship.
She guides them to the New York Times, the Post, the major papers, filed by year and by subject. The microfiche is in the reading room. She asks if they should not be looking for the missing child. He answers that this is what they are doing. When she steps away, Powell murmurs to Hopper: the librarian? The question will come back years later. In the newspapers, they find Terry Ives: her child was supposedly taken for experiments, and her complaint was dismissed.
Brenner runs the lab. For Hopper, it is research backed by the CIA. The English-language Wikipedia speaks of MK-Ultra. Photos show subjects in gowns. They recall a scrap of cloth found near a pipe. Then a call: a child's body has just been pulled from the water. It is the fake body.
1983, on the other side: the Upside Down nest
What happens next is in the last episode of season 1. The wiki dates it November 12 and 13. Joyce and Hopper go in through the gate and follow a trail of blood to the double of the library. Bodies are caught in the vines, including Barb's. According to the wiki, the building then serves as a nest: the creature brings its victims there.
Will is alive, a tendril in his throat. They pull it out. Hopper revives him. A few days earlier, the microfiche was being read in the version on this side. The season does not say why he is alive where Barb is dead. The question stays open.
1984 and 1986: five books, then the basement keys
On November 1, 1984, it is the third episode of season 2. Dustin has been hiding a small creature since the day before, and he needs books to understand it. He brings in a pile. Marissa reminds him of the rule. “Five at a time.” He already has five at home. He pleads that these books are his oars, distracts Marissa and slips out with the pile.
In late March 1986, it is the third episode of season 4. At the counter, a bell. Nancy, with Robin Buckley, asks for the keys to the basement archives. Marissa hands them over and tells them to have fun. They spend hours there. Robin apologizes for speaking without a filter.
The Weekly Watcher surprises them: “I can't believe they have this.” One talks about Bigfoot and UFOs, the other answers that UFOs are real. They read headlines: Elvis cloned by aliens, then a headline on Victor Creel: “Victor Creel claims vengeful demon killed family.” A haunted house, a failed exorcism, a father spared, police seals. The name leads to the asylum, in the next chapter.
Marissa appears in the third episode of seasons 1, 2 and 4, never in 1985, according to her character page and the credits of the actress who plays her, Christi Waldon.
Black zipped pencil case. At the top, a wizard in a pointed hat and a pink starred cape, a staff, a twenty-sided die. At the bottom, his reflection upside down, pale, held by two gray clawed hands, in front of blue petals. A garland separates the two.
In the shopDrawn Will Byers pencil case24,90 €See the product
March 1986: the square ripped open
It is the last episode of season 4. Four gates opened by the curse grow and meet on the square. According to the wiki, they converge on the library, which bursts. A large part of the building is destroyed.
Two days later, a news report speaks of an earthquake, “a 7.4 magnitude earthquake”. The announced toll is twenty-two dead. According to the wiki, the camera is in front of the library. What the town makes of that hole, the last season shows.
What the last season reveals
Warning: what follows touches on season 5, through to its last scene. The prologue of “The Crawl”, on November 12, 1983, shows the creature dragging Will, unconscious, to the double of the library. Henry is waiting for him there and infects him with a tentacle.
The question left open finds its answer here: the nest was not only a larder. Will was chosen there. The account of that night is in the article Why Vecna does not kill Will.
Four years later, Will, unconscious, wakes in his mind, in the same library, on the Upside Down side, bound by tendrils. Henry: “Do you remember this place… William?” At dawn, Erica and Murray knock at Mr. Clarke's. A voice asks who is there, using a pet name. It is Marissa. Erica recognizes the librarian. The question from 1983 comes back, and it is not at the library.
1987-1989: the gate, then the plaque
In November 1987, Robin, on the radio, says to avoid the military zone, “or as I like to call it, the Big Mac.” According to the wiki, the epicenter of the rifts, the old library, is sealed off by the army: it is the military base. The rifts are covered with steel plates, like a bandage. One section of the gate is left exposed against the building, and the soldiers use it to get through. According to a report on Chris Trujillo, the series' production designer, the zone could not be built in Jackson: he built it on the lot of an Atlanta studio, Cinespace.
On November 6, 1987, the group goes through this gate for the last mission. According to the wiki, when the other world is destroyed, the gate disappears and takes the shape of the library again. It is on this side that the group witnesses Eleven's choice.
According to the wiki, in May 1989, the renovation is almost finished. A plaque honors the victims of the March 1986 earthquake. Robin comes back on the air: no more soldiers, no more fences, no more cameras. The nickname now means only a hamburger. “I think the Hawkins curse has finally lifted.”
On graduation day, Mike's mother can no longer find him. Hopper finds him in front of the memorial, at the foot of the library. “Hey, kid. Thought I might find you here.” He reminds him that children have disappeared in this town before, and that Mike is not to blame. Mike joins the ceremony. It is the epilogue. The library is still standing, almost new, with names in front of it.
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November 1983 The archives
Two men, microfiche, and a doctor's name.
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November 1983 The other side
A nest, a body in the vines, a boy alive.
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November 1984 The counter
Five books at a time. The pile leaves anyway.
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March 1986 The basement
Keys, a tabloid, a father's name.
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March 1986 The square
Four gates meet. The building bursts.
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November 1987 The zone
An exposed section of the gate, soldiers, one last crossing.
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May 1989 The plaque
An almost new building, names in front of it.
Brick figure. Blond hair, navy jacket open over a printed T-shirt, black headphones in one hand, and a second face, scowling, to swap.
In the shopBuildable mini figure Robin Buckley14,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
Where is the library in Stranger Things?
At the center of town, on the square, with a clock tower. The exterior is filmed in Jackson, in Butts County.
Who works at the Hawkins library?
Marissa. She receives Hopper in 1983, limits Dustin to five books in November 1984, and hands the basement keys to Nancy and Robin in March 1986.
Why is the Upside Down library a nest?
According to the wiki, the creature brings its victims there. Joyce and Hopper find Barb dead, and Will alive, a tendril in his throat.
Does the library appear in 1985?
No. That year, a phone call lands on a library in Philadelphia, a cover line. No scene in the building.
What becomes of the archives in 1986?
Nancy and Robin read the Weekly Watcher there, including a headline on Victor Creel. A few days later, the building bursts when the gates meet on the square.
What are Hopper and Powell looking for in the archives?
Everything to do with the lab: Brenner, Terry Ives, the MK-Ultra program.
