National Central Library

The National Central Library, located in Amestris' capital of Central City, is the nation's largest literary repository and contains texts and reference materials collected from all over the nation and throughout its long history. The library itself is separated into several Branches, presumably each intended to house a different category of literature. While most of the library is open to members of the public, certain branches are accessible only to State Alchemists and military members of adequate rank. Of these, only the First Branch, a large government records database, has been named in the series. However, the First Branch was burned down in mysterious act of arson by an unknown figure in 1914.

Even with all its prestige and restrictions, however, it has been discovered that the National Central Library's cache is not as all-encompassing as popularly believed. Due to strict and surreptitious content censorship by the members of Central Command, all references to topics such as Human Transmutation and Alkahestry have been quietly banned.

Trivia

 * In the 2003 anime, Scar battles Lust and Gluttony in the library, a fight that was based on Scar's battle with the Homunculi in the sewers of East City that took place in the manga and 2009 anime.