The appearance of libraries in Romantic-period literature raises questions about the very purpose of books and reading. Jane Austen’s observation of attitudes towards private libraries in her fiction opens avenues into understanding the social significance of books in the period. Taking a cue from Austen, the chapter compares key poems by George Crabbe and Charles Shillito in relation to the widening social sphere of reading, book discussion, and acquisition in the period. General awareness of literature was heightened by the expansion of provincial book clubs, private libraries, and bibliomania, which were in turn reflected in writing of the period. Books were valued not just for the intellectual, entertaining, or aesthetic quality of the contents but also as status symbols and prompts for sociability. Exploration of the social dimensions of books and reading within poems of the period has important implications for traditional definitions of the figure of the Romantic poet.