> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.adamsooley.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # What if the internet disappeared tomorrow? Building an offline library on a Raspberry Pi - URL: https://www.adamsooley.ca/offline-library-raspberry-pi/ - Published: 2026-11-02T23:21:03.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T23:21:03.000Z - Description: What happens when the internet disappears? Build your own offline library with a Raspberry Pi, packed with books, maps, Wikipedia and educational resources. A little knowledge centre that works without the internet. - Author: Adam Sooley - Tags: Self-Hosting & Homelab We live in a world where almost every answer is just a Google search away. - Need to fix a leaking toilet? YouTube. - Want to learn how to grow potatoes? YouTube. - Need to figure out why your car won't start? Google. Want to learn how to build something, cook something, repair something or generally figure out what you're doing with your life? Well, there's probably a 14-year-old on YouTube who can explain it better than most professionals. We've become pretty good at assuming all of that information will always be there. > But what if it isn't? What if the internet goes down for an extended period? What if there's a major power outage, a natural disaster, a communications failure or something considerably more serious? Suddenly, that little box in your pocket that knows practically everything isn't quite as useful. I've been thinking about how useful it would be to have an entire library of information available locally, without depending on the internet, cloud services or someone else's infrastructure and that's when I came across a rather interesting project on GitHub. ## Meet Library-Creator: Your own library in a box The project is called [Library-Creator](https://github.com/holly-the-dude/Library-Creator), created by holly-the-dude. The idea is surprisingly simple: take a Raspberry Pi, attach some storage, install the software and turn it into a self-contained offline information library. - No monthly subscriptions. - No cloud accounts. - No dependency on Google. - No internet connection required for the people accessing it. > Your own boring little information centre. The finished Raspberry Pi creates its own Wi-Fi hotspot. Connect your phone, tablet or laptop to that network, open a web browser and visit: [**http://library**](http://library/) That's it. You're looking at your own offline library. The project currently supports several useful services: - **Wikipedia:** An enormous collection of reference information, available offline. - **Ebooks:** Downloadable books and other reading material. - **Music:** Your own locally stored music collection. - **Offline maps:** OpenStreetMap data and regional maps, with support for driving directions when the appropriate routing data is installed. - **Meshtastic:** Optional radio-based communications, if you connect compatible hardware. All of this runs locally on the Raspberry Pi and its attached storage. ## Why would you actually want this? Let's get the obvious question out of the way. > Are we expecting society to collapse tomorrow? > Hopefully/Probably not. But I also don't think it's particularly unreasonable to consider how dependent we've become on infrastructure that we have very little control over. Our phones depend on cellular networks. Our computers depend on internet connections. Our entertainment, banking, navigation, news and increasingly our ability to learn new things depend on services hosted somewhere else. Even something as simple as finding instructions to repair a water pump could become difficult if you couldn't access the internet. Now imagine having a library containing thousands of books, technical manuals, medical references, maps, educational resources and general knowledge sitting on a shelf in your house. It doesn't need Google to work. It doesn't need a subscription. It doesn't need a functioning internet connection. It just needs power, that's a pretty useful piece of equipment to have around. ## What would I put in my offline library? The Raspberry Pi and software are really just the delivery mechanism. The valuable part is the information you decide to store on it. I wouldn't want to build something that simply contains Wikipedia and a few ebooks. I'd want to create something that could genuinely help someone learn, solve problems and become more self-sufficient. Here are some of the collections I'd want available. ### General knowledge and education Start with Wikipedia, it's an obvious choice, but there's a reason for that. It's an enormous reference library covering practically every subject imaginable. From history and geography to science, engineering, mathematics and technology, there's a lot of information available. **I'd also want educational resources covering:** - Basic mathematics and science. - Electrical and mechanical engineering. - Construction and building techniques. - Basic computer programming. - Agriculture and food production. - Geography and world history. - Language learning. - General reference material. The goal isn't simply to have something to read. It's to have resources that allow someone to learn something they don't already know. ### First aid, medical knowledge and survival This is probably one of the most important categories. If emergency services are unavailable or help is delayed, having reliable reference material could be incredibly valuable. **I'd want to include:** - First aid reference guides. - CPR and emergency response information. - Wilderness first aid. - Basic anatomy and physiology. - Infection prevention and sanitation. - Food safety. - Water purification. - Emergency preparedness. - Cold weather survival. - Heat-related illness. - Basic emergency response procedures. Obviously, having a PDF about treating an injury doesn't make someone a doctor. But having access to trustworthy information is better than having nothing. I'd prioritize established medical and public health resources rather than random internet advice. ### Growing food and becoming self-sufficient If supply chains become unreliable, knowing how to produce your own food becomes considerably more important. **I'd want information covering:** - Vegetable gardening. - Seed saving. - Composting. - Soil management. - Greenhouse construction. - Food preservation. - Canning and dehydrating. - Raising chickens. - Basic livestock care. - Identifying edible plants. - Seasonal growing guides. For those of us living in Canada, I'd also want resources specific to our climate. Knowing when to plant tomatoes in Florida isn't particularly helpful when you're trying to grow something in Ontario or Newfoundland. ### Home repairs, construction and mechanical knowledge This is another category where an offline library could pay for itself. Imagine needing to repair something around the house and not being able to search YouTube for a tutorial. **I'd want manuals and guides covering:** - Basic plumbing. - Residential electrical systems. - Heating and ventilation. - Woodworking. - Roofing and construction. - Small engine repair. - Vehicle maintenance. - Generator maintenance. - Solar power systems. - Battery storage. - Water pumps and filtration. I'd also include manufacturer manuals for the equipment I actually own. Knowing how to troubleshoot your specific generator, furnace or water system is considerably more useful than having a general article about generators. ### Maps and navigation Having offline maps is another major advantage. We rely heavily on Google Maps and other online navigation services. If cellular networks disappear, those services may become unavailable or severely limited. Library-Creator supports offline OpenStreetMap data and regional map collections. You can download the areas you want and store them locally. I'd start with: - Ontario. - Quebec. - Newfoundland and Labrador. - The major routes between provinces. - Local roads and surrounding communities. I'd also consider keeping additional reference material about local geography, waterways, trails and public infrastructure. **One important distinction:** offline maps don't automatically provide live traffic information, and driving directions require the appropriate routing data to be installed. Still, having a map available when your phone has no signal is a pretty good start. ## Why a Raspberry Pi? There are plenty of ways to store offline information. You could fill an external hard drive with PDFs, ebooks and downloaded web pages but that doesn't necessarily make the information easy to access. That's what I like about this project, the Raspberry Pi becomes a little local server. It broadcasts its own Wi-Fi network, and anyone nearby can connect using an ordinary phone, tablet or laptop. You don't need to install a special application on every device. You don't need an internet connection. You simply connect to the network and open a browser. The installation documentation supports Raspberry Pi 3, 4 and 5 hardware, although a Pi 3 will be slower. Even a Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB of RAM is listed as supported. The basic hardware requirements are: - Raspberry Pi. - MicroSD card (32GB or larger). - USB storage drive for your library content. - Power supply. - Optional HDMI monitor or small TFT display. The USB storage is where things get interesting. You can start small, but offline collections can become enormous. Wikipedia, books, maps and other reference material can quickly consume hundreds of gigabytes. I'd personally rather have more storage than I think I'll need, and because this is intended to work without the internet, I'd keep a backup of the entire library somewhere safe as well. Additionally, when all set up, store the Raspberry Pi and storage in a faraday Bag, disconnected until a time comes when you need to use it. Only power it up from time to time to test it and update any info on it. ## How difficult is it to build? The nice thing is that the developer has already done a considerable amount of the work. The installation guide walks through the process. At a high level: 1. Install Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) on your microSD card. 2. Connect the Raspberry Pi to your network temporarily. 3. Clone the Library-Creator GitHub repository. 4. Attach the USB storage drive. 5. Run the bootstrap installer. 6. Select your display configuration. 7. Let the installation complete its automatic reboot stages. 8. Connect another device to the new Wi-Fi network and open the library. The installation process takes care of installing the required software and configuring the services. Also, the initial installation needs internet access to download packages, software and selected content. Once everything is installed and the content is stored locally, the library can operate offline. The developer estimates installation can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours (mine was closer to 2 hours), depending on hardware, network speed and the amount of content being downloaded. You can find the complete instructions here: [Library-Creator Installation Guide](https://github.com/holly-the-dude/Library-Creator/blob/master/docs/INSTALL.md) ## Taking it a step further: Building an actual emergency information centre This is where I'd want to spend some time customizing the setup. I wouldn't just install the software, download Wikipedia and call it a day. I'd treat the Raspberry Pi as a small emergency information centre. I'd want multiple categories of information, organized so that someone with very little technical knowledge could find what they needed. I'd also want to include local information. For example, living in Canada, I'd want Canadian emergency preparedness guides, provincial resources, Canadian weather information, local geography, government publications and information about the communities around me. I'd want to include downloaded manuals for my own equipment, documents explaining how my home operates, and instructions for things that might otherwise require an internet search. - If I own a generator, I want its manual. - If I have a water filtration system, I want its maintenance instructions. - If I have solar equipment, I want the technical documentation. - And if I need to teach someone how to do something, I want the information already available. The idea is to have a resource that doesn't just help me survive an emergency. It helps me become more capable before one ever happens. ## What about communications? One particularly interesting feature of Library-Creator is its optional Meshtastic integration. Meshtastic is an open-source communications system that uses inexpensive LoRa radio hardware to send messages without relying on cellular networks or traditional internet infrastructure. The project can connect a compatible USB radio to the Raspberry Pi and provide a browser-based interface. This doesn't magically give you worldwide communications, and it requires compatible radios, antennas and properly configured settings. But it introduces another interesting possibility: combining an offline information library with a basic independent communications capability. Imagine having your own offline library and a separate radio-based messaging system available from the same little Raspberry Pi. That's a pretty useful combination. ## A few things I'd consider before relying on it As interesting as this project is, there are a few practical considerations. **Power:** A Raspberry Pi still needs electricity. I'd pair it with a suitable UPS or battery power solution. A small solar charging setup could also be worth considering. **Storage:** Don't underestimate how much space offline information consumes. Plan your storage before downloading everything. **Updates:** Information gets outdated. Medical guidance, technical documentation, maps and software should be reviewed and refreshed while internet access is available. **Backups:** Keep a second copy of your important information. A single USB drive is not a backup strategy. **Testing:** Disconnect the internet and make sure everything works. Don't wait until an emergency to discover that a service isn't starting. **Local knowledge:** General information is useful, but local resources are often more valuable. Make sure you have information relevant to your province, community and climate. And perhaps most importantly, this isn't a replacement for proper training, emergency services or professional advice. It's a resource to help you make better-informed decisions when normal services aren't available. ## My take: This is the kind of homelab project I like I spend a fair amount of time tinkering with technology, running services at home and finding new ways to self-host things. Sometimes I do it because it's useful. Sometimes I do it because I can. This project manages to tick both boxes. It's inexpensive compared with many other preparedness projects, it's open source, it's relatively accessible to someone with basic technical knowledge, and it solves a problem that we don't spend nearly enough time thinking about. We spend so much time building bigger internet connections, faster networks and more connected homes that we sometimes forget what happens when those connections disappear. I like the idea of having a little Raspberry Pi, powered off and sitting on a shelf, quietly holding an enormous amount of useful information. No subscriptions. No cloud dependency. No advertising. No asking Google why the internet isn't working. > Just information. And the best part? You don't need a societal collapse to get value out of it. You could take it camping, use it at a cottage with no internet, bring it to a remote location, use it as an educational resource or simply have it available when your home internet inevitably decides to take the afternoon off. Because if there's one thing I've learned from years of tinkering with technology, it's that having something available locally is often a lot more useful than hoping someone else's server is still online. > And if the world does go sideways? Well, at least we'll know how to fix a toilet, grow some potatoes and look up how to build another Raspberry Pi. Here is an updated listing of some of the items used for mine and discussed in this post. ![](https://www.adamsooley.ca/content/images/2026/11/Preparedness-Gear-by-the-Canadian-Sunset.png) #### Amazon list Listing of items discussed and used in this post [Amazon list of products discussed ](https://amzn.to/4sWWQPT)