There are wiki articles on all these topics, but I found in setting it up there were a lot of steps, lots of reading related articles, and lots to troubleshoot, so I thought I'd write up a quick summary of how to do it. This guide was written for the Steam version.

STEP 1: WRITING MATERIALS

There are several types of writing materials: scrolls, codex, quire, etc. I'm describing the setup I found the simplest.

To make paper, you need 'slurry' which is pressed into paper sheets, then rolled into scrolls or assembled into 'quires' (which are like books without covers.) You can also create a cover for a quire and then bind it, but it's not necessary for producing writing.

SLURRY

-Build stoneworker's workshop (Building > Workshops > Stoneworker)

-Produce stone quern using stoneworkers workshop (input: stone)

-Build quern (Building > Workshop > Farming > Quern)

-Add plant stockpile near your quern

-Have your dwarves gather plants

-Set a work order for your quern to produce 'slurry' if fewer than 10 'gobs' exist (input: plants)

(Note: You need a dwarf with the 'Manager' role and an office assigned to use work orders. You can do that from Citizens > Nobles and Administrators)

PAPER SHEETS

-Build Mechanics workshop (Building > Workshops > Mechanics)

-Produce 2 mechanisms from Mechanics workshop

-Build screw press near your quern (Building > Workshops > Screw Press, input: 2 mechanisms)

-Set a work order on your screw press to produce paper if fewer than 10 exist (input: slurry)

SCROLLS (used for shorter works)

-Build a crafts workshop (Building > Workshops > Craft)

-Set a work order on your crafts workshop to produce 'scroll rollers' if fewer than 10 exist (input: stone or wood)

-Set a work order on your crafts workshop to produce scrolls if fewer than 10 exist (input: scroll rollers + paper sheets)(note: The purpose of setting all these work orders with the condition 'if fewer than 10' is so that your dwarves will keep a small stock of items and replace them as needed. You don't end up with overstock like you do if you set the condition to produce infinitely or every day/month.)

QUIRES (used for longer works)

-Build a crafts workshop (Building > Workshops > Craft) if you haven't already

-Set a work order on your crafts workshop to produce 'quires' if fewer than 10 exist (input: paper sheet)

STEP 2: BUILDING A LIBRARY

Your library is where your dwarves will write books, store writing materials, and conduct scholarly research to learn new topics. You will need bookshelves to store books and chests to store writing materials. To attract visitors to your library, you can buy books from caravans or steal them using missions on the world map. Your dwarves will read books as a form of entertainment.

CREATING THE ROOM

-Create a room and set it as a 'Meeting Area' zone (Zones > Meeting Area)

-Click 'Zones' again and then click on your meeting area

-Click the + symbol and then 'New Library'

-Enjoy your randomly generated library name

-Click magnifying glass to change your library settings:

>Increase the desired number of writing materials to 20

>Leave your library public so you can get visiting scholars

FURNISHING YOUR LIBRARY

-Build a stoneworkers workshop (Building > Workshops > Stoneworker) if you haven't already

-Set up work orders on your stoneworkers workshop to create these items: table, bookshelf, coffers, and thrones (note: coffers and thrones are the same as wooden chests and chairs)

-Build tables and chairs in your library (Building > Furniture)

(tip: Try to set your chairs so they are adjacent to each other as dwarves who are next to each other will talk about scholarly topics and develop friendships)

-Build multiple bookshelves and chests in your library. These don't need to be in any particular setup, just inside the library.

STEP 3: GETTING YOUR DWARVES TO WRITE

Coaxing your dwarves into writing can take some time. While writing-related skills improve the quality of their work, they seem to have more to 'write about' if they have skills like medicine or mechanics. It's much easier to get them write guides about scientific topics than to write poetry or novels. (There's actually an entire technology tree in the background that your dwarves can progress by reading books, chatting, and having breakthroughs.)

SCHOLARS

-Click 'Zones' and then click on your library

-Click the magnifying glass

-On the library menu, click the + sign next to scholar

-Assign a dwarf as a scholar (bonus if they have good writing skills)

-If your library has desks + chairs + writing materials, your dwarves will eventually write... when they feel like it. Mostly they will chat, learn new topics, and read books until they have decided there's something they want to write about.

-Assign as many scholars as your fortress can spare to increase the chance of one of them writing

-After assigning a scholar, check their thoughts to see if they enjoy the role. Some dwarves feel anxious when they learn new things or debate/argue with other scholars. If they don't like the role, they will become unhappy over time.

-On the 'assign' menu, you can't see if your dwarf has knowledge to write about, but you can see this information on the dwarf's profile under SKILLS > OTHER SKILLS

SCRIBES

-Click 'Zones' and then click on your library

-Click the magnifying glass

-On the library menu, click the + sign next to scribe

-You probably won't need more than one or two scribes as they seem to copy a lot

-Set 'total number of each to scribe' to decide how many copies you would like of each original work

-You can sell copies to visiting traders and your scribes will produce more. (note: Finished scrolls are under 'tools' when you move goods to your trading depot.)

-Sell lots of copies of that book with a funny title to spread your culture across the world

VISITING SCHOLARS

-Leave your library set to 'public' and scholars will eventually visit

-Scholars can write books if you have a desk + chairs and writing materials available, even though they're not members of your fortress

-Visting scholars seem to write waaay more books than your own dwarves

-Visiting scholars will mostly leave behind their writings in your library when they leave

-Visiting scholars will sometimes steal the books they're carrying when they leave, even books they did not write.cilantro_1 pointed out that if you unassign the tables (but not the chairs) from your library, the visitors can produce books but cannot touch them, but your own dwarves can still interact with them normally. The tables should still physically be in the library, just not within the painted library zone. (To unassign a section of library, click 'Zone' and then 'library' and use the eraser icon.)resnaturae also suggested having separate libraries for your citizens and for visitors and using stockpiles to keep the books out of the public one.

-Once your library is well-known enough, you'll start getting foreign scholars petitioning to join your fortress-A visiting necromancer may write a book that contains the 'secrets of life and death.' Any dwarf who reads this type of book will become a necromancer, which has... pretty serious consequences. You will need to find and forbid these books if you want to prevent this, or just sit back and wait for the Fun to happen.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, STEAL SOME BOOKS

-Click the worldmap button in the bottom left

-Hover over enemy fortresses and see 'rumoured artifacts'

-You can tell books apart from regular artifacts because they'll have English titles rather than fancy dwarven names

-Send a mission to raid and set it to 'Take important treasures' to get your dwarves to bring back books

-I'm not going to dig into the finer points of setting up a military or how to do missions since this guide is long enough.

So basically, i'd just like to make a library with my scholar working in it but just when I make the room, whether it is by an activity zone or with a table, dwarves comes and flood the room. Weird thing is that I actually have a dinning room/Meeting area designed for them but no they HAVE to come in the damn library. WHY and HOW to fix it ?