Due to mods and NPC scheduling, there's nearly always someone in my Arcaneum, but I got the key and it was fun to just look inside the bookcases. As per @ rbrown72002 I can confirm points 1 & 2. Still a great little mod, upvoted, thanks!

i cannot proceed until i do this quest. can anyone tell me exactly where the key is

there is no front desk. i cannot find a key anywhere

Two problems ...
1) There is one bookcase (either 5th or 11th) to the left of Urags desk, this bookcase does not unlock.
2) The Elder Scroll display case does not unlock.

3) While you are at it, could you arrange for Urag to buy the Runed Lexicon after Septimus is done with it? That way, Urag could read the Elder Scroll safely. He should want that.
4) One night I snuck into the library after closing time and alphabetized all the books !!! And picked up all the books lying around and put them away !!! Urag will be so happy !!!
5) I would have favorited this sooner, but there is no list of the mods I have downloaded so I just have to stumble across this again.

Imagine Sips from the Yogscast's reaction to this.

thank you so much for this mod. lol have the xbox360 as well cant open them now i can two thumbs up

You could possibly make the key avaliable once the player becomes the Archmage; shurely the archmage will have the key...

An interesting fact: if you open the console, click on a container that has 'steal' on it, type 'setownership' (without the quotes), look away after closing the console, then look back, you can take anything out and not suffer a stealing penalty

This looks like a really kewl MOD. Oh boy can't wait to try it. Thanks!

Well, no one really complained about it. It just didn't get many downloads.

@SFBryan18 Don't let that stop you, bro, 90% of the users of these mods are underappreciative dumb ass noobs, who don't know the phrase, "if you don't like it, don't use it" people that go on these blogs to lip modders off about the free stuff they are getting from people who put tons of their own time into them for nothing, are a waist of sperm. Mod away! and if anyone has anything bad to say about your mods, tell them to suck a fart out of your ass, or go visit the "give a f**k o' meter!"

It wouldn't be hard to add many books because there are five leveledlists already made that have almost every book in them. I added these lists to my housecarls so they could get a few random books to read when they are sitting around. I also gave them the random reading animations too. I would consider making that into a mod, but the last mod I made was very under appreciated.

Prepare to be underwhelmed: I've used console commands ('unlock') to look in these before, and most of the books they contain are 90% the same from shelf to shelf, and not even any rare or expensive books :/

I think a mod like this could be cool if it actually modified the contents of these shelves to add a copy of every (non-skill) book in the game... and personally, I would place the key in Urag's inventory, since its not the sort of thing he would leave lying around, requiring it to be pick-pocketed.

@4khector that would not be enitrely lore-friendly. Urag gro-Shub says himself that the Arcanaeum might as well be his "own little plane of Oblivion." It's pretty clear that the Arcanaeum is the one place where he is in charge, and not the Arch-Mage. So the mod makes more sense this way.

It's weird that those cases have anything in them at all if they require a mod or the console to open.

Time to get my elder scroll back after selling for 2k gold >:3

I would suggest placing the key in the Arch-Mage Quarters so that you get the key when completing the Winterhold quest line.

Thank you so much for this. I wondered why the Arch-Mage could not get into them :)

WOW!!! Been looking for that damn key since 11/11/11 LOL