De bibliotheek is links van de winkel.

Because bibliotheek and winkel are both de-words in Dutch.

• de bibliotheek
• de winkel

In Dutch, singular nouns can take either de or het. There is no simple rule that always tells you which one a noun has, so you often need to learn it together with the noun.

A useful tip:

• plural nouns always take de
• diminutives always take het

So it is best to learn vocabulary as whole chunks, like de bibliotheek and de winkel, not just bibliotheek and winkel.

Dutch main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule. That means the finite verb usually comes in position 2.

In this sentence:

De bibliotheek | is | links van de winkel

• position 1: De bibliotheek
• position 2: is
• then the rest of the sentence

This is very normal Dutch word order. English also often puts is early in the sentence, so this one feels fairly familiar.

Links van is the normal Dutch way to say that something is to the left of something else.

Here:

• links = left / on the left
• van = of / from, but in this expression it works like of in English to the left of

So links van de winkel is a fixed, natural expression.

You can compare:

• rechts van = to the right of
• voor = in front of
• achter = behind
• naast = next to

Because links here is not an adjective before a noun. It is being used more like an adverb or location word.

Compare:

• de linkse partij = the left-wing party
  Here linkse is an adjective.

But:

• De bibliotheek is links van de winkel.
  Here links describes location, so it stays links.

So you do not say de bibliotheek is linkse van...

Yes. De bibliotheek is aan de linkerkant van de winkel is also correct.

But there is a difference in style:

• links van de winkel = shorter, very common, natural
• aan de linkerkant van de winkel = longer, a bit more explicit

In everyday Dutch, links van is usually the simpler and more natural choice.

Yes, very often you can.

Dutch often uses posture/location verbs for physical objects and buildings:

• De bibliotheek is links van de winkel.
• De bibliotheek staat links van de winkel.

Both are possible.

The difference:

• is is more neutral and general
• staat is very common for buildings and objects that are upright or located somewhere

In spoken Dutch, many native speakers would naturally say staat for a building.

This is an important distinction:

• links van = location
• naar links = direction or movement

So:

• De bibliotheek is links van de winkel.
  The library is located to the left of the shop.

But:

• Ga naar links.
  Go left.

A good shortcut:

• if something is somewhere, use location language like links van
• if someone or something moves, use direction language like naar links

Because van is simply followed by the noun phrase it belongs to:

• van de winkel

Here de winkel is just the normal noun phrase, and van comes before it.

This is very common in Dutch:

• naast de school
• achter het huis
• voor de kerk
• links van de winkel

So van does not replace the article. It comes before the article.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

bibliotheek ≈ bib-lee-oh-TAKE

A few notes:

• the stress is on the last syllable: -theek
• th in Dutch is just a t sound, not English th
• ee is a long vowel

So do not pronounce it like English library or like English th. It is closer to bib-lio-teek, with strong stress at the end.

Roughly:

• winkel ≈ VIN-kul
• links ≈ links

A few details:

• Dutch w is not exactly like English w; it is often somewhere between English w and v
• the i in winkel is short
• nk and ks are both clearly pronounced in links

If you are a beginner, saying winkel with an English-style w will still usually be understood, but listening to native pronunciation will help a lot.

Yes, it can.

Dutch links can mean:

• left in space: links van de winkel
• left-wing in politics: een linkse partij or sometimes links in context

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

In your sentence, because it is followed by van de winkel, it clearly refers to physical location, not politics.

Yes, but if you move something to the front, Dutch still keeps the finite verb in second position.

For example:

• De bibliotheek is links van de winkel.
• Links van de winkel is de bibliotheek.

Both are possible.

The second version puts more focus on links van de winkel. This is common in Dutch: you can move elements around for emphasis, but the verb usually stays in position 2.

The plurals are:

• de bibliotheken
• de winkels

Notice:

• bibliotheek becomes bibliotheken
• winkel becomes winkels

And remember: plural nouns take de in Dutch, so both plurals use de.