tosyokan ha eki no hidari ni arimasu.

It is read:

としょかん は えき の ひだり に あります。

Word readings:

• 図書館 = としょかん
• 駅 = えき
• 左 = ひだり
• あります = あります

In normal Japanese writing, there are usually no spaces:

図書館は駅の左にあります。

Spaces are often added in textbooks or beginner materials to make the structure easier to see.

は marks the topic of the sentence.

So 図書館は means something like as for the library...

The sentence is then giving information about the library. In English, we do not usually mark the topic this way, so this can feel unfamiliar at first.

In this sentence, は is used because the speaker is talking about the library as the topic.

• 図書館は駅の左にあります。 = As for the library, it is to the left of the station.

If you used が, it would sound more like identifying or emphasizing the library itself in context:

• 図書館が駅の左にあります。 = The library is on the left of the station / It is the library that is on the left of the station.

Both can be grammatical, but は is the more neutral choice when simply describing where something is.

Here, の connects 駅 and 左.

It often works a bit like of in English, so 駅の左 is literally something like the station’s left. More naturally, it means:

• the left side of the station
• to the left of the station

So の is linking the reference point (駅) to the location word (左).

に marks the location where something exists or is located.

In this sentence:

• 駅の左 = the left of the station
• 駅の左に = at / on the left of the station

With verbs like あります and います, に is very commonly used to mark location.

Japanese uses two different existence verbs:

• あります for non-living things and inanimate objects
• います for people and animals

A library is a building/place, not a living being, so あります is correct.

Examples:

• 本があります。 = There is a book.
• 先生がいます。 = There is a teacher.

The structure is:

[topic] は [place] に あります

So here:

• 図書館 = topic
• 駅の左 = place
• あります = exists / is located

A very literal breakdown is:

• 図書館は = As for the library,
• 駅の左に = on the left of the station,
• あります = it exists / is located.

This is a very common pattern for saying where things are.

Japanese often expresses location with an existence verb rather than a direct equivalent of English is.

So instead of saying The library is to the left of the station, Japanese says something closer to:

As for the library, it exists on the left of the station.

That sounds unnatural in English, but it is completely normal in Japanese.

Yes, in some contexts you can say:

図書館は駅の左です。

This is also natural and means basically the same thing.

Very roughly:

• 駅の左にあります sounds a bit more like stating physical location/existence
• 駅の左です sounds a bit simpler and more like an equational statement

For beginners, both are useful, but [place] に あります is an especially important basic pattern to learn.

Usually, yes. 左 means left as a direction or side.

In this sentence, it refers to physical position relative to the station. Depending on context, it can mean:

• on the left
• to the left
• the left side

Japanese location words like 左, 右, 前, 後ろ, 中, 上, and 下 are very common in this kind of pattern.

They are very similar.

• 駅の左 = the left of the station
• 駅の左側 = the left side of the station

左側 is a little more explicit because it literally means left side, but in many everyday sentences, just 左 is perfectly natural.

あります is the polite non-past form.

That means it can be used for:

• present meaning: is / exists
• general truth
• sometimes future, depending on context

The plain form is ある.

Examples:

• Polite: 図書館は駅の左にあります。
• Plain: 図書館は駅の左にある。

Beginners usually learn the polite form first.

Yes. In full hiragana, it would be:

としょかん は えき の ひだり に あります。

Or without spaces, as normal Japanese writing:

としょかんはえきのひだりにあります。

But in real-world Japanese, the kanji version is much more common:

図書館は駅の左にあります。