Libraries in SharePoint are created to manage files. There are several library templates that are available to choose from to get started. The most widely used library template is the document library template. This library is generally used to store Microsoft Office documents such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc. Documents can be uploaded directly to the library or they can created from scratch using the document template associated with the library.

There are many benefits of storing your documents in these libraries. First of all, the contents of the library are securely stored in the SharePoint database. In addition, you can manage these documents from the SharePoint’s front end using any browser. Features provided as part of all libraries are versioning of your documents, the ability to check in and check out a document, manage permissions at the library, folder or document level and more.

Multiple document types can be characterized together as a document set. For example a loan application package is a document set. Once a document set is created, you can work on the whole package as one entity.