My library is not a single beast

[keannu]

Is "beast" in "My library is not a single beast" a metaphor of the writer himself? Or is "beast" a generally used metaphor in English? The writer is a Spanish speaker, so it could have been translated from an original Spanish word.
*Sorry for the unorganized part, extracted from a material.

12)As companions of the long hours together, the books I have read are part of my life. They also serve as markers of the roads I have taken and will take in life. While[SUP])[/SUP] they constantly guide me in my profession as a writer, it is natural that they occupy me and my home." For the last several years, I [lived/have lived][SUP]4)[/SUP] in an old stone house in southwestern France, in a village of fewer than 10 houses. I chose the place because next to the 15th-century house itself was a barn [enough large/large enough][SUP]5)[/SUP] to [accommodate/accompany][SUP]6)[/SUP] my library of some 30,000 books, [assembling/assembled][SUP]7)[/SUP] over six decades. My library is not a single beast but a collection of many beasts. It is a fantastic animal [making/made][SUP]9)[/SUP] up of several libraries. It was built and then [abandoned/abounded][SUP]10)[/SUP], over and over again, throughout my life. I cannot remember a time when I did not have a library of some sort. My library is a sort of multilayered autobiography, each book [holding/held][SUP]12)[/SUP] the moment [which/in which][SUP]13)[/SUP] I opened it for the first time. The [scribbles/subscribes][SUP]14)[/SUP] on the margins, the occasional date on

 

[5jj]

beast = thing

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is "beast" in "My library is not a single beast" a metaphor of the writer himself? Or is "beast" a generally used metaphor in English? The writer is a Spanish speaker, so it could have been translated from an original Spanish word.
*Sorry for the unorganized part, extracted from a material.

12)As companions of the long hours together, the books I have read are part of my life. They also serve as markers of the roads I have taken and will take in life. While[SUP])[/SUP] they constantly guide me in my profession as a writer, it is natural that they occupy me and my home." For the last several years, I [lived/have lived][SUP]4)[/SUP] in an old stone house in southwestern France, in a village of fewer than 10 houses. I chose the place because next to the 15th-century house itself was a barn [enough large/large enough][SUP]5)[/SUP] to [accommodate/accompany][SUP]6)[/SUP] my library of some 30,000 books, [assembling/assembled][SUP]7)[/SUP] over six decades. My library is not a single beast but a collection of many beasts. It is a fantastic animal [making/made][SUP]9)[/SUP] up of several libraries. It was built and then [abandoned/abounded][SUP]10)[/SUP], over and over again, throughout my life. I cannot remember a time when I did not have a library of some sort. My library is a sort of multilayered autobiography, each book [holding/held][SUP]12)[/SUP] the moment [which/in which][SUP]13)[/SUP] I opened it for the first time. The [scribbles/subscribes][SUP]14)[/SUP] on the margins, the occasional date on

Unless there is a translation error, "beast" appears to a metaphor for "book", prompted by his/her storing books in a barn. Later on in the piece is a strange use of the word "animal". If the metaphor was intended to be continued, the word "animal" was possibly meant to be "menagerie". Please note that "beast" is not a common metaphor for "book".