Would you include stories in which actually deciphering the (meaning of) the reference book/object is central? If so, almost all of Patricia McKillip's works require the heroes to revisit/re-interpret/translate a story (i.e., of the past) in order to achieve their quests toward the future. The most literal example is The Book of Atrix Wolfe.

Re Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince's potions textbook might also qualify, in a skewed way?

Maybe along the same lines, Alan Garner's The Owl Service presents kind of a chilling example of what happens when the hero fails the test implied by the availability of a reference text/object (not learning from history, being doomed to repeat it)?