Docs seems to advice using $CATALINA_HOME/lib but you could also imagine $CATALINA_HOME/native directory.

What I wish is to avoid having a JVM launching with special options (java.library.path).
To achieve that you should use System.load and System.mapLibraryName instead of System.loadLibrary.

A code sample if $CATALINA_HOME/lib is the normalized native directory:
{code}
        File nativeLib = new File(System.getProperty("catalina.home"), "lib");
        for (int i = 0; i < NAMES.length; i++) {
            try {
                System.load(new File(nativeLib, System.mapLibraryName(NAMES[i])).getPath());
                loaded = true;
            }
{code}


It is useful if the tomcat instance is not running at JVM start but embedded and launched later.