c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"my $var = '%&!~ path_to_a_lib_of_my_lib';
 ;;
 $var =~ m{ (.*) lib }xms;
 print qq{A: '$1'};
 ;;
 $var =~ m{ (.*?) lib }xms;
 print qq{B: '$1'};
 ;;
 $var =~ m{ (\w*?) lib }xms;
 print qq{C: '$1'};
"
A: '%&!~ path_to_a_lib_of_my_'
B: '%&!~ path_to_a_'
C: 'path_to_a_'