All round the room my silent servants wait,
My friends in every season, bright and dim.

All round the room my silent servants wait,
My friends in every season, bright and dim.

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library.

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library.

"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life."

"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life."

It is a vanity to persuade the world one hath much learning, by
getting a great library.

It is a vanity to persuade the world one hath much learning, by
getting a great library.

A library implies an act of faith

A library implies an act of faith

'Tis well to borrow from the good and the great;
'Tis wise to learn: 'tis God-like to create!

'Tis well to borrow from the good and the great;
'Tis wise to learn: 'tis God-like to create!

To a historian libraries are food, shelter, and even muse.

To a historian libraries are food, shelter, and even muse.

That place that does contain
My books, the best companions, is to me
A glorious court, where read more

That place that does contain
My books, the best companions, is to me
A glorious court, where hourly I converse
With the old sages and philosophers;
And sometimes, for variety, I confer
With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels;
Calling their victories, if unjustly got,
Unto a strict account, and, in my fancy,
Deface their ill-placed statues.