A library is but the soul's burial-ground. It is the land of
shadows.

A library is but the soul's burial-ground. It is the land of
shadows.

"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."

The richest minds need not large libraries.

The richest minds need not large libraries.

Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were
only the history of pinheads.

Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were
only the history of pinheads.

What a place to be in is an old library! It seems as though all
the souls of all read more

What a place to be in is an old library! It seems as though all
the souls of all the writers that have bequeathed their labours
to these Bodleians were reposing here as in some dormitory, or
middle state. I do not want to handle, to profane the leaves,
their winding-sheets. I could as soon dislodge a shade. I seem
to inhale learning, walking amid their foliage; and the odor of
their old moth-scented coverings is fragrant as the first bloom
of those sciential apples which grew amid the happy orchard.
- Charles Lamb (used pseudonym Elia),

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.

A library is an arsenal of liberty.

A library is an arsenal of liberty.

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.