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),

A great library contains the diary of the human race.

A great library contains the diary of the human race.

The medicine chest of the soul.

The medicine chest of the soul.

Thou can'st not die. Here thou art more than safe
Where every book is thy epitaph.

Thou can'st not die. Here thou art more than safe
Where every book is thy epitaph.

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

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

A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of
diabolical knowledge.

A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of
diabolical knowledge.

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

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

Libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of the ancient
saints, full of true virtue, and that read more

Libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of the ancient
saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or
imposture, are preserved and reposed.

A library implies an act of faith

A library implies an act of faith