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),

Shelved around us lie
The mummied authors.

Shelved around us lie
The mummied authors.

The medicine chest of the soul.

The medicine chest of the soul.

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

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

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it read more

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose

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

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

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.

Some book there is that she desires to see.
Which is it, girl, of these? Open them, boy.
read more

Some book there is that she desires to see.
Which is it, girl, of these? Open them, boy.
But thou art deeper read and better skilled:
Come and take choice of all my library,
And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens
Reveal the damned contriver of this deed.

"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."