The Library books speak for themselves during National Library Week – with the help of a few good quotes.

Bonus points if you know who authored the quote above.

 

“The medicine chest of the soul.”
— Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes.

 

The Library: An Illustrated History

by Stuart A.P. Murray

Libraries have played a central role in civilization ever since people found it necessary to document and preserve records of their deeds and thoughts.

 

Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian

by Avi Steinberg

Steinberg, a Harvard grad and struggling obituary writer, spends two years as a librarian and writing instructor at a Boston prison.

 

“You see, I don’t believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that’s been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians.”
— Monty Python’s Flying Circus

 

The Camel Bookmobile: A Novel

by Masha Hamilton

When Fiona Sweeney decides she’ll do her bit for humanity by bringing books to remotest Kenya (via the real-life Camel Bookmobile), she doesn’t know that her efforts will cause one tribe to start feuding.

 

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All

by Marilyn Johnson

Demolishing myths and stereotypes of librarians, replacing them with a vision of the future where librarians serve as guardians and guides to information in cyberspace.

 

 

“It often requires more courage to read some books than it does to fight a battle.”
— Sutton Elbert Griggs (1872-1930)

 

Murder at the Library of Congress

by Margaret Truman

An art expert is asked to write an article on a second diary of Columbus’ voyage, leading her into the inner workings of the Library of Congress  – and the discovery of illicit payoffs and the solutions to a pair of murders.

 

The Borrower

by Rebecca Makkai

Lucy Hull, a young children’s librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home.

 

 

“My experience with public libraries is that the first volume of the book I inquire for is out, unless I happen to want the second, when that is out.”
— The Poet at the Breakfast Table, Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

 

These quotations about Libraries – and many more – can be found at IFLA.org