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
