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 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.

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.

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 great library contains the diary of the human race.

A great library contains the diary of the human race.

The quantity of books in a person's library, is often a cloud of witnesses to the ignorance of the owner.

The quantity of books in a person's library, is often a cloud of witnesses to the ignorance of the owner.

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

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

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.