#libraries

"A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them."

"Don't mark up the Library's copy, you fool! Librarians are Unprankable. They'll track you down! They have skills!"

"Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better."

"Libraries should be open to all - except the censor.[Response to questionnaire in Saturday Review, October 29 1960]"

"anyone who’s worth anything reads just what he likes, as the mood takes him, and with extravagant enthusiasm."

"Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation."

"I like libraries. It makes me feel comfortable and secure to have walls of words, beautiful and wise, all around me. I always feel better when I can see that there is something to hold back the shadows."

"A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert."

"Rule number one: Don't fuck with librarians."

"To build up a library is to create a life. It's never just a random collection of books."

"Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book..."

"Shelving books incorrectly is as good as stealing them. It's almost worse."

"Epics are never written about libraries. They exist on whim; it depends on if the conquering army likes to read."

"Ultimately, the number of books always exceeds the space they are granted."

"An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them."

"Libraries were full of ideas–perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons."

"There was the smell of old books, a smell that has a way of making all libraries seem the same. Some say that smell is asbestos."

"I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years."

"Libraries allow children to ask questions about the world and find the answers. And the wonderful thing is that once a child learns to use a library, the doors to learning are always open."

"Librarians are tour-guides for all of knowledge."