476 Quotes About Libraries

A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where history comes to life.

They should be taking bonuses from bankers, not library books from schoolchildren. What kind of society are we building?

Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open.

When a library is open, no matter its size or shape, democracy is open, too.

Libraries have always been there for me. Of course I'll stand up for them.

Librarians who are arguing and lobbying for clever e-book lending solutions are completely missing the point. They are defending the library-as-warehouse concept, as opposed to fighting for the future, which is librarian as producer, concierge, connector, teacher, and impresario.

Libraries, archives, and museums all find themselves at the intersection of materiality and the mystical. Perhaps this is why we’re so quiet when we enter them.

Cutting libraries during a recession is like cutting hospitals during a plague.

Librarians have always been among the most thoughtful and helpful people. They are teachers without a classroom. No libraries, no progress.