Public Library Quotes

“Did the men steal the papers?" Reynie asked, fearing her response.
No, because they are fools," Sophie said bitterly. "They demanded to see the papers, and when I did not answer fast enough -- they were very frightening, you see -- they hurt me so that I was not awake. . . . When I opened my eyes they were still trying to find the papers. They did not understand how we organize the library, you see. They were angry and creating a bad mess. . . . The police were coming and the men decided they must leave. I shouted at them as they left: 'It is a free and public library! All you had to do was ask!”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

“It is a great tool of dictators and tyrants, who want to get masses of people to do what they want, to make sure there are no libraries...The fact that there was no public library in Rwanda is one reason why genocide was possible.”
― Stephen Kinzer

“There's a term you don't hear these days, one you used to hear all the time when the Carnegie branches opened: Palaces for the People. The library really is a palace. It bestows nobility on people who otherwise couldn't afford a shred of it. People need to have nobility and dignity in their lives. And you know, they need other people to recognize it in them too.”
― Eric Klinenberg (author), Palaces for the People

“In the meantime, there is not an hour to lose. I am about to visit the public library.”
― Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth

“Democracy or reading, democracy of space: our public library tradition, wherever we live in the wide world, was incredibly hard-won for us by the generations before us and ought to be protected, not just for ourselves but in the name of every generation after us.”
― Ali Smith, Public Library and Other Stories

“I exercised my mental muscles in the library, and lo and behold, I transformed myself from a casual reader into a focused one. So it was more than just free books, but also free space and a culture that reinforced settling down, deep reading, thinking, imagining, and exploring with my mind. I am no doubt a writer today because I had a place to go as a kid, where I knew stories were essential, and where everybody also reveled in the wonder within books.”
― Sergio Troncoso, Crossing Borders: Personal Essays

“– Como Nakata no sabe leer, es la primera vez que entra en una biblioteca—explicó Nakata.
–Pues yo, aunque sepa leer, también es la primera vez que entro. Y no es que me enorgullezca de ello—dijo el joven Hoshino.
—A mí me parece un lugar muy entretenido.
—¿Ah, sí? Pues me alegro.
—En el distrito de Nakano también hay una biblioteca. A partir de ahora iré de vez en cuando. Lo principal es que no hay que pagar entrada. Nakata no sabía que también podían entrar las personas que no supieran leer ni escribir.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

“Hasta el anochecer, decido matar el tiempo en una biblioteca. Había averiguado de antemano qué bibliotecas había en los alrededores de Takamatsu. Desde pequeño, yo siempre he matado las horas en las salas de lectura de las bibliotecas. No son muchos los sitios adonde puede ir un niño pequeño que no quiera volver a su casa. No le está permitido entrar en las cafeterías, tampoco en los cines. Únicamente le quedan las bibliotecas. No hay que pagar entrada y, aunque vaya solo, no le dicen nada.”
― Haruki Murakami

“The State Library of NSW rises in front of her, a sandstone behemoth. With its sweeping entrance and ionic columns, it brings to mind an ancient temple, erected to honor the gods. Inside the foyer, the atmosphere is suitably reverent. The spines of countless books glimmer from the shelves, catching the sun that pours in from the skylight. She breathes in the smell of dust and old paper, draws strength from it.”
― Emilia Hart, The Sirens

“Public libraries are a public good.”
― James Patterson