tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600022529355932646.post2161999219988803085..comments2024-01-29T10:10:55.378+00:00Comments on Bibliofreak.net - A Book Blog: Review: The Library: A World History by James W. P. Campbell and Will PryceMatthew Selwynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723650905588749638noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600022529355932646.post-89106856701684098432014-04-25T15:22:28.503+01:002014-04-25T15:22:28.503+01:00The thought that libraries might not exist in the ...The thought that libraries might not exist in the future, that somehow we will come not to value the things they represent genuinely makes me want to cry. And I’d be crying not for the grandiose architectural feats covered in this book, not even for the hundreds of libraries, which come in all shapes and sizes, and that serve communities around the country, but for the loss of the spirit that libraries embody. The connection between knowledge and imagination, awe and reverence, the past and the future. In short, many of the things that make the human spirit wonderful. I can live very easily without a grand ceiling painting, but a world that doesn’t see the need for libraries? No, that is not a place I want to be.<br /><br />Even as I type this, I realise there are places around the world that are almost diametrically opposed to the things libraries stand for, where knowledge is hoarded or restricted, where certain people are not afforded anything like the privileged access to information that we have in this country based on nothing more than their gender or creed, or other similarly arbitrary way of dividing up human beings. This only impresses upon me, however, the fact that we <i>are</i> privileged in England, that we have many wonderful libraries in our communities, staffed by brilliant, enthusiastic people, who are there to help connect people with the information they need, inspire us all to find new interests, new passions. That we’re allowing these spaces to disappear from our lives is, I think, complacency, a failure on our part to value something that is of almost indescribable value.<br /><br />Love your libraries – they are a celebration of so much that is beautiful and right with humanity (plus, if they’re all closed, where on Earth am I going to blag a living!?)Matthew Selwynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00723650905588749638noreply@blogger.com