Progress gives people virtually unlimited access to a wide variety of information. This significantly influenced the popularity of libraries. If before they were filled with students and just reading people, now for the most part they look into it only for the sake of curiosity. Such an attitude is a big mistake. Seeing a library as an exclusive repository of books is like judging a book only by its cover.
Her value
“Libraries are the treasures of all the riches of the human spirit,” it is difficult to dispute such a statement by G. Leibniz. It contains both direct and figurative meaning. At a time when books were not yet printed in large quantities, they could be purchased for a lot of money. To have a library of impressive size at home meant the presence and status of its owner. That is why books then really had treasure status.
In a figurative sense, the library is equivalent to treasure, because it can be collected stories from all over the planet, about people whose fates share entire eras.
How many days of work, how many nights without sleep, how many efforts of the mind, how many hopes and fears, how many long lives of hard study, are poured here in small typographic fonts and squeezed in the cramped space of the shelves surrounding us! (Adam Smith)
She can be a teacher, discovering knowledge about the world, and an assistant, because from it you can draw a lot of tips that will help in a difficult situation. The book often becomes a strict critic, exposing the most unsightly vices of mankind, in the hope that it will make people think better and not make such mistakes again.
That is why many quotes about libraries have come down to today.
A kind of art
Some quotes about the library prove that the ability to choose the right books, keep them in order is a kind of art. And not everyone is able to master it. The limited mind, the lack of taste can manifest itself here as never before. An intelligent, well-read person, well versed in literature, at first glance will be able to appreciate the intellectual potential of the owner of the library.
A library entrusted to an ignoramus is like a harem run by a eunuch. (Voltaire)
How many such gentlemen, in the libraries of which it would be possible to stick, like on pharmacy bottles, the inscription: "For external use." (Alphonse Daudet)
Say what you read and I will say who you are. You can make the right concept of the mind and character of a person by examining his library. (Louis Jean Joseph Blanc)
Quality, not quantity
The first thing that comes to mind when the word “library” is a huge number of high racks on which hundreds of books stand. Their contemplation sometimes awakens a feeling of awe. When the librarian goes into its bowels in search of the right book, it seems that without a card he will not go back.
However, far from always a huge number of volumes are a sign of a good library. The presence in it of unique books, works of the best authors - this is what makes it worthy of attention. There may be few of them, but after meeting everyone's work, an indelible impression remains. Quotes of the great about the library, where its quality is more valuable than its size, serve as confirmation of this.
A large library dissipates rather than teaches the reader. It is much better to limit yourself to several authors than to rashly read many. (Lucius Anney Seneca (Jr.))
Many books in the library are often a crowd of witnesses to the ignorance of its owner. (Axel Oxenshern)
Modern man is in front of the Himalayas of libraries in the position of a gold digger, who needs to find grains of gold in a mass of sand. (S. I. Vavilov)
Compass, photo album and time machine
A very unusual characteristic of the library, but if you make some clarifications, it will become quite reasonable. It contains many books, where the reader opens up a variety of routes. These are amazing expeditions to unknown corners of the earth and searches for lost treasures, the path to which can be read from the map. So, the book serves as a kind of compass. Together with him, you can explore the world without leaving the walls of the library.
The plots that open to us are filled with amazing paintings. Description of the animal world, mythical monsters make the imagination represent the most unimaginable. The whole world is hidden inside the book, and the author describes its landscapes, panoramas of the city. So, in our imagination now and then pictures appear, as if we were leafing through a photo album.
How to imagine yourself as a resident of a medieval village, a participant in the legendary historical battle, or to be on board a spaceship that was created in the future? It’s enough to pick up a book. So, the library may well be considered a time machine. She will transfer to any era. Here are some more quotes about the library on this subject.
Rome, Florence, all sultry Italy are located between the four walls of his library. In his books - all the ruins of the ancient world, all the splendor and glory of the new! (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
A library is not only a book. First of all, this is a colossal concentrate of compressed time, as it were, the conjugation of millennia of human thought ... (M. Shaginyan)
Great teacher
One of the main vocation of the library is to help people recognize this world, improve their intelligence, and expand their horizons. For many centuries, within its walls, people have embarked on the path of great discoveries. The ability to find the right book, to study it, having selected what is important for oneself - all this is developing very well in the library.
In the age of the Internet, it is becoming increasingly difficult for books to remain equally popular. However, any researcher who wants his work to claim credibility is sent to the library.
Any learning process will only be complete when a person has good knowledge not only about modern achievements, but also about discoveries made centuries ago. The following quotes about the library will help you verify this.
What a pleasure to be in a good library. To look at books is already happiness. Here is a feast worthy of the gods; you realize that you can take part in it and fill your cup to the brim. (William Makepeace Thackeray)
Multiply your library, but not in order to have many books, but to enlighten your mind, to form a heart, to raise your soul with the creative works of great geniuses. (V.G. Belinsky)
The key to the best and most powerful development, the benefit and strength of cities is to have well-educated, knowledgeable, reasonable, honest and well-educated citizens ... Therefore, cities and, especially, large cities with sufficient funds should not spare money on getting good books and bookstores. (Luther)
Friend and psychologist
Not everyone can freely find a common language with other people. The vanity and commercialism of those who in each new day sees only a chance to survive, get something, leaving others behind is alien to him. It is difficult for such a person to fit into the rhythm of life customary for others, and he is desperately looking for his niche, a secluded corner where no one considers him strange or eccentric. Here his thoughts will cease to rush randomly, his mind will become clear, all problems will remain outside and there will be time for himself.
Someone simply does not have a friend or relative who would like to open their souls and talk about their experiences. Books, their heroes, whose fates are sometimes very similar to ours, help to understand how to live on, what path to choose, how to overcome difficulties. Therefore, if you need advice, you can find it not only in the psychologist’s office, but also in the library.
Each of us can find peace of mind in the library, comfort in sorrow, moral renewal and happiness, if only he knows how to “own that precious key that unlocks the mysterious door of this treasury” (Mathews). (Lebbock)
I love libraries, I like to stay in them, I can and leave there on time. I have been reproached for this more than once, but I am only proud of it. One must be a library reader, but not a library rat. (France)
The book is the friend of the lonely, and the library is the refuge of the homeless. (S. Vitnitsky)
A good library provides support in every mood. (S. Talleyrand)
Her keeper
The librarian is a guide to the wonderful world, a wise adviser and custodian of countless knowledge. The ruler of the state prides each new captured territory, the librarian has a bookcase. It is wonderful when he loves his job, instantly understands what the visitor is asking him for, skillfully selects a list of necessary works. As well as the seller evaluates the tastes and preferences of the client, having exchanged a couple of phrases with him, the librarian knows what to draw the attention of the visitor to. This shows his skill. This is confirmed by the following quotes about the library and librarians.
That librarian who does not like to read, who, while reading an interesting book, does not forget everything in the world, is no good. (N.K. Krupskaya)
Why did I choose the profession of a librarian from hundreds of professions ? Love for the book, for reading? No, not only that. The main thing, in my opinion, is the person who gives the book, brings the light of knowledge to people, helps to overcome his doubts, disappointments, and experience true moments of happiness through the book. ("Librarian")
Being a librarian means the same as riding a bicycle: if you stop pedaling and moving forward, you fall. (D. Schumacher)
The key to popularity
The age of technology, the creation of various gadgets, the Internet - all this has reduced the number of people visiting the library. Accessibility of information is captivating, because it is tempting to simply type the desired question in the search bar or download the electronic version of the book.
Another obstacle to returning to libraries was the decline in interest in reading. A huge number of cartoons, videos on YouTube channels, millions of applications that children get to know without having learned how to speak properly - all this discouraged the younger generation from reading. Why strain your imagination by imagining it in your head if you can watch it online.
It is necessary to explain to children how important it is to read books. But first, parents themselves must know about this. Several quotes about the library and reading will convince them of the validity of this statement.
One who does not read anything has no advantage over one who does not know how to read. (M. Twain)
The art of reading is the art of thinking with some help from another. (E. Fage)
Fans of reading and connoisseurs of books often call books "their friends", considering this comparison the highest praise. (D. Lebbock)
Love for the book
Respect and love for books originated a very long time ago. However, intelligent, educated and civilized people today treat her with trepidation. It is always necessary to remember that it is more than a hard cover and a couple of hundreds of paper pages. The book is the answer to many questions, it contains stories about the prosperity and fall of empires, about love and betrayal, about the past and future. She certainly deserves respect. Therefore, it is worth recalling quotes about the library and the book.
The book - one of the greatest inventions of the human mind - enriches our life with experience. What happiness is it for a person that he is given the opportunity to be friends with a book and use its inexhaustible wisdom. (A. Gorbatov)
Books collect the pearls of human thought and pass them on to offspring. We will turn into a handful of dust, but books, like monuments of iron and stone, are preserved forever. (M. Aybek)
Love the book, it makes your life easier, it will help you to make friends in the colorful and stormy confusion of thoughts, feelings, events, it will teach you to respect a person and yourself, it inspires your mind and heart with a feeling of love for the world, for humanity. (M. Gorky)
Your holiday
The library means so much in human life that it could not help but get its own holiday. World Library Day is celebrated on the last Monday of October. It was first held in 1999. It was initiated by UNESCO.
Russia has its own holiday. It takes place on May 27th. The library day is also professional here, as librarians are also congratulated.
Conclusion
A visit to the library is necessary regardless of the development of progress. Sometimes even her atmosphere is capable of inspiring, prompting to new knowledge. If you plan to visit any country, then take a look at the libraries there. Some of them are so beautiful that they can compete with famous museums.