The Library

HERE ARE ENSHRINED
THE LONGING OF GREAT HEARTS
AND NOBLE THINGS THAT TOWER ABOVE THE TIDE
THE MAGIC WORD THAT WINGED WONDER STARTS
THE GARNERED WISDOM THAT HAS NEVER DIED

I noticed these words that are etched into the side of the Brooklyn Public Library's main branch when I went there a few months ago. They are so true and so dramatic. I think library's are one of the greatest public resources and I wish that I made time to visit them more. There's nothing like wandering up and down the aisles of books, letting your curiosity lead you. I recently found a 360 degree panorama that photographer Jeffery Martin created of Prague's Strahov monastery library. The detail is amazing- you can zoom in close enough to read the titles of the books! Books used to be precious objects and were designed and treated as such. In the age of the internet and everything digital it's easy to forget what the library has to offer. I was reading an article recently in which the author summed it up nicely:

"The idea of the library, a place for sharing, for everyone contributing to and taking from a common stock of books, is a concept worth preserving."