Every man should have a library. The works of the grandest masters of literature may now be procured at prices that place them within the reach almost of the very poorest, and we may all put Parnassian singing birds into our chambers to cheer us with the sweetness of their songs. – William E.A. Axon, October 1867

A library is but the souls burying ground. It is a land of shadows. – Henry Ward Beecher

My experience with public libraries is that the first volume of the book I inquire for is out, unless I happen to want the second, when that is out. – Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Poet at the Breakfast Table