What would communities be without libraries? Dating back to 2600 BC, these sacred institutions provide physical and digital spaces devoted to the collection and organization of our past, present, and future documents. Here are 15 of the best quotes about libraries.

1. “When I got my library card, that’s when my life began.”–Rita Mae Brown

2. “The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.”―T.S. Eliot

3. “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”―Albert Einstein

4. “We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth.”―John Lubbock, The Pleasures of Life

5. “What in the world would we do without our libraries?”―Katharine Hepburn

6. “To build up a library is to create a life. It’s never just a random collection of books.”―Carlos María Domínguez

7. “The truth is libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy and community.”–Paula Poundstone

8. “A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.”―Shelby Foote

9. “When in doubt go to the library.”–J.K. Rowling

10. “The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, free.”―Ta-Nehisi Coates

11. “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”―Jorge Luis Borges

12. “Your library is your paradise.”―Desiderius Erasmus

13. “Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.”–Ray Bradbury

14. “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”–Anne Herbert

15. “People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.”–Saul Bellow

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