For Readers & Libraries

Library Quotes Searchable Database

ALTAFF and ilovelibraries.org introduce Library Quotes, a rich resource of quotes about libraries, reading, books, literacy, and more, by authors, celebrities, politicians, historic figures, activists, philanthropists, and other well-known people. So many prominent people have articulated their love for the library. This collection of quotes enables libraries advocates use those words to help them make the case for libraries in their communities. All of the quotes featured below are included in the Library Quotes database along with hundreds of additional quotes.

Authors & Libraries Listserv

We have opened a listserv that invites authors, librarians, and other interseted individuals to exchange ideas, information, opportunities for author programs, announcements of new books, and more. We hope you’ll sign on and join the "Authors and Libraries" conversation today!

Authors for Libraries Members

The authors featured below are supporting ALTAFF through our "Authors for Libraries" program. Follow the links to learn more about each author and check for details on author tours, reading group tips, and more.

 

Jenny Allen

New York, N.Y.

"Taken Aback" and "Lost and Found" (included in In The Fullness of Time: 32 Women on Life After 50 by Emily W. Upham and Linda Gravenson, 2010)

Quote: "I use my library on Martha's Vineyard as my home away from home. I read the papers, I write, I take out books and DVDs, I meet my friends there. I'm talking to the librarians there about getting a washer and a dryer so I could just move in."


 

 

 

Kurt Andersen

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America, 2009

Quote: "As a kid growing up in the Nebraska, apart from my book-filled home and movie theaters, libraries were my favorite places to be, to wander, to daydream, to read. They were havens where I could find out pretty much anything I wanted to know, staffed by people encouraging and enabling my curiosity. They were outposts of civilization, long before I knew how necessary and precious such outposts are."


 

Laurie Halse Anderson

New York

Forge, 2010

Quote: "School libraries are the foundations of our culture — not luxuries."


 

 

 

M.T. Anderson

Cambridge, Mass.

The Empire of Gut and Bone, 2011

Quote: "I think it’s imperative that we realize that libraries are important to the life of this nation."


 

 

 

Sandra Balzo

Pompano Beach, Fla.

Running on Empty, 2011

Quote: "When I went with my mom to get my first library card, you were required to be able to write your own name and address. I was so little, I hadn't learned to write yet. God bless the librarian. I was so visibly crushed that she stood patiently by while I painstakingly copied, stroke by stroke, what my mom wrote. I left library card in hand and haven't relinquished it since. Libraries: Resource and refuge. For life."


 

 

 

Heather Barbieri

Seattle, Wash.

The Lace Makers of Glenmara, 2009

Quote: "Libraries are places where the imagination begins."


 

 

 

James Barney

McLean, Va.

The Genesis Key, 2011

Quote: "I love going to the libarary, and most of the time I don't even use the catalog. I just browse the aisles, looking for books that jump out at me. I always leave with an armful of them."


 

 

 

 

Margaret H. Baroody

Florence, S.C.

The Unexpected Visitor, 2010

Quote: "Our school library took me to worlds I could only visit in my mind, but it exercised my imagination and shaped my dreams. I shall be forever grateful. Growing up in a home with no magazines and few books, Monday mornings became the highlight of the week."


 

 

 

Warren Berger

Mount Kisco, N.Y.

The Purples, 2010

Quote: "When I am in a strange city or town with some time to spare, I head for the library. It's a place where I know I'll find peace, refuge, friendly faces, and of course, wonderful books. The time I am there is always well spent."

 

 

 

Holly Black

Massachusetts

Red Glove, 2011

Quote: "You don’t realize that as a kid books are changing you, sending you off in new directions and getting you interested in things that you didn’t know you would be interested in."


 

 

 

Robin Black

Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are magical places. The first books I fell in love with were library books. As I child, I would take out stacks too high to carry and pine over them when they had to go back — until, fickle, I fell in love with a new stack of stories."


 

 

 

Roy Blount Jr.

Massachusetts

Hail, Hail Euphoria! Presenting the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup , the Greatest War Movie Ever Made, 2010

Quote: "The first time I walked into a library, I got so excited I almost wet my pants."

 


 

 

 

Barbara Bretton

Hillsborough, N.J.

Spun by Sorcery, 2010

Quote: "The library is my cathedral."


 

 

 

 

Eleanor Brown

Colorado

The Weird Sisters, 2011

Quote: "There is no problem a library card can't solve."


 

 

 

Josie Brown

Greenbrae, Calif.

Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, 2010

Quote: "I grew up in libraries, and I hope I’ve learned never to take them for granted. A thriving library is the heart of its community, providing access to information and educational opportunities, bringing people together, leveling the playing field, and archiving our history."


 

 

 

Ellen Bryson

Coronado, Calif.

The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are portals into a million new worlds — a girl could get lost."


 

 

 

Kate Buford

Lexington, Va.

Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe, 2010

Quote: "My first career was as a law librarian (Columbia MLS) on Wall Street. It was terrific training for a future biographer and I have relied on the intelligence and dedication of librarians ever since."




 

 

 

 

Lori Calabrese

Seymour, Conn.

The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, 2010

Quote: "Where else will you find free access to lifelong learning, people who care about getting books in the hands of our youth, and did I mention access to lots of books? I love my library and hope others realize we need our libraries now more than ever!"


 

 

 

E. Jean Carroll

Warwick, N.Y.

Mr. Right, Right Now, 2003

Quote: "Libraries are the latest fashion for the brain."


 

 

 

Betsy Carter

New York, N.Y.

The Puzzle King, 2009

Quote: "The minute I step into a library, everything is possible."

 

 

 

Selene Castrovilla

Island Park, N.Y.

Saved by the Music, 2009

Quote: "Without libraries I would not be the writer — and person — that I am. My local library provided me with a haven and a purpose when I was young. Spending those many hours in my library, I found hope, and I learned that I wasn't so alone in the world. Turns out, I also found a career. Reading and love are the most important things in a child's life. Libraries provide opportunity
for both."


 

 

 

Lillian Cauldwell

The Anna-Mae Mysteries: The Golden Treasure, 2008
 

 

 

 

Benjamin Cheever

Pleasantville, N.Y.

Strides: Running Through History with an Unlikely Athlete, Rodale Books, 2007


 

 

 

 

Nancy J. Cohen

Plantation, Fla.

Silver Serenade, 2010

Quote: "As an author, I view libraries as a wonderful emporium for readers to find my books or for me to present a talk on a relevant topic and meet readers first-hand. I’ve received dozens of letters from fans who start out by saying, 'I found your book in the library.' Thus libraries offer wonderful exposure for an author to gain new fans, as well as being a source of research. To community members, I say: Visit your library today. Join the Friends of the Library and support their programs. Check out the classes. Or just go and browse like you did in your early days."


 

 

 

Carmen Agra Deedy

Decatur, Ga.

14 Cows for America, 2009

Quote: "“I have been ineluctably drawn to libraries ever since I entered that sanctum sanctorum. It was a place of quietude. In a world where things go beep and ding and ring, where you’ve got mail and you’ve got messages, when I enter a library, I feel that I am still entering a temple.”


 

 

 

Deborah Diesen

Grand Ledge, Mich.

The Barefooted, Bad-Tempered Baby Brigade, 2010

Quote: "If it weren't for libraries, I wouldn't be a writer."


 

 

 

Tony DiTerlizzi

Amherst, Mass.

The Search for WondLa, 2010

Quote: "Having a family that loves books and loves to read has always created a common ground for communication."


 

 

 

Dave Donelson

West Harrison, N.Y.

Heart of Diamonds, 2009
"An Open Letter of Library Support," Sept. 12, 2010
"Proposed New York Aid Cuts Endanger Our Libraries," March 19, 2010

Quote: "My favorite librarian is one who gave me a conspiratorial wink when she caught me sneaking out of the children's room and into the adult stacks at the grand age of eight."


 

 

 

Sharon Draper

Cincinnati, Ohio

Just Another Hero, 2010

Quote: "Without the local library in my neighborhood, I don’t think I would have grown up to be a writer or a teacher."


 

 

 

Judith Dupre

Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Full of Grace: Encountering Mary in Faith, Art, and Life, 2010

Quote: "When I was the kid, Saturday was the very best day — the day I could go to the library and stock up on books for the week! Books were my magical passports to the whole wide world. To this day, libraries thrill me, and yet feel as familiar as home."


 

 

 

Heidi W. Durrow

Los Angeles, Calif.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, 2010

Quote: "When I was 11 and a new girl in a new town, I found a sanctuary in my local library, a one-story brick building ironically on a street called Killingsworth. I visited the library daily to escape the chaos of the streets, and a strained situation at home. I’d browse the shelves; I’d sit and read. When I was at the library, whatever was going on outside didn’t matter and really kind of dissolved. When I was at the library I didn’t feel the shame of being poor — I didn’t have to be a statistic. I felt like I could be a story. That little library opened up a whole new world for me."


 

 

 

Laura Ellen

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Blind Spot, 2012

Quote: "From the age of three, I was a voracious reader. But when I was 14, diagnosed with juvenile macular degeneration, I found reading books increasingly difficult. It was a librarian who introduced me to the wide selection of large-print and audio books at the Alaska State Library. What a godsend! Everyone should have the opportunity to access books. Libraries make that happen."
 

Barbara Fister

St. Peter, Minn.

Through the Cracks, 2010

Quote: "Libraries embody a wonderful paradox. They seem a temple of order and calm, but in fact they put different books on the same topic on the same shelf so that they can have a good brawl. They are the only public institution that welcomes all citizens equally. They are the best model of a democracy: generous, free, able to accommodate and celebrate difference, respectful of tradition and playful with new ideas. They are our society's peaceable kingdom, and they are in every community, large, small, wealthy, and desperately poor. They are America at her best."


 

 

 

Eileen Flanagan

Philadelphia, Pa.

The Wisdom to Know the Difference: When to Make a Change -- and When to Let Go, 2010

Quote: "From the time I was old enough to walk there alone, libraries have been my haven, my empowerment, and my inspiration."
 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Flock

New York, N.Y.

Sleepwalking in Daylight, 2009

Quote: "Libraries are the soul of our country. We must nourish them so they can live with us forever."


 

 

 

Therese Fowler

Wake Forest, N.C.

Exposure, 2011

Quote: "Libraries saved my life by granting me free, unfettered access to stories that transported me to better places during dark and difficult times. And the libraries themselves were havens for me when what I desperately needed was simply a quiet place, a good book, and a comfortable chair. Simply put, I'm grateful."

 

 

 

Jamie Freveletti

Chicago, Ill.

Running Dark, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are where dreams begin."


 

 

 

Ann H. Gabhart

Lawrenceburg, Ky.

The Seeker, 2010

Quote: "I got my library card at age 8. I started writing at age 10. There was a connection. My library card was a magic key into a world of books that fed my imagination and made me believe anything was possible — even a little farm girl like me someday writing books."


 

 

 

Roberta Gellis

Winter Song, 2011

Quote: "Libraries shelter the spirit, provide food for the mind, and answer the questions raised by the problems of life. They have been the home of my heart since I was a very young child, in whatever place I happened to live."


 

 

 

 

Phillis Gershator

St. Thomas, V.I.

Who's Awake in Springtime?, 2010

Quote: "As a lifetime library fan and former children's librarian with the Brooklyn Public Library and St. Thomas/St. John Department of Education, how could I not join ALTAFF?"


 

 

 

Meryl Gordon

New York, N.Y.

Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach, 2009

Quote: "I could not have written my book, 'Mrs. Astor Regrets,' without invaluable library research. And, of course, I would not be a writer if it had not been for my friendly local librarians."


 

 

 

Tricia Goyer

Little Rock, Ark.

Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington (co-written with Ocieanna Fleiss), 2010

Quote: "I fell in love with books when I was in the 6th grade and my family moved to the library. I spent my summers there and my life has been forever changed. My love of books has led me to my love of writing. I still frequent libraries as I homeschool my kids and research for my books."


 

 

 

 

Jean Grant

Lawrence, Kan.

The Burning Veil, 2010

Quote: "John Milton speaks of the 'still and calm air of delightful studies' and for me libraries sometimes provide that setting, well nigh close to paradise."

 

 

 

Melanie Hope Greenberg

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Mermaids on Parade, 2008

Quote: "Libraries are the champions of books."


 

 

 

John Grisham

Mississippi

The Confession, 2010

Quote: "I worry about how many children read. Libraries are more important today than when I was a kid."


 

 

 

Lisa Grunwald

New York, N.Y.

The Irresistible Henry House, 2010

Quote: "For a writer, I don't think there's anything quite as useful — or quite as reassuring — as the knowledge that books continue to live side by side in three dimensions in libraries. I could not have written a single one of my own books without the use of libraries, and I have never ceased to be thrilled by finding my own books in their stacks."


 

 

 

Charlie Haas

Oakland, Calif.

The Enthusiast, 2009

Quote: "As a small-town kid, I campaigned for a library card with a red 'adult' dot, so I could take out hipster novels that were too mature for me. That card made me a writer. I've long since forgiven it."


 

 

 

Janice Harayda

Montclair, N.J.

Manhattan on the Rocks, 2004

Quote: "Thank you for giving authors this chance to give back in gratitude for all we have received from libraries."


 

 

 

Marie Harris

Barrington, N.H.

Your Sun, Manny, 2010

Quote: "In books were my road maps, my secrets, my ambitions, my possibilities. The characters in books taught me everything. Without books I'd have been hopelessly lost. In libraries, I knew where to locate myself and where I could find the instructions I needed to carry on."


 

 

 

Libby Hellmann

Northbrook, Ill.

Doubleback, 2009

Quote: "The first book I remember was 'Blueberries for Sal.' My mother brought it home from the library. I must have been about 3 or 4. Ever since then, libraries have been my refuge, my castles, my dream makers."


 

 

 

Clifford Henderson

Santa Cruz, Calif.

Maye's Request, 2011

Quote: "Libraries are my church. They comfort, inspire, offer community, and make us ask big questions."


 

 

 

Earsel Henderson

Los Angeles, Calif.

A Paperboy's Memoirs: If the Moon, Sun, and Walls Could Talk, 2009


 

 

 

Ruth Logan Herne

Hilton, N.Y.

Waiting Out the Storm, 2010

Quote: "Imagine a disheveled little girl with no money, holes in her shoes, and cold, wet socks. Picture her lugging home armloads of books in a mile-long journey despite the wind, rain and snow of upstate New York, every two weeks, the Dewey Avenue library offering sweet respite from reality. She found herself in those books, those words, those images of faith, warmth, integrity and romance. And now she writes the same kind of thing, hoping to help others. To all the librarians and teachers who helped this little girl explore worlds beyond her ken: Thank you so much and keep on truckin'. Your kindnesses today may produce the author of tomorrow. God bless you."


 

 

 

Kristan Higgins

Durham, Conn.

All I Ever Wanted, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are the doorway to a thousand worlds.""


 

 

 

Jax Hix

Auburn, Wash.

Golden Deer Sun and White Bear Moon, 2011

Quote: "I grew up in the local public library. I spent each summer day there, exploring new worlds and having grand adventures with each new book. Today my children follow in my footsteps, having their own grand adventures. It is my biggest wish to see my grandchildren have the opportunity to do the same."


 

 

 

Jennifer R. Hubbard

Wyncote, Pa.

The Secret Year, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are the hearts of our communities."

 

 

 

 

Judith K. Ivie

Wethersfield, Conn.

Drowning in Christmas, 2010

Quote: "Nothing can beat one's hometown library as a source of comfort, information, and pure pleasure. Browsing its shelves and carting home a stack of fresh fun and wisdom is an indulgence that never disappoints. I'd sooner give up my credit card than my library card."


 

 

 

Janet Jai

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Saving Our Public Libraries: Why We Should. How We Can, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are still the best open door to the future for those who are eager to learn but born without the economic advantages that make that easy. Unfortunately today more and more previously middle-class families are falling into this disadvantaged category." (From the forward to Saving Our Public Libraries: Why We Should. How We Can.)


 

 

 

 
Marilyn Johnson

Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.

This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, 2010
"U.S. public libraries: We lose them at our own peril," L.A. Times, July 6, 2010

Quote: "Libraries have always been there for me. Of course I'll stand up for them!"

 

 

 

John Kachuba

Cincinnati, Ohio

Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers, and Other Investigators of America's Paranormal World, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Karin Kallmaker

Castro Valley, Calif.

Above Temptation, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are the local portal to anywhere, everywhere, past, present and future."


 

 

 

Jessica Francis Kane

New York, N.Y.

The Report, 2010
"Where We Write: The Merits of Making Do," The Millions, Aug. 17, 2010

Quote: "I do almost all of my writing in libraries. I'd be lost without them."


 

 

 

 

Barbara Kingsolver

Virginia

The Lacuna, 2009

Quote: "'I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.' I wrote these words more than 10 years ago in an essay called 'How Mr. Dewey Decimal Saved My Life.' Now, in a world where kids are often strapped for both resources and valid information, I believe in libraries as havens of salvation  — more than ever."

 

 

 

Erin Eitter Kono

Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.

Grandmother, Have the Angels Come?, 2010 (illustrator; author, Denise Vega)


 

 

 

Marina Kushner

Seattle, Wash.

Confessions of a Caffeine Addict (editor), 2010


 

 

 

Jodi Lampert

North Hollywood, Calif. 

"L.A.'s Librarians Demand Noise," Huffington Post, Aug. 24, 2010

Quote: "True happiness would be a warm puppy, and having my very own Dewey Decimal number."


Vicki Lane

Marshall, N.C.

The Day of Small Things, 2010

Quote: "Even the smell of a library lifts my heart. Libraries have been a treasured part of my life ever since I realized I couldn't possibly afford to own or house all the books I wanted to read. When I think of pure joy, I remember returning from the family's weekly trip to the library — me in the back seat, reading one of my newly checked out books in hurried snatches whenever the car passed under a street light."


 

 

 

Con Lehane

Washington, D.C.

Death at the Old Hotel, 2007

Quote: "Like too many of the important institutions in life, libraries are underappreciated and underfunded. A place where everyone is welcome — to look for a job, write a resume, improve his or her mind, track down long-lost ancestors or recently absconded deadbeats — or just have fun with books, movies, music, the internet — how can we not cherish such an institution?"

 

 

 

 

Christine Lehner

Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Absent a Miracle, 2009

Quote: "I go to the library to get answers: When did we learn that the queen bee is a queen? What is the back story of the first man to stand at the North Pole? And what's the best cheap hotel in Cartagena? That's the easy part. I also go to the library when I don't even know which questions to ask, and then the librarians help me find my way through the maze of my own imagination. I couldn't manage without them."


 

 

 

Gail Carson Levine

Brewster, N.Y.

A Tale of Two Castles, 2011

Quote: "When I was little I needed longer arms to carry books home from the library. Most of my allowance went to library fines, because some books were hard to part with. Reading was my escape from a cramped apartment; books gave me privacy, because inside a story is the most private place anywhere. Libraries were my portal to bliss. Today I teach writing to kids in the summer as a volunteer at my local library. I love it; the children come back year after year. The library is still working for us all!"


 

 

 

 

Irene S. Levine

Chappaqua, N.Y.

Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend, 2009

Quote: "We moved to our town because we wanted to live in a community with a vital public library."


 

 

 

Robert Lipsyte

New York, N.Y.

An Accidental Sportswriter, 2011

Quote: "My dad and I went to the library every week the way other kids and dads went to the ballpark. We played catch with ideas the rest of our lives."


 

 

 

Sarah Darer Littman

Cos Cob, Conn.

Want to Go Private?, 2011

Quote: "Libraries are an essential cornerstone of our democracy. But my love of libraries began as a young girl, before politics held any meaning for me, when these wonderful people helped me find books where I explored new worlds and made lifelong friends. Libraries made me a writer, but more importantly, they made me a thinker."


 

 

 

James W. Loewen

Washington, D.C.

Lies My Teacher Told Me, 1996

Quote: "I'd rather have 10 copies of my books in libraries than 100 in private hands."

 

 

 

Gail Lukasik

Libertyville, Ill.

Death's Door, 2009

Quote: "Libraries are the heart of every community, keeping our minds and spirits alive."


 

 

 

Katie MacAlister

Snohomish, Wash.

The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons, 2011

Quote: "As a child in a single parent household, the visit to my local library was the high point of the week. So many books! So many worlds unknown! So much knowledge to be had! Libraries are directly responsible not only for my lifelong passion with books, but for my desire to write my own."

 

 

 

Anne Mackin

Jamaica Plain, Mass.

Americans and Their Land: The House Built on Abundance, 2006

Quote: "Libraries have always seemed magical to me. You walk into a library and suddenly you have access to the greatest thoughts and words from every period of human history. Hours of discovery await you."


 

 

 

Thomas M. Malafarina

Wernersville, Pa.

Eye Contact, 2011

Quote: "Libraries are the gateways to the realm of imagination."

 

 

 

Jeff Markowitz

Monmouth Junction, N.J.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder, 2009

Quote: "I don't remember, as a child, going to bookstores, but I do remember going to libraries. Every week, without fail, browsing the shelves, borrowing books, discovering new worlds. I never gave much thought to how such a place could exist, why such a place would exist. It was just the library. Of course it was there. Now I know better. So I am proud to be part of an organization that celebrates the enduring value of America's libraries."


 

 

 

Ellen Meeropol

Easthampton, Mass.

House Arrest, 2011

Quote: "Libraries were critical for me as a nerdy kid. Then, my younger daughter practically lived in the branch of our city library down the block — partly because she loved to read and partly because she always lost her house key. She was there so much the library hired her as a page at 14. It's hereditary: now, my 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter loves her library and her 'liberry' books."

 

 

 

Brad Meltzer

Miami, Fla.

The Inner Circle, 2011
Don't close the book on libraries!, Miami Herald, May 1, 2011

Quote: "Sharing education, sharing a book…that’s what changes the world.”


 

 

 

Randy Susan Meyers

Boston, Mass.

The Murderer's Daughters, 2010
"It Takes a City to Raze a Library," Huffington Post, July 6, 2010

Quote: "Troubled and neglected kids can be saved by books — and I don't use those words as hyperbole. I was raised by books, walking the 20 or so Brooklyn blocks it took to get to my neighborhood library branch. Like the steady family I'd wished I had, it was always there. The beauty of books isn't just that they transport; they heal, they teach, and they soothe. On the loneliest of days, they ask no more than being picked up. In the worst of times, they stand by. Without libraries, I’d never have learned that."

 

 

 

Jon Michaud

Maplewood, N.J.

When Tito Loved Clara, 2011

Quote: "Outside of my family, libraries have been the most important institution in my life."

 

 

 

Laura Miller

New York, N.Y.

The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia, 2008
Why libraries still matter, Salon, May 11, 2011

Quote: "In my childhood, my local library was a haven, a wonderland and a portal to new worlds. As an adult, I treasure all libraries, whatever their size, as our civilization's greatest monuments to knowledge, understanding and thought."


 

 

 

Gerri and Brian Monaghan

San Diego, Calif.

The Power of Two: Surviving Serious Illness with an Attitude & an Advocate, 2009

Quote: "When I was a young child, the New York Public Library opened up a window into a world I hadn’t known. The world of books. We need to do all we can to keep that window open so that every child can experience the wonder of reading…the wonder of books."


 

 

 

Eve Marie Mont

Hatboro, Pa.

Free to a Good Home, 2010

Quote: "When I hear about budgets being slashed and libraries being closed all over the country, I am disheartened to think that some day, children might not have the opportunity I did to discover their passions and personalities in the pages of a library book. For now, I will continue to support and frequent my local library and hope that people never start believing libraries are frivolous non-essentials. I’d hate to live in a world that had forgotten that the best things in life — love, friendship, nature, and yes, reading — are truly free."


 

 

 

Joyce Elson Moore

Hernando, Fla.

The Tapestry Shop, 2010

Quote: "I've used libraries all my life, and I can't imagine a world without them. Without reference librarians, who patiently order stacks of obscure articles for me, I doubt I'd have ever found what I needed for my historical novels. Lately I've been speaking at our local libraries, esp. around NaNoWriMo events, hoping to garner awareness of how valuable an institution libraries really are."


 

 

 

David Morris

All Hail the PUBLIC Library, April 29, 2011

Quote: "Public libraries offer impressive proof that sharing and cooperation are the most effective strategies in good times and in bad."


Mary Murphy

Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird, 2010

Scarborough, N.Y.

Quote: "Were it not for a library, I would never have met Scout Finch."

 

 


 

 

 

Nancy Naigle

Drewryville, Va.

Sweet Tea and Secrets, 2011

Quote: "The library is what gives every book the equal opportunity to land in any hand - large or small, rich or poor. Thanks for letting our imaginations soar and our knowledge grow."


 

 

 

J.P. O'Donnell

Deadly Codes, 2009

Quote: "A library is a quiet place where you can enjoy the simple pleasures of reading and thus, expand your mind."


 

 

 

Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe

Wayland, Mass.

CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming and Social Media, 2010

Quote: "The biggest value of libraries is to provide us all with much needed unplugged time, whether it be to browse books, hear an author talk or just come together as a community for an event sponsored by the Friends. I felt this years ago, as a library trustee, when our lives were not nearly as plugged in, and believe this even more today, with the publication of my new book, CyberSafe."


 

 

 

Alexis O'Neill

Simi Valley, Calif.

The Recess Queen, 2002

Quote: "Libraries make lives. Libraries share lives. Libraries save lives. Libraries are the heart of our civilized world — and of my own universe. "


 

 

 

Daniel Okrent

South Wellfleet, Mass.

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, 2010

Quote: "Every sentence of every paragraph I write has its roots in a library — in the archives I plunder for primary material, in the ancient newspapers and journals I devour for background, in the reference librarians who find resources and solve conundrums and point me down new and unimagined paths of research. God bless them one and all."


 

 

 

Julie Papievis

Lombard, Ill.

Go Back and Be Happy, 2008

Quote: "Entering a library is like entering a big cozy den in your home, where you may sit and read about anything, but it's also filled with friends."


 

 

 

Sara Paretsky

Chicago, Ill.

Body Work, 2010

Quote: "Had it not been for the public library’s collection — my love for writing, and my interest in crime fiction, might never have developed."


 

 

 

Paula Poundstone

Santa Monica, Calif.

There's Nothing in This Book that I Meant to Say, 2007

Quote: "Libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy, and community. Librarians have stood up to the PATRIOT Act, sat down with noise toddlers, and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed."


 

 

 

Teresa Anne Power

Pacific Palisades, Calif.

The ABCs of Yoga for Kids, 2009

Quote: "I have loved going to the library ever since my grandmother took me there when I was a little girl. I carried on the tradition with my own children, taking them to the library to check out picture books when they were younger to researching papers as they grew older. Libraries are a wonderful place where you can not only check out books, but also DVDs, CDs and magazines. As an adult I still love libraries and being able to check out books from best selling authors as well as those classics which my teenagers are now reading!"


 

 

 

Kris Radish

Apollo Beach, Fla.

Hearts on a String, 2010

Quote: "I am nothing without the libraries and all of the librarians inside of them. My mother was the volunteer librarian at my grade school and when I read ALL of the books she took me to the bigger libraries. Those women, and they happened to all be women, treated me like a real person and I will never forget that. When I speak, I still give them credit and I try to stop in libraries when I am on tour. My writer's heart was born there and I will be forever grateful."


 

 

 

Sylvia L. Ramsey

Augusta, Ga.

Merchild Land, 2010

Quote: "I cannot remember when books have not been a part of my life. My favorite memories are when we went to town and my father would drop me off at the library so I could open the doors to the world and explore. As a result, I started writing at 9 years old, and I wanted to see my books on the shelf in libraries someday."


 

 

 

Kathy Reichs

Spider Bones, 2010

Quote: "Often we take libraries for granted until there is a threat."


 

 

 

Luanne Rice

New York, N.Y.

The Silver Boat, 2011

Quote: "I was born in a library, in the fiction stacks."


 

 

 

Mary Roach

Oakland, Calif.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, 2010

Quote: "It is no exaggeration to say that I could not do what I do without public libraries. I am a long-time abuser of interlibrary loan, which I think of as nothing less than a miracle. The internet is a tease: 'Yes, that old obscure book is out there! But nowhere you can get your hands on it!' Public libraries deliver. I love them strongly."


 

 

 

Caroline Starr Rose

Albuquerque, N.M.

May B., 2012

Quote: "I've just moved back to my hometown, and one of the first places I visited was my childhood library. Walking in I was greeted by rich memories the familiar smell of books. Heaven!"


 

 

 

Penelope Rowlands

Princeton, N.J.

Paris Was Ours, 2011

Quote: "Like every author I know, I became a writer through reading. I spent my childhood supine — on the floor of my room or under a tree in country summers — endlessly absorbed by words on a page. I think it's safe to say that I wouldn't have become a writer without free access to a library, whether at school or in the neighborhood. To enter one was to arrive at a feast. I hauled bags of books home in triumph. To this day, I patronize — and treasure — my local library. I think of it as a sanctuary, a respite from isolation, and I value the easy access to librarians, with all their perspective and advice."


 

 

 

Pam Munoz Ryan

Encinitas, Calif.

Tony Baloney, 2011

Quote: "I think the most inspiring thing to me about libraries is that they serve all people.”


 

 

 

Caissie St. Onge

Westport, Conn.

Jane Jones: Worst. Vampire. Ever., 2011

Quote: "I always pretend that the library is this grand mansion, or castle, or even a MAGICAL castle, and that everything inside it is mine. It's fun to imagine, but the truth is that what a library contains is much more valuable than what's inside any old castle, even a magical one. And everything inside it is mine. And yours."


 

 

 

Esmeralda Santiago

Katonah, N.Y.

Conquistadora, 2011

Quote: "My public library saved my life."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Scottoline

Pennsylvania

Save Me, 2011

Quote: "A library is the home for the imagination."

 

 

 

 

June Shaw

Louisiana

Deadly Reunion, 2011

Quote: "I love libraries! They opened the world to me as a child and continue to do so now. Librarians are fantastic, hardworking people who go out of their way."
 
 

Charles J. Shields

Barboursville, Va.

Mockingbird, 2006

Quote: "The purpose of libraries is to preserve civilization."


 

 

 

Erica Silverman

Los Angeles, Calif.

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Spring Babies, 2010
"Save L.A. Libraries: Erica Silverman on How Writers Owe a Lot to Our Libraries," Aug. 8, 2010

Quote: "Libraries and librarians do what they do so quietly and efficiently that it's easy to take them for granted. But we do so at our peril. If we don't safeguard them, we will wake up one day and realize that we've lost something very, very precious, essential to democracy, to literacy, to our quality of life. A world without libraries is unthinkable."

 

Karin Slaughter

Atlanta, Ga.

Fallen, 2011
SaveTheLibraries.com
"Fight for libraries as you do freedom," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept. 10, 2010

Quote: "Funding libraries should be our number one national priority."

  


 

 

 

Tatjana Soli

Tustin, Calif.

The Lotus Eaters, 2010

Quote: "As a child, I went to libraries to discover the world. As an adult, I continue to go to them for the inspiration to create worlds of my own."
 

 

 

 

 

Rosa Sophia

North Palm Beach, Fla.
 

Taking 1960, 2010

Quote: "I grew up going to the library. There is a comfortable atmosphere and a wonderful quality to libraries that I will never find in a book store... I spent so much time in libraries as a kid, and now I work in one. Wouldn't trade that for the world."


 

 

 

Andy Straka

Earlysville, Va.

Kitty Hitter, 2010

Quote: "Libraries are the air an author breathes. The creative storehouse for the writer's soul. The single indispensable link to the next generation of readers."


 

 

 

Judy Strong

Mesa, Ariz.

A Child's Grief, 2009

Quote: "A library is both comfort food and inspiration, opportunity for growth, and the place where anyone can come for personal enrichment."

 

 

 

Camy Tang

San Jose, Calif.

Formula for Danger, 2010

Quote: "The library is a magical place where I always love to go and where I send my readers to find my books. I would not be published today without the resources that were available to me from my local libraries."


 

 

 

Sarvenaz Tash

Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Mapmaker and the Ghost, 2012

Quote: "My local library shaped me as a reader and a writer; I couldn't imagine my childhood without that warm, inviting building at its center."


 

 

 

 

Scott Turow

Evanston, Ill.

Innocent, 2010

Quote: "I cannot think of a day in my life when the library didn't exert a potent attraction for me, offering a sense of the specialness of each individual's curiosity and his or her quest to satisfy it."


 

 

 

Matthew Vossler

Rockville, Md.

Dream Crossing, 2009

Quote: "Libraries are a pillar of liberty; they equalize and tranform."


 

 

 

Joseph Wallace

Pleansantville, N.Y.

Diamond Ruby, 2010

Quote: "Libraries and librarians have always been my lifeline, from New York City's marvelous system to a two-room library on Cape Cod where I first graduated from children's to YA books. As a nonfiction writer (and now a writer of historical fiction) I've also depended on libraries for my research. I honestly can say I would have no career, and not much of a life, without them."

 


 

 

 

April Halprin Wayland

Manhattan Beach, Calif.

New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story, 2009

Quote: "The other day my Mexican friend asked me if she could borrow a book on U.S. history to study to become a citizen. I told her that I didn’t have a recent one, but that she could go to the library. She looked at me blankly. I took out a map and showed her where the nearest library was — she knew the building. What she didn’t know was that with her residence card she could get a library card and check out books. Books to help her become a citizen. Books for her 3-year old son. Books for pleasure reading. 'For free?' she asked incredulously. It was then that I nearly got on my knees to Ben Franklin. Thank you, Ben! I don’t think I’d ever really thought about what it would be like to live in a country that didn’t have libraries."


 

 

 

J.D. Webb

Smudge, 2010
 

 

 

 

Sarah Bracey White

Ossining, N.Y.

"Freedom Summer" (included in Children of the Dream: Our Own Stories Growing Up Black in America by Laurel Holliday, 1999)

Quote: "Libraries showed me the world beyond my limited horizons."


 

 

 

Helen L. Wilbur

New York, N.Y.

F is For Friendship: A Quilt Alphabet, 2011


 

 

 

Mo Willems

Massachusetts

Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator, 2011

Quote: "All of the life-changingly  awesome words and pictures and ideas inside your library are useless without just one word outside your library: Open."


 

 

 

Elizabeth Winthrop

New York, N.Y.

Counting on Grace, 2007

Quote: "A library is my haven,the place where I go to read stories and to find the ones inside me waiting to emerge."


 

 

 

Louise Yelin

New York, N.Y.

From the Margins of Empire: Christina Stead, Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer, 1998

Quote: "Libraries: cafeterias for food that feeds the mind."


 

 

 

Karen Young

Houston, Texas

Missing Max, 2010

Quote: "I will never forget the first time I walked into the public library in the small Mississippi town where I was raised. I stood awestruck looking at the shelves and shelves of books. I even remember the smell of the place. Nothing smells like a library. Starting that day, I began reading and it still remains one of the joys of my life."