It wasn’t that time stopped in the library. It was as if it were captured here, collected here, and in all libraries – and not only my time, my life, but all human time as well. In the library, time is dammed up – not just stopped but saved. The library is a gathering pool of narratives and of the people who come to find them. It is where we can glimpse immorality; in the library, we can live forever.”
-- Susan Orlean (Chapter 1)

Importance: In this quote from the prologue-like first chapter, author Susan Orlean introduces a thematic element that threads its way throughout the book - the idea that on some level, a library is a kind of conduit through time, a means through which people can connect with aspects of humanity that has gone before. Later in the narrative, Orlean expands this perspective to include considerations of what libraries can do to lead...