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Public Library Quotes

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Public Library Quotes

“When I first went to jail in 1960 with seven classmates trying to use their public library against the backdrop of my father being a veteran of World War II, not being able to use - having to sit behind Nazi on American military bases, I lost my fear of jails and death.”

WorldTryingFirstsWarUseAbleFatherLostBehindsMilitaryBasesSevenLibraryWar Of The WorldsJailWorld War IiWorld War INaziVeteran1960sPublic LibraryClassmatesBackdropAmerican MilitaryMilitary Bases
Author:Jesse Jackson
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“I worked the AV counter at the Roland Heights public library in the '80s. My best story from the library was the time a couple asked for a recommendation, and I recommended Raising Arizona and they absolutely hated it. They came back hungry for blood. I was on my lunch break and my boss came out and said, "Hey kid, you need to come talk to these people. They totally hate Arizona." And he said, "Arizona's a dog; nobody gets that movie."”

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Author:John Darnielle
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“My parents used to park us kids at the public library in downtown Honolulu every Saturday. They'd leave us there at 8 A.M. and pick us up at 4 P.M. - so between those hours, you'd better find something to do! I sat upstairs in the picture room and went through opera, ballet, and theater books. I loved the photographs of people wearing elaborate makeup and costumes - they really pulled at me inside. I was in that library every week for years, until I was about 13. I had a rich interior life, because I didn't have much of a social life.”

PeopleYearsBookKidsUsedSocialParentHoursRoomsRichWeekPicksTheaterLibraryPhotographSatParksMakeupBalletOperaSaturdayInteriorsCostumesSocial LifeDowntownUpstairsPublic LibraryHonolulu
Author:Bette Midler
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“I'm in the film industry, and I very seldom go to the theater now. It could be work, not being in New York, that sort thing - because in New York, you do go to theaters; you can walk to a theater and then walk to a restaurant. But in places you have to drive out to the cineplex to see a movie, it's starting not to be worth it anymore. It's like the days when you went to get a book at the public library. You don't have to do that anymore. You just go on your iPad and all of a sudden you're reading The Duchess of Malfi.”

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Author:William Monahan
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“When something is discovered by people in movie theaters, it's discovered by people who are all together, and there's a sort of feeling of an event about it. And when it's on video, it's like something is being discovered in the library or something. It's like having a second life in public libraries. It's just like individuals, and it's less of a... We can't participate in it the same way.”

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Author:Wes Anderson
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“A public library is the most democratic thing in the world. What can be found there has undone dictators and tyrants: demagogues can persecute writers and tell them what to write as much as they like, but they cannot vanish what has been written in the past, though they try often enough...People who love literature have at least part of their minds immune from indoctrination. If you read, you can learn to think for yourself.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWritingTryingMindHas BeensBookEnoughPastFoundLiteratureWrittenDemocraticLibraryTyrantsDictatorImmuneUndoneIndoctrinationPublic LibraryThink For YourselfLove Literature
Author:Doris Lessing
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“...I doubt very seriously whether anyone will hire me.' What do you mean, babe? You a fine boy with a good education.' Employers sense in me a denial of their values.' He rolled over onto his back. 'They fear me. I suspect that they can see that I am forced to function in a century I loathe. This was true even when I worked for the New Orleans Public Library.”

MeanValuesWorkBoysDoubtCenturyFineFunctionLibraryDenialSuspectsNew OrleansEmployersBabeLoathePublic LibraryGood EducationFear Me
Book:A Confederacy of Dunces
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“If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all — except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.”

IfsKnowsMenNeedsShouldWellsBookIdeasFactsReadingStrongNationsLibertyDestinyWiseRightsAchieveSecurityCriticismBillsLibraryWelcomeAlternativesNew IdeasOur DestinyGuardianGood BookControversialBeing WiseFreedom Of ThoughtBill Of RightsPublic LibraryLibraries And LibrariansCensoredCensorship In BooksReading More
Author:John F. Kennedy
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“I have always had a special affinity for libraries and librarians, for the most obvious reasons. I love books. (One of my first Jobs was shelving books at a branch of the Chicago Public Library.) Libraries are a pillar of any society. I believe our lack of attention to funding and caring for them properly in the United States has a direct bearing on problems of literacy, productivity, and our inability to compete in today's world. Libraries are everyman's free university.”

WorldFirstsBelieveBookStatesReasonProblemTodayJobsI BelieveUnitedAttentionUnited StatesSpecialDirectLibraryUniversityObviousCaringProductivityBranchesChicagoLiteracyInabilityLibrarianFundingPillarsAffinityPublic LibraryToday's WorldLibraries And LibrariansEveryman
Author:John Jakes
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“...Mr. Wodehouse is a prose stylist of such startling talent that Frankie nearly skipped around with glee when she first read some of his phrases. Until her discovery of Something Fresh on the top shelf of Ruth's bookshelf one bored summer morning, Frankie's leisure reading had consister primarily of paperback mysteries she found on the spinning racks at the public library down the block from her house, and the short stories of Dorothy Parker. Wodehouse's jubilant wordplay bore itself into her synapses like a worm into a fresh ear of corn.”

FirstsStoriesReadingFoundHouseMorningMysteryTalentSummerDiscoveryEarsLibraryBlockBoredPhrasesProseShort StoryLeisureBoresShelvesWormsCornSpinningGleeRacksPublic LibraryStylistRuthWordplayBookshelvesSynapses
Book:The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
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“I was so inspired by Dr. King that in 1956 with my brothers and sisters and first cousins, I was only 16 years old, we went down to the public library trying to check out some books and we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for colors! It was a public library! I never went back to that public library until July 5th, 1998, by this time I'm in the Congress, for a book signing of my book "Walking with the Wind"”

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Author:John Lewis
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“I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that door and make the most of it.”

ChildrenI CanBookRealEnoughSchoolWonderDoorsAchievementFundamentalsGratefulLibraryDetailsEducationalArchitectureWitPublic LibraryReal Education
Book:I, Asimov: A Memoir
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