Library: The Drama within - Tapa dura

"The engaging photographs by Diane Asseo Griliches, accompanied by her informative anecdotes as well as apt quotations by others, enable us to regard libraries from a wider fresher perspective. These unique combinations of words and pictures celebrate these institutions, wherever they are in the world, in whatever form. They also enable us to understand libraries as settings not only for learning but also for many other kinds of human experience-romance, humor, even tragedy." "Diane Asseo Griliches's compassionate photographic eye gives us a sense of the transitory nature of human passage through timeless institutions. Her beguiling portraits of all manner of visitors to all kinds of libraries move us to reflect on our own fleeting, absorbing, book-bound lives. Her work makes me want to renew my library card . . . almost everywhere." "The photographs in Library reveal libraries as works in progress, never static, never idle. The descriptions, succinct and inviting, are wedded to photographs that avoid the trite. This book proves that libraries have nearly as many genetic permutations as humans." The photographs in Library reveal libraries as works in progress, never static, never idle. The descriptions, succinct and inviting, are wedded to photographs that avoid the trite. This book proves that libraries have nearly as many genetic permutations as humans. -- Vartan Gregorian, president, Brown University Diane Ass?o Griliches's compassionate photographic eye gives us a sense of the transitory nature of human passage through timeless institutions. Her beguiling portraits of all manner of visitors to all kinds of libraries move us to reflect on our own fleeting, absorbing, book-bound lives. Her work makes me want to renew my library card . . . almost everywhere. -- Rosamund W. Purcell The engaging photographs by Diane Ass?o Griliches, accompanied by her informative anecdotes as well as apt quotations by others, enable us to regard libraries from a wider fresher perspective. These unique combinations of words and pictures celebrate these institutions, wherever they are in the world, in whatever form. They also enable us to understand libraries as settings not only for learning but also for many other kinds of human experience-romance, humor, even tragedy. -- Dr. Jane M. Rabb

A bibliophile and library lover's dream, this volume offers up a stunning and evocative collection of images - from the great reading room of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and the now vanished library of Sarajevo to the humble train depot that serves as the library in Cleveland, Mississippi - that perfectly capture the heart and soul of the world's libraries.With photographs of small children playing amongst the shelves, the homeless seeking shelter, patient librarians, and lovers in the stacks - all accompanied by charming and insightful quotes from book lovers as diverse as Malcom X and Victor Hugo - "Library: The Drama Within" shows that these places are much more than just books on shelves.