| Description |
191 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm |
| Note |
Includes essays, letters, and poetry by a collection of American writers and librarians. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (page 190). |
| Summary |
"Many of us have vivid recollections of childhood visits to the public library: the unmistakable, slightly musty scent, the excitement of checking out a stack of newly-discovered books. Today's libraries also function as de facto community centers, and offer free access to the Internet, job-hunting assistance, or a warm place to take shelter along with the endless possibilities that spark your imagination the moment you open the cover of a book. There are more than 17,000 public libraries in America. Over the last eighteen years, photographer Robert Dawson has traveled the nation, documenting hundreds of these institutions--from Alaska to Florida, New England to the West Coast. The Public Library presents a wide selection of Dawson's photographs, revealing a vibrant, essential, yet seriously threatened system. Essays, letters, and poetry by a collection of America's most celebrated writers--including E. B. White, Isaac Asimov, Anne Lamott, Amy Tan, Charles Simic, Dr. Seuss, and Philip Levine, as well as the voices of dedicated librarians working today--are woven with photographs of the majestic reading room at the New York Public Library; the one-room Tulare County Free Library built by former slaves, in Allensworth, California; the architectural wonder of Seattle's glass and steel Central Library; and the Berkeley, California tool lending library; among many others. A foreword by Bill Moyers and an afterword by Ann Patchett bookend this important survey of a treasured American institution"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
Public libraries -- Pictorial works.
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Public libraries.
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Libraries and society.
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Libraries and community.
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Library users.
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| Added Author |
Dawson, Robert, 1950-
Photographs. Selections.
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Murray, Stuart, 1948-
Library spirit.
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Simic, Charles.
d1938- Country without libraries.
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Morris, David.
All hail the public library.
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Tan, Amy.
What the library means to me.
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Asimov, Isaac, 1920-1992.
Letters to the children of Troy, New York.
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Kingsolver, Barbara.
How Mr. Dewey Decimal saved my life.
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Selders, Kelvin K.
Northeast Nevada regional bookmobile.
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Lazard, Dorothy.
Practicing Seva.
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Herrera, Luis.
Spreading enlightenment.
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Ward, Chip.
Enriched by what we share.
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| ISBN |
9781616892173 (hardback) |
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