“Libraries are the thin red line between civilization and barbarism."[Libraries on the Front Lines, ALA interview 2011]”

“Libraries are our friends.”

“It has been said that civilization is twenty-four hours and two meals away from barbarism.”

“I see libraries and librarians as frontline soldiers in the war against illiteracy and the lack of imagination.”

“Reading is important.Books are important.Librarians are important. (Also, libraries are not child-care facilities, but sometimes feral children raise themselves among the stacks.)”

“He would go somewhere no one knew him, and he would sit in a library all day and read books and listen to people breathing.”

“I was the kind of kid whose parents would drop him off at the local town library on their way to work, and I'd go and work my way through the children's area.”