The Meaning of the Library : : A Cultural History / / Alice Crawford.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter PUP eBook-Package Pilot Project 2014-2015
• TeilnehmendeR: Crawford, Alice,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource :; 26 color illus. 6 halftones.

From Greek and Roman times to the digital era, the library has remained central to knowledge, scholarship, and the imagination. The Meaning of the Library is a generously illustrated examination of this key institution of Western culture. Tracing what the library has meant since its beginning, examining how its significance has shifted, and pondering its importance in the twenty-first century, notable contributors-including the Librarian of Congress and the former executive director of the HathiTrust-present a cultural history of the library. In an informative introduction, Alice Crawford sets out the book's purpose and scope, and an international array of scholars, librarians, writers, and critics offer vivid perspectives about the library through their chosen fields. The Meaning of the Library will appeal to all who are interested in this vital institution's heritage and ongoing legacy.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- list of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction / Crawford, Alice -- Part 1. The Library through Time -- Chapter 1. Adventures in Ancient Greek and Roman Libraries / Hall, Edith -- Chapter 2. The Image of the Medieval Library / Gameson, Richard -- Chapter 3. The Renaissance Library and the Challenge of Print / Pettegree, Andrew -- Chapter 4. From Printing Shop to Bookshelves / Darnton, Robert -- Chapter 5. "The Advantages of Literature" / Allan, David -- Chapter 6. Literature and the Library in the Nineteenth Century / Sutherland, John -- Part 2. The Library in Imagination -- Chapter 7. The Library in Fiction / Warner, Marina -- Chapter 8. The Library in Poetry / Crawford, Robert -- Chapter 9. The Library in Film / Marcus, Laura -- Part 3. The Library Now and in the Future -- Chapter 10. "Casting and Gathering" -- Chapter 11. Meanings of the Library Today / Wilkin, John P. -- Chapter 12. The Modern Library and Global Democracy / Billington, James H. -- Selected Bibliography -- Contributors -- Index