John Cotton Dana,
A Library Primer — Chapter XXXIX, Books as useful tools
(1899)
“ Literature, after all, is simply all that's printed. In print are found the sum of the experience and observation of the whole race. Out of this print it is the librarian's business to help his fellows to draw such facts and suggestions as may aid them in their work. ”
John Cotton Dana,
A Library Primer — Chapter XXXIX, Books as useful tools
(1899)
“ There is still too much of superstition and reverence mingled with the thought of books and literature, and study and studentship in the popular mind. Books are tools, of which here and there one is useful for a certain purpose to a certain person. ”
John Cotton Dana,
A Library Primer — Chapter XXXIX, Books as useful tools
(1899)
“ One and all, they are expressions of the life of the race. But they are not, for that reason, to be reverenced. They are proper for man's service, not man for theirs. Approach books, then, as you would a sewing machine, a school, or a factory. ”
