“Your books are held at the circulation desk for pick up.” Well, so far, I have never failed this love of mine, the Morris Library. So, I turn my car around and head towards this calling. As I walk through the library's rotunda I notice many students deeply engaged in books or their laptops, having coffee and/or a sandwich; a few others are attentive to their companions having hushed conversations. I deeply enjoy this composed world. After checking out the books, I go to the third floor to claim my favorite spot. For those of you who are in love with books, surely you have noticed its subtle fragrance? As I walked through the first floor I could literally smell the distinctive aroma of newly arrived books…exciting, strong, inviting. And then there is the Rare Book Collections room, where the long wall-shelves hold books that have aged physically. The reading area in front of these shelves are for those lovers of knowledge who want to consult a reference, or research a topic, or wish to take a stroll along with history, or be in the antiquated stories, or those who simply want to forget the outside world for a few moments. The fragrance of books there is quite different: patient, confident. I do not know how else to define their unique essence!

Occasionally as I walk through the labyrinth of shelves to pick a particular book I rarely give a second thought to the numbers that help me trace it. Thanks to the decimal system introduced by Melvil Dewey in 1876, which assists me in locating books that have already been coded, sorted and arranged by subject areas. It was Dewey who methodized the classification system and standardized the library card catalog. Of course, both systems have evolved since it was established. Today, I no longer make a trip to the Catalog Room trying frantically to figure out which drawer to sift through to find the referenced author. That function now falls within the purview of computers.

I settle in quite comfortably in the corner catching a view of flaming fall colored woods outside and long lines of bookshelves inside. I confess libraries excite me. There is never a dull moment in those literary, historical, political, philosophical texts, periodicals, correspondence, literary manuscripts, book reviews, photographs, and so much more. I am always in awe of this custodian of facts, thoughts and ideas. To think of it as a passive repository would be an absolute mistake. The vibrancy is in its function of orienting knowledge, through challenging the established --- exploring, rebuilding, reorganizing. There lies the excitement of this intellectual institution.

I cannot help but reflect on its story that has roots in some 20,000 to 30,000 cuneiform tablets dating as far back as 668 667 B.C. These clay tablets, from King Ashurbanipal's royal library, survived the brunt of time to bring us the narrative of their environment, culture of religion and administration. This first 'organized library' also gave modern times the precious gift of the Epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps the oldest written piece of literary work in the language of Babylonia and Assyria. Then there was the great Library of Alexandria, the intellectual metropolis of the Ptolemaic center, where the works of such visionaries as Archimedes, Euclid, Catherine of Alexandria and many such others were hosted. Theirs was the fundamental contribution to geometry, mathematics, philosophy and theology. And of course, who can forget The House of Wisdom, the epicenter of religious and scientific inquiry that reached its zenith during the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mun? These are but a few endorsements from the past. The libraries of the earliest to the medieval and renaissance period, up to the present times, each on its own accord, have shaped the libraries around the world and preserved knowledge. A must add to this list are the Imperial Library of the Han Dynasty, Imperial Library of Constantinople, Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi, the Biblioteca Malatestiana, the Vatican Library, National Library of Poland, British Library, Smithsonian Institution Libraries --- the list goes on and on and on. It is indeed captivating to think that the Library of Congress, give or take, adds some 7,000 books each day to its more than 32,818,014 volumes already housed on its 530 miles of shelves (Library of Congress Annual Report, 2010). The numbers, of course, now are much higher because of the speed at which its collections are added. In present times, its method of filing system is followed by a majority of libraries around the world.

From the collections of early scriptoriums to the Information Age, this sanctuary of culture has also endured numerous calamities. In Tibet after the Chinese invasion, in Sri Lanka, in Afghanistan, the Balkans, everywhere we find incidents of a destruction of books. As recently in 1933 millions of books were ruined by the Nazis in attempts to rewrite their nation's history. And even though the key mandates of the 1954 Hague Convention call for the obligation to protect 'cultural property' in wartime, some twenty million books, documents, Islamic manuscripts in the holdings of Iraq's National Library and Archives and Al-Awqaf library were robbed, ravaged and set ablaze by incendiaries. In spite of such pillage throughout history libraries have endured; such is the human quest for knowledge and love of books. Perhaps Stéphane Mallarmé was correct in observing, “Everything in the world exists to end up in a book.” Sometimes, I wonder whether there is any country in the world that does not have libraries. If there are the likes of Room to Read, a non-profit organization, that has built libraries in a number of Asian and African communities, it would be a rare possibility!

The evolution of the library is also a tale of remarkable changes: from navigating through the card catalog system to on-line public access catalog, from singular to multi-institutions that function as one library, and the coming of age of the 'virtual library' that provides overwhelming bits of information available through the World Wide Web. Technological advances are on the verge of presenting a different model of operating libraries as well. In fact, at the University of Chicago's Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, a robotic arm retrieves the materials as users enter data into the computer. Such advancements on a massive scale still have some way to go. I, for one, prefer to collect the books myself from the shelves!

Well, for now I am happy to feel the pages of Nicholas A. Basbanes's A Gentle Madness. As I read the words my inquisitive imagination takes off with the author to search for books in dusty bookshops and street stalls!

Outside, the twilight draws night in its embrace and I am in no hurry to get home …

Ainon N, academic and author, writes from Carbondale, Illinois, USA.