--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don’t think that the definition of…" description: "\"“I don’t think that the definition of library has changed. Libraries have never been repositories solely of books. In Alexandria for instance, the mode..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg" --- # I don’t think that the definition of library has changed… ![“I don’t think that the definition of library has changed. Libraries have never been repositories solely of books. In Alexandria for instance, the model of the ideal library perhaps, there was a will to collect every book in the world, but at the same time they had maps and objects and there was a…” quote by Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg) > ““I don’t think that the definition of library has changed. Libraries have never been repositories solely of books. In Alexandria for instance, the model of the ideal library perhaps, there was a will to collect every book in the world, but at the same time they had maps and objects and there was a sense that this was a world of study and communication. The technology changes, and so electronic media should enter the library as long as we don’t forget that there are also books. I don’t believe in technologies that want to exclude one another. A new technology comes into the world and believes that it can bill itself on the corpse of the previous technology, but that never happens. Photography did not eliminate painting. Film did not eliminate theater and so on. One technology feeds on the vocabulary of the other, and I believe that the electronic technology has taught us to value the reading on the page, and the reading on the page has taught us what we can do on the screen. They are alternatives, but they’re certainly not synonymous.”” [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Libraries evolve with technology but remain spaces for diverse media and knowledge exchange. **In simple terms:** Libraries adapt, keeping books and new media together. Key Takeaway Embrace new tools without discarding old ones. Themes knowledge technology media continuity adaptation Mood reflective optimistic Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - public libraries - school libraries - digital archives - community centers - museum collections Key Concepts digital literacy information ecology cultural preservation Questions to Reflect On - How can libraries balance digital and print collections? - What policies protect diverse media? A Different Perspective New tech can dominate funding, marginalizing traditional resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Changed Libraries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changed-libraries-3902859/) [Ideal Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideal-library-1622461/) [Libraries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libraries/) [Library Changed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library-changed-3902858/) [Library Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library-long-3189013/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [There are 10,000 books in my library, and it will keep growing until I die. This has exasperated my daughters, amused my friends and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/there-are-10-000-books-in-my-library-and-it-will-keep-growing-until-i/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [“All that can be done is for each of us to invent our own ideal library of our classics; and I would say that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/all-that-can-be-done-is-for-each-of-us-to-invent-our-own-ideal/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [... as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the ideal library is in the wish of its maker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/as-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-the-ideal-library-is-in-the/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [There are times when I think that the ideal library is composed solely of reference books. They are like understanding friends-always ready to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-j-adams/there-are-times-when-i-think-that-the-ideal-library-is-composed/) [Donald J Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-j-adams/) > [The love of libraries, like most loves, must be learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-love-of-libraries-like-most-loves-must-be-learned/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“No one stepping for the first time into a room made of books can know instinctively how to behave, what is expected, what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/no-one-stepping-for-the-first-time-into-a-room-made-of-books-can-know/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“The weight of absence is as much a feature of any library as the constriction of order and space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-weight-of-absence-is-as-much-a-feature-of-any-library-as-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have-2/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Existing libraries, in their very being, seem to question the authority of those in power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/existing-libraries-in-their-very-being-seem-to-question-the-authority/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Libraries are not, never will be, used by everyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-are-not-never-will-be-used-by-everyone/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/don-t-join-the-book-burners-don-t-think-you-re-going-to-conceal/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/if-truth-is-beauty-how-come-no-one-has-their-hair-done-in-a-library/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [Schools have never been about getting access to information. That's the job of libraries. Schools and universities have nobler missions as gentle gatekeepers. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-nikiforuk/schools-have-never-been-about-getting-access-to-information-that-s/) [Andrew Nikiforuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-nikiforuk/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“She might ban me from the library." "The marvelous thing about libraries is that their contents can be easily moved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-johnson/she-might-ban-me-from-the-library-the-marvelous-thing-about-libraries/) [Alissa Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-johnson/) ## More by Alberto Manguel > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feelings-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Then one day, from the window of a car (the destination of that journey is now forgotten), I saw a billboard by the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/then-one-day-from-the-window-of-a-car-the-destination-of-that-journey/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The shelves of books we haven't written, like those of books we haven't read, stretches out into the darkness of the universal library's farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-shelves-of-books-we-haven-t-written-like-those-of-books-we-haven/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feeling-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The starting point is a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-starting-point-is-a-question/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Ljubav je imbecilna izvesnost pomoću koje naša fantazija stvara verodostojnu utvaru.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ljubav-je-imbecilna-izvesnost-pomo-u-koje-na-a-fantazija-stvara/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-know-that-something-dies-when-i-give-up-my-books-and-that-my-memory/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/maybe-this-is-why-we-read-and-why-in-moments-of-darkness-we-return-to/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/as-centuries-of-dictators-have-known-an-illiterate-crowd-is-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) [Explore all 159 Alberto Manguel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I don’t think that the definition of library has changed. Libraries have never been repositories solely of books. In Alexandria for instance, the model of the ideal library perhaps, there was a will to collect every book in the world, but at the same time they had maps and objects and there was a sense that this was a world of study and communication. The technology changes, and so electronic media should enter the library as long as we don’t forget that there are also books. I don’t believe in technologies that want to exclude one another. A new technology comes into the world and believes that it can bill itself on the corpse of the previous technology, but that never happens. Photography did not eliminate painting. Film did not eliminate theater and so on. One technology feeds on the vocabulary of the other, and I believe that the electronic technology has taught us to value the reading on the page, and the reading on the page has taught us what we can do on the screen. They are alternatives, but they’re certainly not synonymous.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alberto Manguel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-library-has-changed-libraries/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-library-has-changed-libraries/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/alberto-manguel-2467_books_i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-lib_2867277.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don’t think that the definition of library has changed. Libraries have never been repositories solely of…” — Alberto Manguel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alberto Manguel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I don’t think that the definition...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-library-has-changed-libraries/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-don-t-think-that-the-definition-of-library-has-changed-libraries/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```