--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A ‘library’ turned out to be a room where…" description: "\"“A ‘library’ turned out to be a room where books were read. The fact that people used to have so many books that they needed a whole separate room just..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/r-lee-smith-25820_books_a-library-turned-out-to-be-a-room-where_3160772.jpg" --- # A ‘library’ turned out to be a room where books were read… ![“A ‘library’ turned out to be a room where books were read. The fact that people used to have so many books that they needed a whole separate room just to store them, much less a word for the room, said everything Lan guessed she needed to know about the way the world used to be. In Norwood, loose…” quote by R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/r-lee-smith-25820_books_a-library-turned-out-to-be-a-room-where_3160772.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/r-lee-smith-25820_books_a-library-turned-out-to-be-a-room-where_3160772.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/r-lee-smith-25820_books_a-library-turned-out-to-be-a-room-where_3160772.jpg) > ““A ‘library’ turned out to be a room where books were read. The fact that people used to have so many books that they needed a whole separate room just to store them, much less a word for the room, said everything Lan guessed she needed to know about the way the world used to be. In Norwood, loose pictures and salvaged magazines were locked up like other valuables. The mayor had a few books, including the town ledger where Lan’s own name had been written on the day of her birth and presumably crossed out along with her mother’s the day she’d left, but all of them together could have fit on one shelf. Here was a room the size of the dining hall, two stories tall and lined in bookshelves, with ladders on runners along every wall so that no shelf was out of reach. These were books that could not be measured in hundreds or even thousands, but in some greater number that had no name. If only she knew how to read.”” [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vast library symbolizes the overwhelming accumulation of knowledge, suggesting that true understanding requires more than mere storage. **In simple terms:** Knowledge can be endless and hard to grasp. Key Takeaway Seek depth, not just quantity. Themes knowledge library overwhelm Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - education - research - curiosity Key Concepts information overload literary symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How do you prioritize learning? - What does “reading” truly mean? A Different Perspective The sheer volume can paralyze action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Bookshelves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookshelves/) [Library Turned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library-turned-5712469/) [Room Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/room-books-514867/) [Room Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/room-said-245792/) [Shelf Room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shelf-room-895666/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“As long as you have any floor space at all, you have room for books! Just make two stacks of books the same height,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/as-long-as-you-have-any-floor-space-at-all-you-have-room-for-books/) [Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/) > [“Having books standing on a shelf in a room is like having completely different worlds at the ready, waiting to be explored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-f-hermann/having-books-standing-on-a-shelf-in-a-room-is-like-having-completely/) [J.F Hermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-f-hermann/) > [My room for books and study or for sitting and thinking about nothing in particular to see what would happen was at the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/my-room-for-books-and-study-or-for-sitting-and-thinking-about-nothing/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [“The best decoration in the world is a room full of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-baldwin/the-best-decoration-in-the-world-is-a-room-full-of-books/) [Billy Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-baldwin/) > [“I don't even know what a room without books looks like.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/love-the-stacks-bookstore/i-don-t-even-know-what-a-room-without-books-looks-like/) [Love The Stacks Bookstore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/love-the-stacks-bookstore/) > [“The house is seventies modern with sliding windows, gas-effect and a giant TV in the living room. There are almost no books. I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/the-house-is-seventies-modern-with-sliding-windows-gas-effect-and-a/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [You can't love a library of e-books. You can't furnish a room with e-books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-trollope/you-can-t-love-a-library-of-e-books-you-can-t-furnish-a-room-with-e/) [Joanna Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-trollope/) > [“A room without books makes book-lovers shudder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cicero-tabitha/a-room-without-books-makes-book-lovers-shudder/) [Cicero Tabitha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cicero-tabitha/) > [My wife and I love to read. We're going to have to move out to make room for the books! And we have our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gale-gordon/my-wife-and-i-love-to-read-we-re-going-to-have-to-move-out-to-make/) [Gale Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gale-gordon/) > [I wished I could be alone in my room, with my books, away from these people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-wished-i-could-be-alone-in-my-room-with-my-books-away-from-these/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [He didn't just occupy space; he saturated it. The room had been full of books before, now it was full of him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/he-didn-t-just-occupy-space-he-saturated-it-the-room-had-been-full-of/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [You become a writer because you like to be alone in a room with your books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/you-become-a-writer-because-you-like-to-be-alone-in-a-room-with-your/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Books are delightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of books - even without taking them from the shelves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/books-are-delightful-society-if-you-go-into-a-room-and-find-it-full/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It’s remarkable that a device, which fits in your pocket, can hold thousands of books. But a room full of books is an entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandt-legg/it-s-remarkable-that-a-device-which-fits-in-your-pocket-can-hold/) [Brandt Legg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandt-legg/) > [For to sit in a room full of books, and remember the stories they told you, and to know precisely where each one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sting/for-to-sit-in-a-room-full-of-books-and-remember-the-stories-they-told/) [Sting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sting/) ## More by R. Lee Smith > [“Men may perish, but the world will neither celebrate nor mourn. It will go on.' His smile thinned. 'Would you like to know how?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/men-may-perish-but-the-world-will-neither-celebrate-nor-mourn-it-will/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“Beginning the day in a bad mood made it awfully easy to find reasons to stay there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/beginning-the-day-in-a-bad-mood-made-it-awfully-easy-to-find-reasons/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“He told her not to speak or look at him. He told her not to try to kiss him. He told her she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/he-told-her-not-to-speak-or-look-at-him-he-told-her-not-to-try-to/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“I had but one love and it is gone and now there is nothing and I tell you, that is the most awful feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/i-had-but-one-love-and-it-is-gone-and-now-there-is-nothing-and-i-tell/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“She’d become her own ghost, haunting her own life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/she-d-become-her-own-ghost-haunting-her-own-life/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“Jesus Christ, really? How did you ever survive living with me as long as you did without having sex every other hour?” “With God’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/jesus-christ-really-how-did-you-ever-survive-living-with-me-as-long/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“as much as anyone could get used to the grim shadow of death dropping over you all the damn time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/as-much-as-anyone-could-get-used-to-the-grim-shadow-of-death-dropping/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“Sarah indulged in a few more of these bleak thoughts, but just the fact that she could indulge in them while lying in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/sarah-indulged-in-a-few-more-of-these-bleak-thoughts-but-just-the/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“but to sleep demands better, demands trust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/but-to-sleep-demands-better-demands-trust/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“There were no words, no capacity to form them, but there were thoughts swelling huge in her head and he was in every one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/there-were-no-words-no-capacity-to-form-them-but-there-were-thoughts/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“There is rightness in every hour, for it takes little more than a moment’s whim to lie with one in passion, but to sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/there-is-rightness-in-every-hour-for-it-takes-little-more-than-a/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“Hormones.  The gift that just kept giving.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/hormones-the-gift-that-just-kept-giving/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“Yet for all the aggravation of tending them, it was not so terrible an ordeal. He’d never kept a pet before and keeping close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/yet-for-all-the-aggravation-of-tending-them-it-was-not-so-terrible-an/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“So tell me, oh unhappy human, what is ypur suffering to mine?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/so-tell-me-oh-unhappy-human-what-is-ypur-suffering-to-mine/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [“It was just boring, is all. I knew better than to think there was going to be booze after all this time, but still,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/it-was-just-boring-is-all-i-knew-better-than-to-think-there-was-going/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) [Explore all 22 R. Lee Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) ## 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": "“A ‘library’ turned out to be a room where books were read. The fact that people used to have so many books that they needed a whole separate room just to store them, much less a word for the room, said everything Lan guessed she needed to know about the way the world used to be. In Norwood, loose pictures and salvaged magazines were locked up like other valuables. The mayor had a few books, including the town ledger where Lan’s own name had been written on the day of her birth and presumably crossed out along with her mother’s the day she’d left, but all of them together could have fit on one shelf. Here was a room the size of the dining hall, two stories tall and lined in bookshelves, with ladders on runners along every wall so that no shelf was out of reach. These were books that could not be measured in hundreds or even thousands, but in some greater number that had no name. If only she knew how to read.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R. 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