Public Library
A Few Good Books:
How Libraries Make for
Lifelong Learners
The only thing a young
scholar needs is a
hunger to learn and a
few good books.
By Sarah Clarkson
A surreptitious photo taken from my favorite balcony desk in the upper “Rad Cam”
My second day as a stu- dent at the University of Oxford had arrived and with it, the most important event of my orientation week. Or
so I was told. The receipt of my student
library card did not seem to me to be
the high point of an introduction to
Oxford, yet the event was marked on
my schedule in bold letters, eagerly
alluded to by staff, and was to be followed by quite the celebration. My
mental image of signing a form and receiving a plastic card did not match the
pomp attached to this ceremony. Curious, I simply followed along.
At dusk that evening, we fifty or so exchange students were led into the darkling Oxford streets and walked to the famous Bodleian Library, where we were
ushered into a set of rooms with vaulted
ceilings and pews like those found in a
church. Shadows loomed large in the
dusty corners and gathered like flocks
of black sparrows in the myriad panes
of the high, cut-glass windows. The
door shut solidly behind us as a somber man in academic robes rose with a
slight bow and a solemn greeting. Before we could receive our library cards,
he said, we must understand the history
and privilege surrounding this gift.
With growing warmth, he recounted
how the first precious books, the very
heart of education at Oxford, had been
collected and then how they had been
restored and their number strengthened
by the visionary Thomas Bodley. He told
us of fires in which thousands of precious
books had been lost, and how earlier
scholars had huddled by the windows
without candles or heat. And then he
fixed his gaze upon us with a look almost
fierce. “You,” he said, “are joining a great
tradition of scholars. You must value
your privilege in using this library and
treat the books with the honor they deserve.” As his challenge died away in the
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