An Ode To The Library
And The Spirit Within It.


Quiet at the library.
So quiet.
And yet, the library is a place of life.
A sacred temple
Where people live on,
Their existence etched forever
Within the endless rows of books.

Books.
Some crisp and new.
Others, old and tattered.
Each possessing a soul- But not complete. You can hardly feel it.
Yet it is there, making its presence felt.
Each marking the contribution
Of somebody’s time on earth.

Time.
Yes, it is so vast in the library.
So very, very vast.
All that time.
All that stored time.
A minute, a day, a week,
After all, how much time does it take to read a book?
How much time does it take to write it?
All that time entombed within the covers.
All that life captured within it.

It is different outside.
Outside the library walls.
Outside, time drifts on by,
Nonchalant.
But here in the library, time is preserved.

Just the way someone's life is being preserved.
Just the way someone's existence is being established.
Man is mortal.
Yet through his life’s work, his spirit can endure.
Through these books he can gain immortality.

Rows of encyclopedias charting the centuries.
Rows and rows of them.
Literature and History and Science
And all the knowledge that it brings
All the eternity it carries
All complete. All present.
And all contributing to the creation of a whole,
Bearing the wisdom of the centuries.
Millions of years of evolution are entwined.

And the people.
The readers, the students, the library personnel,
They help the library live on.
They keep its spirit alive.

The spirit of all those good men, dead or alive.
The spirit of all those brilliant women, may god bless them,
A part of their souls
That stretches out through eternity
Their life,
Their life contribution.
It is kept alive- Alive!

So I am thanking everyone from the bottom of my heart.
Everyone who has ever attempted to write,
Or read.
Everyone who has ever picked up a book.
Thank you, for making this possible.

Thank you to everyone who has ever filed a book,
Or returned them to their shelves.
Everyone who has ever worked in, with or for the library.
Thank you, for making this possible.

Tonight, I am sending up a little prayer.
And I hope you will too.
Thanking God,
Thanking the Almighty,
Thanking all of divinity
For blessing mankind
With a simple library.

For a library is not just a place where books are stored,
It is more than that.
A library is a legacy of life.