A library book? Yes, a library book, but not the borrowing kind. Fred Lerner
makes a scholarly case for the centrality of libraries to civilisation—one
that makes book burning its antithesis. His speculations about the future
(forget endless aquisition of paper journals) are fascinating. In The Story of
the Library, he says we’ll still need librarians and not just their working
materials. Published by Continuum, New York, £24.95, ISBN
082641114215713140 75.
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