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The Library Book
In pre-Revolutionary War America, libraries were member-driven collections for the elite; it was not until 1790 that Benjamin Franklin helped to establish the first public lending library. Throughout the subsequent centuries the library has evolved, but always remained central to the cultural life of the nation. Thomas R. Schiff's photographs trace the history of the library through aesthetic and style while featuring legendary architects such as Charles F. McKim; Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge; and I. M. Pei. The Library Book beautifully captures the shifting architectural styles and missions of the library in sweeping 360-degree panoramas--from the very earliest American libraries to the modernist masterpieces of Louis I. Kahn and others. In his introductory essay, acclaimed author and library lover Alberto Manguel considers the story of the library in America, its evolving architecture and cultural role, and how the American model reflects the archetypal idea of the universal library. Including brief descriptions of each unique library, this book brings bibliophiles into one hundred libraries across the nation.
232 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 20, 2018
Another serendipity book on libraries. This is a huge “coffee table” picture book, and as such there is very little to read. The photography is beautiful, but I don’t like the panographic shots as well as the straight shots. Libraries presented are all in the United States, and cover historic, modern, university, special subject and public libraries. As I was going through the book, I kept hoping there would be a library I had visited. Sigh! Not a one. For a number of years when we traveled, I made it a point to visit as many libraries as I could. The closest I got to any in this book was the Seattle library, but we ran out of time. The newer libraries are very modern architecture. Schiff said in the afterward that they arranged to take the photographic shots without people in them. There are a few shots that have people, but not many. I think it would have been better to have people using the libraries. IMHO, libraries are built not just to hold books and other items, but for people to use. Still, for anyone who loves books, architecture and libraries, I recommend the book.
November 13, 2017
My unrealistic goal is to visit all of the libraries photographed in this amazing and one of a kind book!
January 4, 2018
I wanna visit ALL of these libraries. I loved the panoramic pictures and the paragraphs of description of each library but was hoping for more, more, more!! Also the introduction was divine.
August 24, 2018
I loved looking at all the pictures of the libraries featured in this book. I have discovered that I want to visit them all!!! LOL!!!
March 16, 2018
Beautiful coffee table books featuring amazing photos of libraries across the U.S.
November 11, 2017
The foreward was wonderful, highlighting the evolving aim of public libraries with decreasing funds. Then the photographs begin and, in a strange contrast, show example after example of membership libraries.
The artistic choice of photographing straight lines as curves is disorienting. I'd rather take in the majestic and inspiring architecture from realistic depictions.
The afterward by Schiff was off-putting. His complaints about the scheduling of shoots, tangential negative comments about art gallery workers and claim that libraries are bettering individuals by enforcing a code of order solidified my general dislike of this book.
The artistic choice of photographing straight lines as curves is disorienting. I'd rather take in the majestic and inspiring architecture from realistic depictions.
The afterward by Schiff was off-putting. His complaints about the scheduling of shoots, tangential negative comments about art gallery workers and claim that libraries are bettering individuals by enforcing a code of order solidified my general dislike of this book.
June 19, 2017
Thomas Schiff has photographed a nice variety of American libraries in this book. Not all are beautiful (and some are downright ugly in my opinion) but they all have character and eye-catching architectural details that are worth taking in.
Although I thought Schiff's photos were very good, the book's organization and layout were weird and distracting for me as a reader. I loved Schiff's afterword and wished it had been placed at the beginning of the book (right after Alberto Manguel's introduction) so the reader could view the images informed by Schiff's voice and vision.
I could be convinced that Schiff's essay actually does belong at the end of the book (and I'm sure was put there on purpose), but the super-glaringly weird thing I can't get over about The Library Book is that Schiff's panorama photos (horizontally long and vertically short) and Manguel's little info blurbs were published in a book that is horizontally short and vertically long. There is so much wasted page space in this book, which seems a bizarre choice for a book about [library] spaces and layouts. There are a few pages that have multiple photos stacked on top of each other and a couple of fold-out pages that actually use the whole page, but they are exceptions.
Although I thought Schiff's photos were very good, the book's organization and layout were weird and distracting for me as a reader. I loved Schiff's afterword and wished it had been placed at the beginning of the book (right after Alberto Manguel's introduction) so the reader could view the images informed by Schiff's voice and vision.
I could be convinced that Schiff's essay actually does belong at the end of the book (and I'm sure was put there on purpose), but the super-glaringly weird thing I can't get over about The Library Book is that Schiff's panorama photos (horizontally long and vertically short) and Manguel's little info blurbs were published in a book that is horizontally short and vertically long. There is so much wasted page space in this book, which seems a bizarre choice for a book about [library] spaces and layouts. There are a few pages that have multiple photos stacked on top of each other and a couple of fold-out pages that actually use the whole page, but they are exceptions.
January 21, 2018
The sheer size of this book leads one to think it will be a sumptuous reading experience, so it is most definitely disappointing to discover nearly all the images take up less than half of each page spread (there's an awful lot of wasted white space). But more dismaying is the presentation of the panoramic shots of the libraries; the layout of many simply do not lend themselves to this style of photography.
December 26, 2022
Despite the tremendous amount of effort involved in this project, the panoramic photos did not convey much of a sense of awe nor of anything. It was probably the wrong format to have been used in this disappointing collection of photos of libraries which is rather a pity in view of the amount of work here. The photos left me cold.
December 27, 2017
Phenomenal collection of photos. Nice state-by-state list of great libraries.
A little too much white space in this book. I would have liked to see the interiors of the libraries consistently DOMINATE the pages.
A little too much white space in this book. I would have liked to see the interiors of the libraries consistently DOMINATE the pages.
August 14, 2017
Gorgeous, I want to visit them all.
March 16, 2018
I traveled all over the country, visiting my favorite place, the library. My only critique is that my library was not in this book.
December 31, 2018
A lovely photo book for library lovers
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May 1, 2017778.36 S333 2017
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews