Clare

“Want,’ she told her, in a measured tone, ‘is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill that lack with something else the original want disappears entirely.”
― Matt Haig, The Midnight Library

“Librarians have knowledge. They guide you to the right books. The right worlds. They find the best places. Like soul-enhanced search engines."
"Exactly. But you also have to know what you like. What to type into the metaphorical search box. And sometimes you have to try a few things before that becomes clear.”
― Matt Haig, The Midnight Library

“Back in Pittsburgh, if someone had infiltrated the library with fifty squirrels, that person would have been hailed as a hero. But Ellingham was full of library lovers, and there was the feeling in the air that this was, perhaps, a bridge too far. You could be naked, you could scream and hang out on the roof, but you do not mess with the place with the books.”
― Maureen Johnson, The Vanishing Stair

“Reading shapes a person. The landscape of books is more real, in some ways, than the one outside the window. It isn't experienced at a remove; it is internal, vital.”
― Kate Morton, Homecoming