Each library confronts us with the infinite and each, in some inexplicable way, contains the universe. Surrounded by books detailing everything from the biology of insects to theories of the cosmos, we feel part of something larger than ourselves. More so in a library than a bookshop since libraries have fewer constraints: the amount of books one can buy is constrained by how much money one has; in a library, there is the tantalising potential of reading everything. “In the stacks of this library (this or any other), I have the distinct impression that its millions of volumes may indeed contain the entirety of human experience: that they make not … Continue reading Simon Barron