Product Description

Everyone who has a library card (and those who don’t will want one after reading this book) will love this fascinating account of how libraries have evolved. From camels delivering books in Kenya to information compression today, this is a book that’s long overdue!

Award-winning librarian Maureen Sawa takes readers on a breathless ride from the origins of libraries to the first bookshelves, from pack-horse librarians in Kentucky to the revolution that was vertical shelving. She presents familiar library heroes like Gutenberg and Benjamin Franklin and the more obscure ones, such as Hypatia, the great female librarian of Alexandria killed by a mob for opposing the teachings of Plato, and Vizier Abdul Kasem Ismail, the Persian bibliophile who traveled with forty camels carrying 117,000 books in alphabetical order.

Libraries, past, present, and future, have a history as fascinating as the books they house. A must-have for every reader!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #283758 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-09
• Released on: 2006-05-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 72 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–What separates this volume from others on the topic is its focus on the global impact of libraries, from the digital collections of the British Library to a mobile library carried by camels in northern Kenya, and its emphasis on the intertwined early histories of book printing and libraries. The simple, linear organization and Sawa's crisp, detailed prose style will quickly draw young readers in with interesting facts and stories. Slavin's illustrations are complementary to the text and have a sophisticated, graphic-novel sensibility. Through this lively and thorough volume, students are sure to appreciate the role that libraries have played in history.–Michael Santangelo, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
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Review
“This book is very well done and will be of interest to anyone who has a love of books and libraries. It should be in all school and public libraries.”
—Resource Link

About the Author
Maureen Sawa is an award-winning librarian. She is currently the Coordinator of Adult Services and Information for the Hamilton Public Library. She is also President of the Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians, a division of the Canadian Library Association. This is Maureen Sawa’s second book, following Car Smarts: Hot Tips for the Car Crazy.

Bill Slavin has illustrated more than fifty books for children, including The Big Book of Canada, Bleeps and Blips to Rocket Ships and Shooting Hoops and Skating Loops. His work has received numerous awards, including the 2004 Blue Spruce Award and the 2004 CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's medal, both for his work on Stanley's Party. He shares his studio in Millbrook, Ontario with his wife, Esperança Melo.