Reading glasses rest on an open book atop a small stack of worn books beside a vase of dried stems.

Original artwork, not a still

The Premise Of Meaning, American Scholar (Washington, DC, June 5, 1972)

Archibald MacLeish

What is more important in a library than anything else — is the fact that it exists.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

MacLeish says a library matters most simply by existing. Before any particular book is read, having the place is the real achievement. It's a claim that access to knowledge counts even when nobody is checking anything out.

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