Summary of "On Libraries"
Full Summary
The essay "On Libraries" by Oliver Sacks is an autobiographical reflection on his lifelong love and deep connection with libraries. Growing up surrounded by an oak-paneled library inherited from his father, who was a Hebrew scholar, Sacks was immersed in a rich literary environment filled with classical and scientific works. His mother also contributed to this literary atmosphere with books by authors like Emily Dickinson, Rudyard Kipling, and Shakespeare.
Sacks found libraries to be places of intellectual freedom and personal exploration, where he could satisfy his natural curiosity beyond the constraints of formal schooling. He cherished the autonomy to follow his interests and discovered the joy of learning in both solitude and community within library walls.
After moving to New York City in 1965, Sacks faced challenges reading and writing in a small apartment but eventually continued his work while attending Albert Einstein College of Medicine. There, he built connections with others who shared his passion for knowledge. He regularly visited libraries, where surrounded by mountains of books, he continued to explore a wide range of subjects.
In the 1990s, Sacks observed a shift as students increasingly favored digital resources over physical books, leading institutions to discard many volumes. He mourned this loss, viewing it as a destruction of centuries of accumulated wisdom and expressed concern that digital books could not replicate the inspiration and delight of the physical experience.
Through "On Libraries," Sacks celebrates libraries as vital spaces of learning, community, and intellectual autonomy. The essay honors the profound impact libraries had on his development as a thinker and writer, and it stands as a testament to the enduring value of physical books and libraries in the digital age.