Foreword / Bill Moyers --
Introduction / Robert Dawson --
The American Public Library. The library spirit / Stuart A.P. Murray --
Economics. A country without libraries / Charles Simic ; All hail the public library / David Morris --
Civic memory and identity. What the library means to me / Amy Tan ; Letters to the children of Troy, New York / Isaac Asimov, Dr. Seuss, and E.B. White --
How Mr. Dewey decimal saved my life / Barbara Kingsolver --
Urban and rural libraries. The northeast Nevada regional bookmobile / Kelvin K. Selders ; Practicing Seva / Dorothy Lazard ; Spreading enlightenment / Luis Herrera --
Evolving libraries. Enriched by what we share / Chip Ward --
Literature and learning. Library days / Philip Levine ; Steinbeck country / Anne Lamott ; Maps and stats / Walker Dawson --
Afterword / Ann Patchett.
