One of the characteristics of a Classic Woman is that she is well-read. At a time when e-book sales are at an all-time high, the interest in creating a personal library is also increasing. There is something special about holding a book in your hands while physically flipping the pages between the covers; it relays a sense of permanence in a very transient world. Creating a library is as personal as the type of books one like to read. A library can be a grand and glorious room dedicated solely to the reading of books or bookcases in an area that doubles as a living room; the only design requirements are that it be well lit and have bookshelves and a chair or two. Care, however, must be taken in choosing the placement of the bookshelves as direct sunlight will fade the books over time and will, consequently, devalue the worth of the collection. Additionally, placing a table nearby provides a nice resting place for a book not quite yet finished and a desk affords a note taker space for books, papers and pens. Large collections may be elaborately arranged by the Dewey Decimal System, but the only real rule is that a particular book can be easily found. More times than not, sorting by genre or by author works nicely.
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Marcus Tullius Ciero
Actress Diane Keaton’s Library
“I’m not a book snob. First editions are great, but so are all books. If you’re starting your own library, all that matters is that you start with what you love.”
Oprah Winfrey
The Lady O: Oprah Winfrey’s Library
“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best.”
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Former First Lady Jaccqueline Kennedy Onassis’ Library
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Socialite Brooke Astor’s Library
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero
A house without books is like a room without windows.”
Horace Mann
Mystery Writer Agatha Christie’s Library
“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”
Mark Twain
Singer Michael Jackson’s Library
“The world was hers for the reading.”
Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Designer Francine Coffey’s Library
The gold letters on top of the walls are sayings of her grandmother that Coffey had translated into Latin.
“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
G. K. Chesterton
Library inspired by English writer Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill
You can travel the world and never leave your chair when you read a book.”
Sherry K. Plummer
“Let us read and let us dance — two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.”
Voltaire
