This is a special issue of the journal American Studies. Ten papers examine the role of libraries in the communities they serve and in the lives of readers. The

Libraries, as a component of cultural space, are ubiquitous to almost every society during almost every time period. However, as places of cultural and symbolic

This text addresses the central problem in anthropological theory of the late 1990s - the paradox that humans are both products of social discipline and creator

"Tracing what the library has meant since its beginning, examining how its significance has shifted, and pondering its importance in the twenty-first century, s