Why do we need a public library?: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Why do we need a public library?, credited to Various; Chalmers Hadley, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Why do we need a public library? by Various. Read in English by LibriVox volunteers. Internet Archive, which hosts our audio books, is in the midst of their annual fund-raising. They have also begun a drive to provide a mirror site in Canada to ensure IA's availability to all users. The IA is a vast library with millions of public domain books, audio, film, radio, and other media. They also maintain an open library of copyrighted books one can 'check out' by becoming a member with a virtual library card. This collection is devoted to the concept of why we need a public library, the title taken from an essay by Chalmers Hadley, which will be the first entry in this audio book. The rest of the collection is pulled from Project Gutenberg's Library selections. Some are solo essays, most are chapters from selected books on library science and culture. I'm also open to including up to 5 chapters or short works from the list of banned books on PG's site to emphasize the need for a public library. - Summary by Matt Pierard

Recording facts

• Recording title: Why do we need a public library?
• Author credits: Various; Chalmers Hadley
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 32
• Listed recording duration: 16:25:03

Catalogue topics

• library
• international
• freedom of speech

Opening tracks: first 24 of 32

1. 01 - Why do we need a public library? Part 1 — 34:50
2. 02 - Why do we need a public library? Part 2 — 34:42
3. 03 - Why do we need a public library? Part 3 — 35:26
4. 04 - The world of books and the world's work, by Henry E. Legler — 39:00
5. 05 - The Companionship of Books, by Arthur Bostwick — 48:48
6. 06 - The Two Fundamentals, by Mary Salome Cutler — 17:16
7. 07 - Relation of the State to the Public Library, by Melvil Dewey — 18:38
8. 08 - Cooperation between Library and Community, by M. Anna Tarbell — 16:57
9. 09 - The Reformed Librarie-Keeper, by John Dury — 22:00
10. 10 - Libraries in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods by John Willis Clark — 55:37
11. 11 - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Ch 1 (French) — 16:53
12. 12 - The Negro Vote in the States Whose Constitutions Have Not Been Specifically Revised, by John Hope — 33:34
13. 13 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, Ch 11 — 12:21
14. 14 - An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 'Of Ideas In General' Ch 1, by John Locke — 44:23
15. 15 - Idea of a Transcendental Logic. I. Of Logic in General, by Immanuel Kant — 8:57
16. 16 - Zoonomia Section XIV. Of The Production Of Ideas, by Erasmus Darwin — 46:10
17. 17 - The Analects, by Confucius - Section I — 5:43
18. 18 - The Awakening, Ch 7, by Kate Chopin — 18:18
19. 19 - The Dead Are Silent by Arthur Schnitzler — 41:56
20. 20 - The Free Public Library, by Thomas W. Higginson. — 10:32
21. 21 - Some Popular Objections to Public Libraries, by Frederick Poole — 27:09
22. 22 - The Function of a Town Library, by Josiah P. Quincy — 15:39
23. 23 - The Library and the Social Centre, by Lutie Eugenia Stearns. — 8:04
24. 24 - How to Use a Library, by James Mascarene Hubbard. — 21:33

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.