why libraries and why bookstores and why books and why read

For almost half an hour, I wandered within the winding labyrinth, breathing in the smell of old paper and dust. I let my hand brush across the avenues of exposed spines, musing over what my choice would be. Among the titles faded by age, I distinguished words in familiar languages and others I couldn't identify. I roamed through galleries filled with hundreds, thousands of volumes. After a while it occurred to me that between the covers of each of those books lay a boundless universe waiting to be discovered, while beyond those walls, in the outside world, people allowed life to pass by in an afternoon of football and radio soaps, content to do little more than gaze at their navels.
from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron

(it amazes me that even a library less than two months old smells like a libray...)