Iconic books are texts revered as objects of power rather than just as words of instruction, information, or insight. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. This blog chronicles such events and activities. (For more about iconic books, see the links to the Iconic Books Project at left.)

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Disposable Books

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English Russia posts pictures of an abandoned library in Russia with the comment: "Years before, during the Soviet Rule, books were considered to be the greatest treasure. Children in schools were taught to treat the books with care and love. It seems now this doesn’t work. At least at some libraries."

The pictures find a broader context in a post-Soviet industrial wasteland on Trouble World. But it's the pictures of rooms full of discarded books that are catching blogger's attention (see here and here and here). With comments like "book graveyard" and "something is terribly wrong" in addition to English Russia's "greatest treasure ... care and love," they illustrate again the iconic status of books.
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