"Who knows where the emerging new commons will take us? But Robert Dawson shows us in this collection what is at stake: when a library is open, no matter its size or shape, democracy is open, too."
- Bill Moyers
"This collection of photographs and texts of and about libraries -- grand or dead, faded or sumptuous -- make up a narrative that combines the public sphere with private memory. Robert Dawson's work is an irrefutable argument for the preservation of public libraries. His book is profound and heartbreakingly beautiful."
- Toni Morrison
National Public Radio Interview with Scott Simon
Wall Street Journal: A Book Celebrates the American Public Library
Los Angeles Times: Robert Dawson tells the story of the Public Library through photos
Huffington Post: America's 10 Most Unique Libraries
The Paris Review: America's Public Libraries
Slate: Here's Why We Need to Protect Public lLibraries
Time: See some of America's Greatest Public Libraries
Hyperallergic: Library of Congress Acquires Portfolio of 681 Photos of US Public Libraries
The New Yorker: America's Public Libraries Great and Small
Goodreads: The Public Library - A Photographic Essay
New York Journal of Books: The Public Library - A Photographic Essay
Seattle Pi: The Return of the Library Road Trip, Cautiously
Design Observer: The Last Truly Free Space in America
Gizmodo: 10 Distinctive Libraries that Give Books a Good Home
The Morning News: A Man, His Camera and a Library: Robert Dawson and the American Commons
Parade: Stacks of Possibilities
"The Public Library is absolutely wonderful in its entirety, at once an ode to the glory of our most democratic institutions and a culturally necessary prompt to defend them like we would defend our freedom to live, learn, and be---a freedom to which the library is our highest celebration."
- BRAIN PICKINGS
"Dawson's project makes a powerful case for how public libraries serve communities in every corner of the country."
- THE NEW YORKER'S PAGE TURNER BLOG
"An intriguing glimpse at an oft-overlooked representation of democracy that exists in nearly every town."
- LONNY
"For book lovers, library denizens, and fans of architecture or Americana, The Public Library is a delight."
- CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
"The Public Library draws on the traditions of the 20th century's great photographic surveys. Dawson has adopted a single-minded focus on a particular subject, as with Bernd and Hilla Becher's water towers, though he forgoes their standardized style. From the Farm Security Administration surveys of Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, Dawson has inherited a concern for the marginalized members of American society and a desire to capture those lesser-seen aspects of the American experience."
- HYPERALLERGENIC
"Robert Dawson took road trips all over the country for 'the Public Library: A Photographic Essay. Ann Patchett and other writers share childhood memories about their local libraries, but Dawson's images are the main show and a wealth of stories are embedded in his captions."
- THE BOSTON GLOBE
"A book for anyone with a deep and abiding love of libraries, Dawson's latest project is a powerful argument for the continued relevance of our public libraries as information and community centers, even as libraries adapt to changing technological and budgetary landscapes. "
- LIBRARY JOURNAL
"It is being billed as the most comprehensive visual survey of American libraries ever published...Aside from the powerful images the book features contributions by the likes of Bill Moyers, Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver, Amy Tan, E. B. White, Isaac Asimov, and Dr. Seuss among others."
- SEATTLE PI
"This beautifully crafted book celebrates public libraries across the U.S. in both color and black and white images captured by photographer Dawson over an 18-year period. Artfully arranged in such chapters as 'Civic Memory and Identity' and 'Literature and Learning,' the book includes a foreword by Bill Moyers and an afterword by Ann Patchett. Dawson goes beyond the physical structures and touches on how viscerally and nostalgically Americans feel about public libraries, and suggests that, as a culture, we depend on them more than we know. "
- PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
"Includes a call for more support of libraries, not only as symbols of democracy but as great equalizers, tools of social justice to lift the poor and to provide equal opportunity."
- THE L.A. TIMES
"A wonderful example of citizen-archiving, [the] book trumpets its library love with straightforward joy and ownership, like a volunteer marching band playing a Sousa march in your neighborhood Fourth of July parade."
- THE ART BLOG
"Every architect interested in public library design - and if you aren't, shame on you! - should own this meticulously executed photo album of public libraries encompassing styles and areas across the U.S. Robert Dawson's The Public Library: A Photographic Essay, a product of an 18-year odyssey crisscrossing the country capturing captivating images of book spaces, is clearly a labor of love."
- ARCHNEWSNOW.COM
"With dozens of color photographs, a foreword by Bill Moyers, and essays, letters, and poems by Barbara Kingsolver, Amy Tan, Isaac Asimov, E.B. White and others, the book is an informative tribute to the value of libraries in our ever-changing society."
- THE SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
"An inspiring reminder that architecture is the stuff communities are made of. "
- AZURE MAGAZINE
"Rich with history and significance, they read as a love letter to the public library, a beloved institution that is under threat from closure due to budget cuts and curtailed operating hours."
-DESIGN TAXI