"Librarian, writer, and historian Lerner's original edition (1998) was one of the first major works on the history of libraries from ancient times to the modern era.This new edition updates the original version, again taking readers from the libraries of ancient times into the future. It also offers a new chapter on information science. Considering the monumental changes in the role of libraries in the last ten years, this new chapter is a necessary addition. None of the verisimilitude of the original is lost in the new edition; all the original illustrations remain intact, as do the expanded notes section and bibliography. This is a very important book for any academic library collection that serves library and information science students and for liberal arts programs that focus on cultural and social history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.

" -S.P. Beiting, CHOICE, July 2010.