The following is from the 1942 book Men of Albemarle by Inglis “Peggy” Fletcher, an American Author, Historian and Explorer:

“I make my acknowledgment to the men and women who have so carefully collected and so lovingly preserved the manuscripts and documents, journals and private letters that form the living link between the past and the present now housed in the public and private libraries of this country.

In desert lands, in ancient times, the Guardian of the floodgates stood on the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile, waiting to turn the life-giving water on the arid land. In our times, librarians are the keepers of the gates. They stand ready and eager to open the gates to allow a great stream of history to flow from its uncontaminated source.”