Many glimpses into what might be called library philosophy are scattered throughout the literatures of library history and library and information science, but none has coalesced as yet. Conversely, theories relative to the operation of libraries, rather than relative to why its operations are necessary in the first place, are exceedingly abundant. Not surprisingly, fundamental misunderstandings are shared among public, scholar, and librarian about what the library is and why it exists. Adapting the work of Kenneth Boulding, Osburn presents a cogent, well substantiated explanation of why...