Sidney Sheldon? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: A top-selling author once powerfully praised libraries with the following words:
Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.
Apparently, U.S. writer Sidney Sheldon made these remarks. Sheldon created popular plays, movies, television programs, and books. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in the May 1995 issue of the periodical “American Libraries” which published a short piece about Sidney Sheldon who was honored on his 78th birthday at the Los Angeles Public Library. The event occurred a few months earlier in February. A photo from the celebration showed Sheldon together with an executive of the American Library Association (ALA). Between the two figures was a poster created for the National Library Week of 1995.
The poster displayed the testimonial quotation under examination although some parts of the text were not visible because of reflective glare in the photo. The following line was visible on the poster. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination.
The ascription to Sidney Sheldon was also visible on the poster. QI believes that this photo together with the citations presented further below provide convincing evidence that Sidney Sheldon should be credited with the quotation.
The article mentioned that Sheldon had recorded a five-minute video for ALA’s “Library Advocacy Now!” campaign, and it is possible that Sheldon employed the quotation within this recording.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Evidence of Sidney Sheldon’s advocacy for libraries preceded the 1995 citation. For example, in April 1993 a newspaper in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma listed Sheldon amongst a collection of celebrities who had testified that “libraries made a difference in their lives” although a specific quotation from Sheldon was not presented.2
In June 1994 Sheldon co-wrote an op-ed in the “Los Angeles Times” decrying budget cuts to the Los Angeles County library system.3
In September 1994 a newspaper in Ridgewood, New Jersey reported that Sheldon attended a luncheon hosted by financial supporters of the local library system. The article stated that Sheldon was the national spokesman for Libraries of the Future, an organization that promoted libraries.4
In May 1995 Sheldon was honored at the Los Angeles Public Library. A photo from the event showed Sheldon adjacent to a poster displaying the quotation as mentioned previously in this article.
In June 1995, the “Sierra Madre News” of California printed a collection of quotations from celebrities which praised libraries including the following:5
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.” — Sidney Sheldon, author.
In 2000 the website of the American Library Association featured a webpage titled “Quotable Quotes About Libraries” which included the statement attributed to Sheldon. The webpage also listed remarks lauding libraires from historian David McCullough, actress Katharine Hepburn, journalist Walter Cronkite, novelist Toni Morrison, and many others.6 Surprisingly, none of the quotations on the webpage included supporting citations.
In April 2000 “The Herald” newspaper of Mascoutah, Illinois printed an article titled “Celebrate Library Week By Getting Connected Today” which included the quotation. The article acknowledged the website of the American Library Association:7
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”
Those are the words of one of the world’s most prolific writers, Sidney Sheldon, who has achieved a distinguished career in film, television, and theater. The winner of an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar Allan Poe Award, Sheldon has over 200 television scripts, twenty-five major motion pictures, six Broadway plays and sixteen novels (which have sold over 280 million copies) to his credit.
In 2001 the quotation appeared in “The Post-Crescent” newspaper of Appleton, Wisconsin, within an article commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System.8
The quotation continued to circulate in 2025. For example, it appeared as an article epigraph in “The Carlisle County News” of Bardwell, Kentucky.9
In conclusion, Sidney Sheldon deserves credit for this quotation. A photo published in May 1995 depicted Sheldon happily standing next to a poster featuring the quotation. The American Library Association created the poster, and the poster attributed the words to Sheldon.
Image Notes: Picture of Prague library of science, geometry, and astronomy from Jonathan Francisca at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Maria Bustillos whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Special thanks to Donna Halper who found the crucial citation dated May 1995 in “American Libraries”. Halper also pointed to the April 21, 1993 citation in the “Daily Oklahoman”. Additional thanks to Barbara Schmidt who found the helpful citation dated September 22, 1994 in “The Ridgewood News”.
Update History: On October 22, 2025, four citations were added to the article, and it was partially rewritten. The additional citations were dated April 21, 1993; June 30, 1994; September 22, 1994; and May 1995.
- 1995 May, American Libraries, Happy Birthday, Sidney!, Quote Page 462, American Library Association, Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1993 April 21, The Daily Oklahoman, Personalities Praise Books, Quote Page 6, Column 8 and 9, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1994 June 30, Los Angeles Times, Don’t Mug the County Library System by Sidney Sheldon and Grant P. Thompson, Quote Page B7, Column 2 to 4, Los Angeles, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1994 September 22, The Ridgewood News, Sidney Sheldon (Photo description), Quote Page 8, Column 2, Ridgewood, New Jersey. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1995 June 1, Sierra Madre News: Voice of the Foothills, Celebrities Speak Out for Libraries! Quote Page 4, Column 6 and 7, Sierra Madre, California (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- Internet Archive: Way Back Machine, Web capture date: June 21, 2000, Timestamp on webpage specifying last time of modification: Monday, 15-May-2000 16:05:08 CDT, Original URL which is now inactive: www.ala.org/pio/advocacy/libraryquotes.html, Webpage Title: Quotable Quotes About Libraries. (Accessed at web.archive.org on Oct 18, 2025) link ↩︎
- 2000 April 6, The Herald, Celebrate Library Week By Getting Connected Today by Kim Lobring, Quote Page 3A, Column 1 and 2, Mascoutah, Illinois. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2001 October 15, The Post-Crescent, Section: Outagamie Waupaca Library System 25th Anniversary, Quiet Connecting Your Library to a World of Resources, Quote Page 6, Column 2, Appleton, Wisconsin. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 2025 March 27, The Carlisle County News, John L. Street Public Library News by Pam Metts (Director), Quote Page A10, Column 4, Bardwell, Kentucky. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎