We all know the liber words that have to do with “freedom”:
Liberty
Liberate
Liberally
But what about Library? Is it so called because it’s where you can get books for free?
You might think so, but…no, actually. It’s because in Latin, liber had two meanings: “free” and “book.” And it certainly isn’t because books cost nothing back then!
On the contrary, it’s because books–knowledge–education–were considered the means by which a man’s soul became free. Lack of education and illiteracy were considered a sort of bondage, directly tied to the slave class. Much like the word for school is linked to the word for leisure (because only the rich, who lived a life of leisure, could afford to send their kids to school), so too is the very concept of freedom linked to books.
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE THAT!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
I'm sharing this with our students, librarian and fellow ELA teachers! Yes, I do LOVE THAT!
What an interesting word this week!