There is, in the midlands of Ireland, a library of the evolution of civilisation.  It sounds like a rather grandiose idea but it comes from the simple notion that society is evolutionary and, like all evolutionary systems, it is upward moving.  With the passing of time we become more civilised.  We are going somewhere, but where?  Of course there are reverses, some of them truly dreadful, but nonetheless, overall we keep moving forward.  This library is intended to follow the path of that improvement and to celebrate those individuals who successfully climbed onto the shoulders of millions to give us something new and beautiful; a poem, a philosophy, a scientific theory, a painting, a symphony, a new kind of politics or technology. The intention is to do this within the overall picture of our history from the beginning, with our darkest periods included.

The Methodology

It is an English language library within a finite space of approximately one thousand volumes. We will choose the initial books, music, film and artefacts.  Unavoidably, it will, in its initial state, be western centric and in almost all areas guided only by a layman’s sources of knowledge.  From there on we will take advice wherever we can find it.  We assume that there are any numbers of omissions.  Once they are pointed out to us, and we are convinced, we will add them either into the library or onto the list of items that we have yet to buy.  If we are not convinced by a suggestion then we will not depend on our own limited knowledge to refuse, but will pester everyone we know with the necessary learning for their advice
 
Where is it located?

Temporarily, it is located on the top floor of Roundwood House. The permanent residence will be ready sometime next year.

Why a library?

The only other option we could think of was a list on the web, and although we consider the web to have been the technological advance of the twentieth century, for this purpose it is a far, far cry from a library.  We need civilisation in one space, in familiar and, in many cases, much loved volumes.  We need to be able to sit down and say that this room is as near as we can get to expressing where we are and how we got there.  We need to browse without any plan.  We need the warmth, beauty, excitement, and tranquillity of a library.

We hope you enjoy it

Frank and Rosemarie