This was the weekend Stephen Hunter was down in Bristol, TN, guest speaking at a library festival as first reported here back in January.

The director of the library system in Bristol has a blog, which he used to publish a review of yesterday’s excitement. In it, he finds Hunter’s comments about libraries worth repeating:

Hunter used a different metaphor: cathedral. To him, libraries are where writers learn to engage what he called “the long form,” that is, the book-length narrative the creation of which becomes the goal or the centerpiece of so many writers lives. The long form, he said, with its richness and density and complexity, is particularly valuable as an expression of the values of civilization, and how important is it to us that there is an institution that exists to perpetuate it, just as it perpetuates other civilized values as sharing and quiet contemplation.

Here’s the full blog posting…