Definition

A basic definition of a library, because it's called for, because we've moved so far from it being simply a collection of books:

A library retains:
* a collection of texts

A library produces:
* sociability

A library gives access to:
* knowledge

Each statement declares the verb and object predicated by the subject of "A library". What if these objects were exchanged between these sentences?

So

It becomes

A library retains sociability, produces a collection of texts, and gives access to knowledge.
A library retains knowledge, produces sociability, and gives access to a collection of texts.
A library retains a collection of texts, produces knowledge, and gives access to sociability.

==Perspectives on current and potential libraries==
By changing these parts of speech, we can imagine different scenarios that potential (and current) libraries can play out. For example:

A library retains knowledge = Here, retention of knowledge points towards the desire to acquire information that has high value; intellectual, social, practical etc.
produces a collection of texts = What are the texts that can be produced? Metadata, annotations and marginalia, infrastructural interfaces for readers (signage, an index, a classification system)