“I cannot live without books, “ Jefferson admitted to John Adams. He sold his vast library of books to Congress to replace the Congressional Library which had burned in the war of 1812.

He parted with more than 6,700 books, but then began to collect books once again. He loved to read and learn.

“The founding of a library is one of the greatest things we can do . . .It is one of the quietest things; but there is nothing that I know of at bottom more important. Everyone able to read a good book becomes a wiser man. He becomes a similar center of light and order, and just insight into the things around him. A collection of good books contains all the nobleness and wisdom of the world before us. A collection of books is the best of all universities.” –Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, Scottish philosopher, writer, essayist, historian and teacher.

As the project of his last years, Jefferson went on to create the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, and became its first President.
Thanks Tom!