The Internet Archive invites you to join us on Monday, June 14th, for a virtual book talk with Richard Ovenden, about his book Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge, which has been shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize. Since ancient times, libraries and archives have always come under threat—but today the dangers are more complex than ever. Neglect, intentional destruction, and lack of funding are causing libraries around the world to fight for survival. From ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point, and explores the efforts to prevent and mitigate these attacks on knowledge. Richard Ovenden is Bodley’s Librarian at the University of Oxford, the senior executive officer of the Bodleian Libraries, and previously served as Deputy Head of Rare Books at the National Library of Scotland. He will be joined by Abby Smith Rumsey, a writer and historian focusing on the preservation of the cultural record in all media, and the author of When We Are No More: How Digital Memory is Shaping our Future (2016). This fireside chat will include a discussion of the history of intentional recorded knowledge destruction, and will be followed by a Q&A.

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