Libraries in a Post-Apocalyptic world?

I was bored on day and posted the following question in Yahoo Answers:


What roles can libraries play in a post-apocalyptic world (assuming that some survive the nuclear holocaust)?


and I elaborated:


"Another way of asking this would be: imagine you are a survivor of a major 'judgement day' event like World War 3. Do you see libraries & librarians playing any useful part in helping you & your fellow survivors, and in rebuilding human civilization?"



And here were the responses I received... some creative, some insane. Some of the answers are slanted towards sci-fi as I posted my question in the Arts & Humanities > Books & Authors section:

Imperial Dragoon:

"I really can't believe I never thought of this before, it is an excellent scenario! Preserving history is always a huge part of the apocalypse story so a library makes perfect sense. If you wanted a more doomed/ pessimistic outlook you could have the character sit and read about all the mess ups of the past while he waits to die but libraries contain at least small amounts of information on everything. If I wanted to build a simple stone structure but didn't know how to make it stable I would look in books about stone structures and the people that built them. My library has a large section on fashioning crude tools, another on finding food in the wild. The people of a modern world don't know these things and so having a library central to the story opens up a lot of possibilities."

Keltillo:

"They books would be great for slowing radiation...and large libraries would be good for housing large numbers of people. Once the radiation danger is past, book pages can be used for cooking, heating, and more."

Songbyrd11:

"I read a book back in the 70's where humans were trying to kill themselves off for the betterment of earth. At the end one man and seven woman are left to repopulate. In the epilogue, it is a few hundred years later and they are talking about how they are now far behind the knowledge that they have. There are not yet enough people to make all the things we are use to having."

Rdunn06:

"Gotta know your history or it will repaet and blow up in your face, that would be an awesome cast away part two and then Tom Hanks and Wilson can reunite."

S T:

"Vox 114, the holographic librarian in the 2002 film "Time Machine" directed by Simon Wells based on the 1895 book "Time Machine" by H. G. Wells did just that; he saved the Eloi society by becoming a teacher, story teller and data bank capable of answering all their questions."

swdarklighter:

"One series I read included this idea in one of the books. In the series, humans and other sentient beings were being kidnapped by a somewhat more advanced civilization and forced to colonize worlds for the future spread of their civilization. A group of these captives for a rebellion of sorts, and with the aid of one of their captors, seize a ship, return to Earth and raid a library as part of their efforts to regain knowledge and assist with missing technology.This series is the Catteni series by Anne McCaffrey, and starts with Freedom's Landing.Another group of books I have been reading also includes the idea that libraries are invaluable sources of knowledge and power. These are the Assiti Shards (1632) series by Eric Flint.In the Assiti Shards/1632 stories, a small West-Virginian town is transported to Germany in 1632 in the midst of the 100 Years War. They have a high school library and a public library as well as computers. Many of their new-found enemies are are constantly seeking copies of encyclopedias and other books on history and technology in an effort to improve their armies or discover future events (to them)."

Trish:
"None.It's wrap-up time. (And she sent me these links below)
http://www.jeremiahproject.com/newworldorder/nworder05.html
http://greatdepression2.org/
http://www.constitution.org/col/cuddy_nwo.htm
http://www.ridingthebeast.com/articles/verichip-implant/
http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/2008/May2008.html"

IAM_Wonder:
"How-To Manuals on Growing Irradiated Vegetables?Couldn't resist. There won't be nuclear destruction so no need to speculate really. The old books wouldn't do much good. No food. No water. Most of the really good information never got published anyway. It is all in government vaults labeled Top Secret."

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Anyone else has ideas?