I have a feeling Mr. Dillon would be happy to discuss the matter more completely...he didn't give his sources for his answers, unfortunately. I can't establish whether there is an etymological link between the words 'library'and 'libra/libro', the Latin for 'pound' (as in weight). No, there is not. Frustratingly, 'library' seems to trace back to 'liber', meaning the stripped inner bark of a tree, used as a writing material. Why is that frustrating? I find it rather satisfying. Elegant, even. Liber (genitive libris) is no doubt related to Greek lepein "to peel (as bark)", which in turn is related to English leper. This I find somewhat less satisfying. It's unrelated to the 'liber' ('free') from which modern words like 'liberty' derive. True. There seem to be plenty of sources to deny that connection, but no-one saying anything about the possible books/weight connection. Perhaps because there is none? Jay Dillon Jay Dillon / Rare Books & Manuscripts