Historians have related the heartwarming story of Abdul Kassem Ismael, the scholarly grand-vizier of Persia in the tenth century, and his library of 117,000 volumes. On his many travels as a warrior and statesman, he never parted with his beloved books. There were carried about by 400 camels trained to walk in alphabetical order. His camel-driver librarians could put their hands instantly on any book their master asked for.

Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts (Grosset & Dunlap), quoted in Reader’s Digest, June, 1981