Direct Descent — Frank Herbert

From the New York Times�"bestselling author of Dune, a sci-fi fantasy about government control of media and information.
 
Earth has become a library planet for thousands of years, a bastion of both useful and useless knowledge -- esoterica of all types, history, science, politics -- gathered by teams of “pack rats” who scour the galaxy for any scrap of information. Knowledge is power, knowledge is wealth, and knowledge can be a weapon. As powerful dictators come and go over the course of history, the cadre of dedicated librarians is sworn to obey the lawful government . . . and use their wits to protect the treasure trove of knowledge they have collected over the millennia. Herbert, author of Dune.