The Library is a Commons - In These Times
I love libraries as public spaces and am saddened at how little of the conversation they take up in developing country urban policy.
One reason is that the private sector is hard-pressed to find a library substitute. Neoliberals gut public school budgets with the promise of so-called independent and charter schools, but in the case of libraries, personal books in private homes can’t approach the scale of what a library can offer, and no private infrastructure exists that could absorb the public work of the library. Beyond books, libraries offer storytime and play groups, film screenings and knitting classes, English language lessons and literacy training — all of it open to anyone in the community, all of it free at the point of use and participation. The programs are always changing and tightly linked to the changing needs and interests of the public. There is simply no private-sector mechanism for the production of public services at the scale of the library