Thank you for this provocative post. I love your opening line: "What business are we in?" You put forth some important questions, but I suggest we broaden the discussion to include private libraries. You talk much of liberty. I'm libertarian when it comes to libraries, but conservative and libertarian--and much more as labels cannot adequately capture my beliefs and habits--in my family life, when it comes to what books my children should read. I agree with you, but I encourage you to consider how private libraries might help your cause (our cause actually, as we likely agree on the importance of liberty with respect to libraries).
The problem here is that we won't all agree on things. Not when it comes to public school or libraries. So how shall we proceed? Men and women will naturally want to censor each other. Are public libraries and public schools really the solution you're looking for? They involve quite a bit of politicking. Certainly you don't love politics? Why not advocate for private libraries? Why not just get rid of public libraries which crowd out the multitude of private alternatives? With private libraries each group can curate as they desire. No longer will you need to post on this topic. Everyone will simply visit the libraries of their choice just as they do grocery stores.
The most oft-repeated against privatization is the "public space" argument. As far as I'm concerned, this went out the window when, even in an ostensibly red state like mine, we shuttered the doors for months on end to the community's vulnerable due to a most underwhelming "threat." My co-workers are careful not to conjure this bogeyman in conversation with or around me anymore.
I agree everyone would be better served by such a model, including the vulnerable.
I was not looking forward to your response, but I see that you’re actually a kind person. Sorry for my response above. The honest truth is that we don’t know how many private libraries would exist in a developed, somewhat wealthy or wealthy state, if public libraries were prohibited under a constitution. If there were some certainty that public libraries couldn’t emerge in such a state, I’m sure a good number of private libraries would emerge. With that said, I can only think of a few private libraries off the top of my head. I have not looked into these, but I would guess that they exist. Howard Hughes probably left one behind in his non-profit research organization. Howard Hughes Medical Institute…is that the name? Then Rockefeller Foundation, possibly has one? Carnegie Melon Organization too, not sure if affiliated with the university? Econlib, is probably the best one, but not open to membership? The Birds of Prey Wildlife Center in Idaho has one. Private schools will have them. Various churches and denominations will have them. Do these little libraries on sidewalks count? If I do a web search, (not using the word Google in place of search anymore), I see a few, but not sure these are open to membership. If I looked for an hour I bet I could find a dozen good ones.
Great post! Libraries are not here to coddle or protect, and neither is Literature, sadly most main stream publishers have become complicit cowards and no longer respect the rights of adults to read and think for themselves. If the publishers are cowards that directly limits the abilities of public library's to fulfill their mandates.
Thank you for your thoughtful piece! I used to regard rhetoric concerning the "genius of the West" as evoking some form of exceptionalism and triumphalism. Now I interpret it according to tenets of Aristotelian causation: that the genius of the West isn't Material or inherent, but Formal and structural--deriving from a fortunate combination of historical contingency, environmental conditions, human agency and ideologies. The confluence of these forces resulted in a political environment that doesn't just tolerate difference, debate and dialogue, but depends upon it, thereby allowing all manner of belief systems to coexist in a fragile balance that must be constantly nourished and attended to. And one of the institutions charged with maintaining that balance is the public library, by allowing free peoples to access knowledge, information and ideas, so as to be able to continue to engage in that ongoing project. That's why institutional neutrality and intellectual freedom matter: without them, those fortunate conditions that made the nations associated with "the West" tolerant liberal democracies cannot be maintained.
Thank you. I believe intellectual freedom is a diamond produced in the hard press of the West. In Canada, I recall ALVIN M. SCHRADER's words "One principle is that freedom of expression is instrumental to democratic governance and citizen participation in social and political decision-making. Another is that unfettered discourse fosters individual self-fulfillment and self-actualization, and thus directly engages individual human dignity. And a third is that the open exchange of ideas encourages the search for knowledge and truth; intellectual freedom is the only pathway to individual and collective truth-seeking.
Thank you for this provocative post. I love your opening line: "What business are we in?" You put forth some important questions, but I suggest we broaden the discussion to include private libraries. You talk much of liberty. I'm libertarian when it comes to libraries, but conservative and libertarian--and much more as labels cannot adequately capture my beliefs and habits--in my family life, when it comes to what books my children should read. I agree with you, but I encourage you to consider how private libraries might help your cause (our cause actually, as we likely agree on the importance of liberty with respect to libraries).
The problem here is that we won't all agree on things. Not when it comes to public school or libraries. So how shall we proceed? Men and women will naturally want to censor each other. Are public libraries and public schools really the solution you're looking for? They involve quite a bit of politicking. Certainly you don't love politics? Why not advocate for private libraries? Why not just get rid of public libraries which crowd out the multitude of private alternatives? With private libraries each group can curate as they desire. No longer will you need to post on this topic. Everyone will simply visit the libraries of their choice just as they do grocery stores.
The most oft-repeated against privatization is the "public space" argument. As far as I'm concerned, this went out the window when, even in an ostensibly red state like mine, we shuttered the doors for months on end to the community's vulnerable due to a most underwhelming "threat." My co-workers are careful not to conjure this bogeyman in conversation with or around me anymore.
I agree everyone would be better served by such a model, including the vulnerable.
Yep, and until then I’ll keep using the public library as long as it’s clean and free of stinky, distracting homeless people.
Please provide a list of private Libraries.
Such wit! You mean the ones crowded out by public libraries.
That was a genuine question. It was not a taunt. Do you know of any private Libraries outside of members only clubs, or private schools?
I was not looking forward to your response, but I see that you’re actually a kind person. Sorry for my response above. The honest truth is that we don’t know how many private libraries would exist in a developed, somewhat wealthy or wealthy state, if public libraries were prohibited under a constitution. If there were some certainty that public libraries couldn’t emerge in such a state, I’m sure a good number of private libraries would emerge. With that said, I can only think of a few private libraries off the top of my head. I have not looked into these, but I would guess that they exist. Howard Hughes probably left one behind in his non-profit research organization. Howard Hughes Medical Institute…is that the name? Then Rockefeller Foundation, possibly has one? Carnegie Melon Organization too, not sure if affiliated with the university? Econlib, is probably the best one, but not open to membership? The Birds of Prey Wildlife Center in Idaho has one. Private schools will have them. Various churches and denominations will have them. Do these little libraries on sidewalks count? If I do a web search, (not using the word Google in place of search anymore), I see a few, but not sure these are open to membership. If I looked for an hour I bet I could find a dozen good ones.
Great post! Libraries are not here to coddle or protect, and neither is Literature, sadly most main stream publishers have become complicit cowards and no longer respect the rights of adults to read and think for themselves. If the publishers are cowards that directly limits the abilities of public library's to fulfill their mandates.
Thank you for writing this!
Thank you for your thoughtful piece! I used to regard rhetoric concerning the "genius of the West" as evoking some form of exceptionalism and triumphalism. Now I interpret it according to tenets of Aristotelian causation: that the genius of the West isn't Material or inherent, but Formal and structural--deriving from a fortunate combination of historical contingency, environmental conditions, human agency and ideologies. The confluence of these forces resulted in a political environment that doesn't just tolerate difference, debate and dialogue, but depends upon it, thereby allowing all manner of belief systems to coexist in a fragile balance that must be constantly nourished and attended to. And one of the institutions charged with maintaining that balance is the public library, by allowing free peoples to access knowledge, information and ideas, so as to be able to continue to engage in that ongoing project. That's why institutional neutrality and intellectual freedom matter: without them, those fortunate conditions that made the nations associated with "the West" tolerant liberal democracies cannot be maintained.
Thank you. I believe intellectual freedom is a diamond produced in the hard press of the West. In Canada, I recall ALVIN M. SCHRADER's words "One principle is that freedom of expression is instrumental to democratic governance and citizen participation in social and political decision-making. Another is that unfettered discourse fosters individual self-fulfillment and self-actualization, and thus directly engages individual human dignity. And a third is that the open exchange of ideas encourages the search for knowledge and truth; intellectual freedom is the only pathway to individual and collective truth-seeking.
It is disturbing to learn that some critics – including, sadly, some library workers and trustees – say they have given up on intellectual freedom, arguing it is not a human right at all but merely an “ideology.” To them, intellectual freedom seems a threat to social justice and must be supplanted by censorship in the name of equity and inclusion." https://www.freedomtoread.ca/newsbytes/should-public-library-boards-embrace-intellectual-freedom-as-their-institutional-soul/ . Then I reflect on many instances in Canadian library politics where - due to an erosion or lack of fundamental knowledge about what intellectual freedom is and how it serves society - one that comes to mind is from Ontario in the PEEL district school board of greater Toronto - https://nationalpost.com/opinion/letters-school-boards-book-ban-zealots-lose-the-plot ; https://c2cjournal.ca/2023/12/empty-shelves-the-noxious-politics-behind-a-canadian-school-boards-massive-book-purge/