In which Erudite Partner applauds what may be our best civic institution, Our Public Library.
I’d like to argue that there is, however, one institution that’s almost entirely benign: the public library. As I wish one could say about our medical system, it does no harm (though many right-wingers disagree with me, as we shall see).
What could be more wonderful than a place that allows people to read books, magazines, and newspapers for free? That encourages children to read? That these days offers free access to that essential source of information, entertainment, and human connection, the Internet? It’s even a place where people who have nowhere to live — or who are regularly kicked out of their homeless shelters during daylight hours — can stay dry and warm. And where they, too, can read whatever they choose and, without spending a cent — no small thing — use a bathroom with dignity.
Not surprisingly our right wingers would destroy libraries as well as the rest of civilization if they could. Somebody somewhere might be becoming smarter, wiser, and more broad-minded; gottta clamp down.
Sticking up for the freedom to read freely is a vital form of sticking up for human possibility ...
No comments:
Post a Comment