A Short Post In Defense of Libraries

The speech referenced below really begins at 28:25, and this should play at that point but you know how technology goes. It's never lost on me the miracle that is the library. I've been spending quite a bit of time in them lately (more than usual, that is), as I've been getting deeper and deeper into research for my book. Every time I go into one I'm amazed all over again that the space is free and open and that I can access everything without credentialing or gatekeeping. At a time where everything is designed to extract as much from you as possible, whether it is money, time, or attention—or all three—the library is a radical space. Which is, in part, why they are so often under attack. This week the school district in the progressive college town that I live in announced that they would be cutting all middle school librarian positions in a misguided attempt to try and staunch the bleeding from years of budget mismanagement. (This is not a post to say fuck you to the administrators…