"It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an..."

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 18:49:09 +0100

“It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an efficient solution to libraries is because the market has no use for a library. But it seems we need, right now, to keep re-stating the obvious. There aren’t many institutions left that fit so precisely Keynes’ definition of things that no one else but the state is willing to take on.”

- Zadie Smith in The North West London Blues, a post at the The New York Review of Books blog.

"To keep their doors open, the Cleveland public library sponsored “overdue weeks”, encouraging..."

Mon, 16 May 2011 20:12:00 +0100

“To keep their doors open, the Cleveland public library sponsored “overdue weeks”, encouraging patrons who could afford it to keep their library books until they were overdue, allowing the library to collect the 12 cents per week fine. In a time of soup lines and economic destitution, the library was known as the “bread line of the spirit”.”

- All Hail the PUBLIC Library at On the Commons.

On Saturday I went to a talk at Noe Valley’s library - one of twenty-eight branches in the city, not counting their mobile library service - about public libraries, by Robert Dawson, who’s been photographing them for nearly two decades.

Unfortunately, one of the anecdotes he used - that no American libraries closed during the Depression - turns out not the be true. However, this quote shows how valuable libraries were - and were perceived to be.

I also didn’t realise that public - as opposed to university or subscription - libraries were invented in the US. Definitely a worthwhile talk, and the photographic exhibition is still on at the main branch of the SFPL.

notes.husk.org

"It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an..."

"To keep their doors open, the Cleveland public library sponsored “overdue weeks”, encouraging..."