With Expanding Library’s Promise, Concern About Its Purpose

A busy day for libraries in the media. This piece actually appeared in the NYTimes yesterday. Still, libraries aren't in the media that often, so all exposure is welcome by us in the field. This piece is interesting in debating the role and purpose of libraries: should it be "an institution that is exceptional in its presence and posture," or should "populist virtue" be claimed by "having its demographics mirror" those of its community.

Mr. Rothstein visited the Bronx Library Center, and found that despite things he didn't approve of (all that evidence of “democratization”), the Bronx Library Center "is also too vital, too well stocked with possibilities for all ages, too inviting to browsers, readers and workers, to be characterized as a countermove in the evolution of public libraries. It offers an alluring mix of entertainment and enlightenment."

After adding such bon mots as "Before the 19th century many books were simply too expensive for widespread public handling," and "Beginning with New York in 1835, state laws allowed the establishment of free libraries supported by taxes and associated with school districts," he discusses Carnegie, and winds up optimistic: "It is an example of the library’s contemporary temptation: to serve by deferring to the public rather than inspiring it. But the Bronx example offers reassurance and hope that the library will not fully yield, cultivating in itself the tensions of its origins."