Eric Klinenberg in NY Times Op-ed calls for Defending Libraries Promoing His New Book- "Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life"

The New York Times Sunday Review his past weekend included an op-ed by calling for defending libraries by Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist who has authored the forthcoming “Palaces of the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life.”  We didn’t hear from Mr. Klinenberg prior to the publication of his op-ed, but no, if you are wondering, we didn’t enlist Mr. Klinenberg him for ventriloquism purposes of having him recite top themes from our website . . .     

. . .  It just sounds a little that way.

Mr. Klinenberg is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University here in New York City.  He tweets at: @ericklinenberg.

Emblematic of our modern world, Mr. Klinenberg’s essay got totally different titles and subtitles in the print and digital editions of the Times even if they conveyed somewhat the same message.

Here is a link to and a sample of what he wrote.  If you want you play a game and try to match his sentences up with many of those on our Citizens Defending Libraries web pages.

New York Times OpEd- Why Libraries Still Matter- To Restore Civil Society, Start With the Library (In an age of polarization and inequality, the are the bedrock of civil society. -  This crucial institution is being neglected just when we need it the most.), by Eric Klinenberg, September 8, 2018.

Libraries are already starved for resources . . . . But the problem that libraries face today isn’t irrelevance . .  in New York and many other cities, library circulation, program attendance and average hours spent visiting are up. The real problem that libraries face is that so many people are using them, and for such a wide variety of purposes, that library systems and their employees are overwhelmed.

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Libraries are being disparaged and neglected at precisely the moment when they are most valued and necessary. Why the disconnect? In part it’s because the founding principle of the public library — that all people deserve free, open access to our shared culture and heritage — is out of sync with the market logic that dominates our world.* 

     . . .  they’re open, accessible and free.

(* For more about what's previously been written exploring such thoughts as this see the books: “Dismantling the Public Sphere- Situating and Sustaining Librarianship In the Age of the New Public Philosophy,” by John E. Buschman and “Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library: How Postmodern Consumer Capitalism Threatens Democracy, Civil Education and the Public Good,” by Ed D'Angelo.)

    * * *
   
    . .  not everyone can afford to frequent [establishments like Starbucks], and not all paying customers are welcome to stay for long. . .  elderly library patrons . .  told me that they feel even less welcome in the trendy new coffee shops, bars and restaurants . .  Poor and homeless library patrons don’t even consider entering these places. They know from experience that simply standing outside a high-end eatery can prompt managers to call the police. [Like the two black young men in a Philadelphia Starbucks for two minutes before the police were called.]  But you rarely see a police officer in a library.
   

    * * *
Forbes magazine published an article arguing that . .  Amazon [should] replace libraries with its own retail outlets, and claimed that most Americans would prefer a free-market option. The public response . .  was so overwhelmingly negative that Forbes deleted the article from its website.

     . . .  it’s important that institutions like libraries get the recognition they deserve. It’s worth noting that “liber,” the Latin root of the word “library,” means both “book” and “free.” Libraries stand for and exemplify something that needs defending.

Yes libraries do need defending!   . .

. . . Mr. Eric Klinenberg's book includes a footnote reference to Scott Sherman's “Patience and Fortitude- Power, Real Estate, and the Fight to Save a Public Library,” in which Citizens Defending Libraries and our sister library defending group the Committee to Save The New York Public Library are written about.  Mr. Klinenberg's book doesn't mention us, but we are reaching out to him about how so may of our thoughts seem to be on the same page.

PS: (9/25/2018)  For a second chapter to what is written here and to find out what happened at the Brooklyn Book Festival panel discussion that involved Mr. Klinenberg see:  Authors Anand Giridharadas, Eric Klinenberg, Kristen Ghodsee, and Activist Blair Imani, On Panel at Brooklyn Book Festival Discuss, `How To Change The World’ (With Libraries and Social Infrastructure!) Plus Who NOT To Trust— When In Jumps Untrustworthy, Library-Selling Councilman Brad Lander!!