Comments on: Are Public Libraries Really Public Goods? http://www.kipesquire.net/2008/09/are-public-libraries-really-public-goods/ A Stitch in Time Saves Nine ... But Haste Makes Waste Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:02:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Linkfest: When the Line Between “Public” and “Private” is Blurred http://www.kipesquire.net/2008/09/are-public-libraries-really-public-goods/comment-page-1/#comment-7237 Linkfest: When the Line Between “Public” and “Private” is Blurred Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:27:05 +0000 http://www.kipesquire.net/?p=5770#comment-7237 [...] Are Public Libraries Really Public Goods?9.5 [...] [...] Are Public Libraries Really Public Goods?9.5 [...]

]]> By: dolphin http://www.kipesquire.net/2008/09/are-public-libraries-really-public-goods/comment-page-1/#comment-7225 dolphin Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:21:46 +0000 http://www.kipesquire.net/?p=5770#comment-7225 I don't expect for a moment to change your mind about libraries, nor am I even 100% how I feel about them, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to suggest that they are lower-income to higher income wealth distribution, insofar as the great thing about them is that the use of them is "free" (at least at the time of use) so everyone should theoretically have equal access. As for who has more time to read, a more accurate question might be, who has more need of the library. I think generally speaking it's the lower income who need it more. If a soccer mom wants to read, what's to stop her from visiting Barnes&Noble or just pulling up a web browser. If a (poor) single mom wants to read she might not have the funds to buy a book and almost certainly no access to the internet if she has a computer at all (there are fewer households with computers than I think most people realize, and fewer yet with internet, let alone high speed internet). It certainly doesn't help the library from a libertarian perspective but I've always thought of libraries more as a source of information available for all (ESPECIALLY the lower-class who may not have access to any other source). I don't expect for a moment to change your mind about libraries, nor am I even 100% how I feel about them, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to suggest that they are lower-income to higher income wealth distribution, insofar as the great thing about them is that the use of them is "free" (at least at the time of use) so everyone should theoretically have equal access. As for who has more time to read, a more accurate question might be, who has more need of the library. I think generally speaking it's the lower income who need it more. If a soccer mom wants to read, what's to stop her from visiting Barnes&Noble or just pulling up a web browser. If a (poor) single mom wants to read she might not have the funds to buy a book and almost certainly no access to the internet if she has a computer at all (there are fewer households with computers than I think most people realize, and fewer yet with internet, let alone high speed internet).

It certainly doesn't help the library from a libertarian perspective but I've always thought of libraries more as a source of information available for all (ESPECIALLY the lower-class who may not have access to any other source).

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