Overdue

An interesting read for anyone like me who had a very idealistic view of public libraries and how working at one might be. The book was successful as a thought provoker, never have I ever reflected so much about how public services in general ought to be designed and the effects of social ills spilling over between government spheres - a parallel between libraries and police I never would have imagined. I'm now more aware of libraries as such a valuable sensor of how communities fare, whether their basic needs are met; and of course even more grateful for their existence. A public library gave me access to this book, and I'll be extra thankful from now on.

In terms of reading experience, some chapters felt a bit stretched. I understand the need to preface what cancel culture is, what social media does to society, what eugenic policies do to communities etc; all very fair and I think perhaps necessary so the thesis of each chapter can be self contained, but... personally I've found it a bit boring because halfway through the book, I'm sure the audience that chose to finish the read is the audience that's in the know about all that already. I might be wrong, but still, I found myself skimming frequently to the part where libraries come into play.

This felt like a good start. We need to discuss the social institution of the Public Library much more than we do and with this kind of systemic awareness. Having worked in a public library (around 8 months myself), I know firsthand how challenging it can be to offer public services to folks without the support or training to do so.

However, at times this book felt like it was using the patrons (telling sensational stories) to say "look how bad this is" rather than framing these stories as evidence of systemic injustice. Sort of "look how hard it is to serve this population because of their actions" rather than "look how hard it is to serve this population because there is no governmental support for the work libraries actually do."

I'm not sure. I think we need more of this, and I think there are real hints at nuance here. It just didn't come together for me.