Libraries and Democracy Intertwined

A good post that reminds us about the role of libaries in a democracy:

How Libraries Ensure Ongoing Freedom in America
by Martha Randolph Carr

“If there is one moment at the start of our country that probably ensured our ongoing freedom more than any other it was when Ben Franklin talked everyone else into building and opening libraries to the masses. Books were too expensive for most people in those days and therefore a lot of information was being held by a small number of people.

However, Franklin knew that discussion, debate and even heated arguments based on as much information and facts as possible were the best prevention of anarchy and the best step toward invention and creation of new ideas. If voting rights were going to be opened wide beyond landowners, and therefore beyond book buyers, then the flow of information needed to somehow get to more people too.”

Make no mistake. There are forces that do not want people to know the facts or debate the issues.

And villains don’t just exist in comic books and movies.

Stephen