Perhaps you saw this article (which has been taken down): An economics professor wrote on Forbes this past weekend that public libraries should be replaced by Amazon.
The sheer idiocy of the idea is obvious, but it gave Amanda Oliver, a librarian, an opportunity to outline succinctly some of the services that Amazon never could, or would, offer.
The whole article is worth reading, but here’s the point:
Libraries and librarians fill in the significant gaps created by what I would argue is our society’s pandemic of ignoring our impoverished, underserved, and most vulnerable populations. Our government continues to take away from our public services — national parks, arts programs, museums funding, aid for children with disabilities.
I refuse to accept that everything must be “disrupted” and turned into a moneymaking machine for tech elites. It’s absurd to suggest that Silicon Valley look to profit from one of the few institutions available across the entire country that doesn’t exist to make money for someone else.
Source: Amazon could never replace libraries. Here’s everything we offer that Amazon doesn’t. – Vox
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Tags: Amanda Oliver, Amazon, Blount County Public Library, Forbes, library, public libraries