The library business
The Commodification of a Public Service
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26660/rrbsi.2024.20.2.03Keywords:
public libraries, free market, commodification, information science, capitalismAbstract
In this article I investigate the way free market ideology permeated the public space of the library. Employing concepts borrowed from critical theory (such as the central concept of commodification) and from the field of critical information literacy, I attempt to outline the manner in which the free market has impacted the public library, from the privatization of management and outsourcing, to more subtle forms of commodification such as the push for information, entertainment and consumerism, to the detriment of knowledge, education and citizenship. I conclude the article by summarizing some propositions from professionals in the field which are meant to decelerate the advance of the free market on the domain of the public library and to reclaim it for the community.
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