Amerykański poeta Charles Simic rozpoczyna swój nostalgiczny tekst w obronie bibliotek cytatem z jednego z braci Marx: „Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read”. Potem, broniąc instytucji bibliotek publicznych, opowiada o tym, jak biblioteki odegrały role wtajemniczenia i inicjacji małego chłopca w świat, na portalu New York Review of Books czytamy: „All across the United States, large and small cities are closing public  libraries or curtailing their hours of operations. Detroit, I read a few  days ago, may close all of its branches and Denver half of its own:  decisions that will undoubtedly put hundreds of its employees out of  work. When you count the families all over this country who don’t have  computers or can’t afford Internet connections and rely on the ones in  libraries to look for jobs, the consequences will be even more dire.  People everywhere are unhappy about these closings, and so are mayors  making the hard decisions. But with roads and streets left in disrepair,  teachers, policemen and firemen being laid off, and politicians in both  parties pledging never to raise taxes, no matter what happens to our  quality of life, the outlook is bleak… czytaj dalej