It sure does feel like the last Friday of the month has rolled around again. I don’t know about you but July flew by. So I guess it’s time for a little slice of optimism served on a neat digital plate. I’m very happy to be part of the “We Are The World Blogfest” once again – cause the world needs to be a little bit more bright and cheery.
Now if you’re at all connected to the book world, you might have heard about an article that was getting a lot of attention earlier this week. Forbes released an opinion piece from an Economics department chair regarding the value of libraries. His verdict? That they should be replaced with Amazon instead.
If you love your libraries as much as I do, you can imagine the type of backlash that comment received. Forbes pulled the article, citing pretty much that the author of the opinion piece was misinformed, like apologizing for a burned piece of toast and quickly removing it from the kitchen table. Kudos to them for acting quickly and not just racking up the hits that this article would surely have continued to receive.
The part that really made me want to share this story this Friday with all of you though was the reaction on Twitter. That was where the majority of the backlash came from, and people came out of the woodwork to defend their libraries and to reconnect with their love of these sacred public spaces.
If you want to see more of these tweets and responses, check out this fantastic collection! I hope this helps you not only appreciate the libraries that you have, but that there are still a whole bunch of people who will also leap to defend them. Happy Friday, everybody!
Love the outpouring of support. I love libraries, browsing the stacks for hours and often take out hard copies. Although I tend to use my e-reader quite a bit, I do download epubs from my local library especially books that are difficult to find.
Thanks so much for sharing this and for being part of #WATWB.
I have so many good memories of libraries! I also still use them regularly for working remotely or writing. 😊 I actually use the library audiobooks more than the epubs! I’m a pretty slow reader so that’s easier for me.
Thank you! I’m glad to be part of it! ❤️
Libraries should be replaced with Amazon?? NO WAY!
Libraries are so important… like one of the last bastions of civilization and democracy.
As one of the quotes goes: “Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.”
I need to check out that collection of tweets.
Thank you for sharing this article with us for the WATWB.
Writer In Transit
I know right? When I first saw that article I was like, they better not! Very thankful that others felt the same way too. Those tweets give me life.
Thank you for stopping by! 💕