Scott Turow on the Value of Free Access to Knowledge

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Author and Authors Guild president Scott Turow is not sitting quietly by as libraries lose funding. Earlier this week, Turow published an article in the Huffington Post acknowledging that state and municipal governments continue to struggle with diminished budgets, but lamenting, "public libraries nationwide have been one of the biggest and least deserved losers in the process."

The article focuses on what Turow sees to be the major virtues of public libraries today:

"For Americans facing job losses, working to gain new skills and seeking assistance in an increasingly digital world, U.S. public libraries are first responders."

"For thousands and thousands of American kids, libraries are the only safe place they can find to study, a haven free from the dangers of street or the numbing temptations of television."

"Most important of all," he writes, "a library within a community stands as a testimonial to its values, its belief in universal access to literature and knowledge."

Read the full article here!