what the heck happened to public libraries? : rspod

This triggers me because I have a friend who works in a public library, and the stories he tells are just depressing.

Cities basically treat libraries as a community gathering spot, and keeps telling them to do more outreach and events that are completely unrelated to the function of the library. Some library administrators even encourage the staffs to actively bend the rules to accommodate stupid demands. They of course reverse it when they can no longer appease those patrons and pretend they care about the wellbeing of their staff.

Being a public service institution, you can imagine the place is filled by progressive-leaning people in its staff. Seeing them sycophantically cheering at more "innovations" and "caringness" first-hand must have been heck. I will not forget the look he gave me when he told me one of his co-worker's response to the questions "what is the most important thing for a library" was its "welcoming nature."

I hate progressives. I hate them more whenever I hear of their latest antics. Those people are so oblivious of the real world, yet they are so entrenched in the decision-making duty of our cultural institutions.