Open AccessUnchain my heart and set me free: A new civil society library model.
Author(s) -
Matthew Kelly
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of information ethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1614-1687
DOI - 10.29173/irie285
Subject(s) - civil society , conceptualization , argument (complex analysis) , government (linguistics) , collateral , control (management) , chaining , service (business) , public sector , set (abstract data type) , public administration , sociology , public relations , law and economics , political science , computer science , business , politics , management , law , economics , psychology , medicine , artificial intelligence , marketing , philosophy , linguistics , psychotherapist , programming language
A new model of the public library is outlined that explicitly links it to its role in support of civil society. The model argues that the ongoing “chaining” of public libraries to direct government oversight and control is deleterious to their ability to actualize their potential. Collateral argument is made that that it is the civil society character rather than the simply free nature of these libraries which needs to be harnessed to help move the conceptualization of the sector away from a reactive model of client service toward a dynamic approach that integrates with the life experiences of clients.