In Praise of Public Libraries

by Paul Krugman

In Praise of Public Libraries (Personal and Trivial)


Nothing professional or deep here, just an interesting (to me) discovery I’ve made. For complicated reasons, mainly family-duty-related, I’ve lately had to do a lot of hopscotching around central New Jersey, with various appointments and tasks here and there but often with gaps of several hours in between. And, as always, lots of work to get done in the cracks. What to do?

Well, there are coffee shops — and the proliferation of vaguely cute coffee shops is actually one of the ways America has improved from the percolator-and-corn-muffin hell I grew up in. But you can only drink so much coffee, and anyway I find myself wanting a bit more peace.

And the answer is, libraries! Many of the towns near here have very nice libraries, some big and fancy, some modest, but all with quiet corners where you can sit and either access their wifi (if they have it) or use your phone as a hotspot.

Oh, and I even end up looking at a few books — you know, those things made out of dead trees.

It’s a small thing, but it’s amazing how much it has improved the past few weeks.



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