Libraries are important for democracy because they provide free information to citizens and people. If there were no libraries then open dialogue and free information would no longer exist except through the internet. Even though this information would be available through the internet, many forces are trying to restrict free public access to the internet, such as copyright, technological systems, and budgets, among others. Because libraries are providing free access to information, they function like the internet. If we do not protect the library for democracy then libraries could face the same limitations in information availability as the internet does.
This one I am not sure about… I think Vaidhyanathan is describing the library as a peer-to-peer system in which we are empowered through information sharing. The anarchy in the library comes from the addition to new anarchy and oligarchy that is present in new information sharing technologies. Anarchy is seen in the library because of the ways corporations and governments have reacted recently to peer-to-peer sharing. Libraries have been seen as an excellent resource in the past and yet recently have taken some criticism because of the way they have been used. I also think that Vaidhyanathan uses the term library in a general sense, at times, to speak about peer-to-peer systems. Vaidhyanathan wants us to understand anarchy; he wants us to understand the benefits of anarchy and peer-to-peer sharing.
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