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Necromancy or life support? Libraries, democracy and the concerned intellectual

Alex Byrne

Library Management

ISSN: 0143-5124

Article publication date: 1 May 2003

1029

Abstract

Examines the roles of libraries and their development. Their part in fostering and supporting intellectuals in contemporary societies is discussed with particular emphasis on free access to information and freedom of expression. From the nineteenth century, libraries became recognised as necessary to society. In recent years, libraries have increasingly been seen as an instrument for the development and maintenance of a democratic society which offers the individual access to a wide and varied range or knowledge, ideas and opinions. The ubiquity of the Internet and other media and their promise of universal access to information “regardless of frontiers” have reinforced the democracy paradigm. In fulfilling a function of sustaining the discourse of concerned intellectuals, libraries demonstrate their importance to humanity.

Keywords

Citation

Byrne, A. (2003), "Necromancy or life support? Libraries, democracy and the concerned intellectual", Library Management, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 116-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120310464844

Publisher

:

MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited

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