Photo, above: Watered Glass - by Looking Glass, CC-licensed. Entrance of the National Gallery Victoria, where the permanent collections are free.
One feature of British museums is “a huge loophole – a miracle, actually – of generous civic pride,” says Jonathan Jones: “You can walk into our public collections without paying a penny.”
In contrast:
“It is sad to visit museums in Europe and find their galleries empty… At London’s museums, the fizz of crowds is not tiring, it is stimulating… Culture and education are actually the same thing. To love art is to want to know more about it: to enjoy it is to learn about it. A society that is learning is one that is growing.”
Crowds in the Louvre -- almost impossible to move on a rainy summer Saturday afternoon. Photo by me, CC-licensed. The Louvre charges an entry fee for its permanent collections.
Marilyn Johnson find similar value in the the people who work in public libraries:
The people who welcome us to the library are idealists, who believe that accurate information leads to good decisions and that exposure to the intellectual riches of civilization leads to a better world… While they help us get online, employed and informed, librarians don’t try to sell us anything. Nor do they turn around and broadcast our problems, send us spam or keep a record of our interests and needs, because no matter how savvy this profession is at navigating the online world, it clings to that old-fashioned value, privacy. (A profession dedicated to privacy in charge of our public computers? That’s brilliant.) They represent the best civic value out there, an army of resourceful workers that can help us compete in the world.”
Ian Clark says public libraries can help bridge the gap beween the information-rich and information-poor:
Tags: Jonathan Jones, equity and access, public policy, museum, public museums, librariansLibraries “need reinforcing, not dismantling. We need to continue to provide a highly skilled service that is able to meet the needs of the general public. The service ought to continue to innovate… It needs to continue to bridge the gap between those who have access to the internet and those who do not, while also ensuring it delivers on other aspects of its core service (book loans, local studies materials, etc). If the service is cut, we run the risk of an ill-informed society that is ill-equipped to prosper in the ‘information age’ – a dangerous prospect for any democracy.”
