• The Third Library and the Commons

    Author(s):
    Annie Johnson, Carrie Johnston, Aditya Ranganath
    Editor(s):
    Faithe Day, John Maclachlan, Jodi Reeves Eyre (see profile) , Synatra Smith, Christa Williford
    Date:
    2022
    Group(s):
    Curated Futures Project
    Item Type:
    Essay
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/4h0p-c920
    Abstract:
    The idea of the “commons” is often invoked in discussions of the academic library’s future, but these references are usually vague and rhetorical. What exactly does it mean for the library to be organized as a commons, and what might such a library look like? Does the concept of the commons offer a useful lens for identifying the library’s injustices or shortcomings? How might we draw on the concept of the commons to see beyond the horizon of the contemporary library, toward a “Third Library” that truly advances decolonial and democratic ends? This essay engages with such questions and explores how the constituent elements of the academic library—its knowledge assets, its workers, and its physical spaces—might be reoriented toward the commons. It argues that such an orientation might facilitate the emergence of a Third Library that is able to organize resistance to contemporary capitalism’s impetus toward the privatization and enclosure of knowledge, and to help recover a democratic conception of knowledge as a public good.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Online publication     Show details
    Pub. URL:
    https://futures.clir.org/the-third-library-the-commons/
    Publisher:
    Council on Library and Information Resources
    Pub. Date:
    January 11, 2022
    Website:
    https://futures.clir.org
    Version:
    1
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    1 year ago
    License:
    Attribution
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